BTS fans demand comedian Alex Williamson is fired for 'xenophobic' remarks

Fans of Korean pop band BTS have spoken out against Australian comedian Alex Williamson, calling his remarks about the musicians “xenophobic”.

Comments made by Williamson on Twitter were interpreted by the fandom – named the BTS Army – as support of “racist” remarks made during the band's appearance on an Australian TV show.

After a host claimed that BTS's award wins at the Billboard Music Awards in both 2018 and 2019 were surprising because “only one member actually speaks English”. The band were also introduced on the show as “the biggest band you’ve never heard of”.

BTS fans took to Twitter to voice their outrage, demanding an apology from the show’s broadcaster, Channel 9, and for Williamson to be fired. They also shared the hashtags #channel9apologize and #FireAlexWilliamson. He responded by voicing his distaste at their defensiveness.

“Shut the f**k up c*** it ain’t racist they just don’t give a f**k about boy bands who are designed solely to extract $ from the hip pocket of 14yo’s,” he wrote. “I’ll always revel in the genuine talents of South Korean professors such as Cheon Jinwoo. F**k these c***z.”

He then went on to pour further salt on the wound with a presumably sarcastic follow-up: “After careful consideration I am hereby nominating myself to be the 8th member of BTS, thank you for your unwavering support. I will make you c***s proud with my generic vocals xoxox good night.”

Perez Hilton – who appeared as a talking head on the show – also caused upset with fans by asking if any of the band members were gay.

A member of the show’s panel also asked if the band’s 2018 speech at the UN headquarters in New York was about “hair products”, when it was actually centred around diversity.