K-Pop Fans Fume at Met Gala Paparazzi’s Racist Jabs

Fans of the K-Pop band Stray Kids have unleashed a wave of disgust at paparazzi after photographers allegedly spewed racist stereotypes and comments as the group made their Met Gala debut.

Fans around the world were quick to voice their disdain with Met Gala photographers on social media as celebrities waltzed outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York Monday night. The eight members of the Stray Kids—Bang Chan, Changbin, Felix, Han, Hyunjin, I.N., Lee Know, and Seungmin—entered the Met Gala with long, navy blue coats.

However, photographers were quick to display their ignorance with the performers from South Korea.

“I’ve never seen so many unemotional faces in my life,” a photographer is heard saying in a TikTok video that captured the Stray Kids’ entrance.

When the members of the band removed their coats to reveal elegantly tailored color-coordinated Tommy Hilfiger suits, photographers groaned about “the reveal.”

“We gotta do it again,” the same photographer is heard saying, referencing that the paparazzi had to take more pictures. “Now, let’s do it with feeling!”

A photographer jokingly asks a colleague if the members were going to start performing for the crowd.

“Everybody, jump!” the photographer yelled.

“How do you say ‘right’ in Korean?” asked another photographer, who was met with laughter.

As members of the band walked toward the inside of the museum, photographers continued with the immature and inappropriate jokes.

“As you were!” a couple of photographers said.

According to The Daily Mail, photographers also referred to the Stray Kids as “robots” and said people will get confused because the group took photographs with their coats on and off, alluding to the derogatory racial stereotype that people of Asian descent cannot be phenotypically differentiated. The photographers said that people would think there were “two K-Pop bands” at the Met Gala.

The TikTok user who posted the video railed about the photographers’ ignorance.

“Its [sic] 2024 and we are still doing this,” Hyunshota wrote.

As of Tuesday morning, the video has received over 170,000 views, but others were incensed to share their thoughts across other social media platforms.

“This is incredibly disappointing and outrageous. There is no excuse for this,” a user wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Stray kids deserve WAY better.”

“Whether you are a fan of stray kids or not, NO ONE should have to be on the receiving end of such racist and vile commentary from photographers,” another tweeted.

“Don’t need to be a fan of stray kids to recognize the blatant xenophobia,” an X user commented. “This is so disgusting and disheartening.”

Despite the haterade spewing from paparazzi, the Stray Kids were deemed the best dressed at the Met Gala by British GQ, and Tommy Hilfiger gave them multiple social media shoutouts for wearing the brand’s custom-designed suits.

“We are so proud that they wanted to wear Tommy!” the notorious designer tweeted Tuesday morning.

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