JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
BTS' Jungkook's hat controversy sparks backlash against RM and aespa's Giselle, find out why
The recent political controversy surrounding Jungkook has sparked heated fan wars among BTS fans, as well as between Jungkook and RM's solo fanbases and aespa fans.
BTS member Jungkook was under fire for donning a cap with a political message during his soundcheck sessions for his act in J-Hope's HOPE ON THE STAGE FINAL day 1 concert. As the matter escalated, he personally apologized on Weverse; however, the issue is far from over.
Recently, other artists, such as RM and Giselle, were drawn into the same controversy after their past photos featuring similar accessories surfaced.
RM dragged in Jungkook's hat controversy
After Jungkook faced intense backlash for wearing a 'Make Japan Great Again' hat, fans began digging up similar incidents involving other artists. They uncovered a 2023 Instagram post featuring BTS leader RM in a 'Make Comedy Great Again' hat, which became the first image to resurface amid Jungkook's controversy.
X users shared the post, with some adding sarcastic comments, "the most educated k-pop idol," poking fun at his high IQ and intellectual image.
Besides him, aespa member Giselle was also dragged in for a similar controversy.
aespa's Giselle dragged in Jungkook's hat controversy
Hashtags like MAGASELLE and MAGAESPA trended on social media as a past video clip of Giselle was circulated online. It features the same black cap as RM, with the same message. For those unaware of the 'MAGA' trend going on, it is an abbreviation for 'Make America Great Again', a slogan formulated by Donald Trump and later spread to other right-wing politicians of nations like South Korea and Japan.
Giselle was labelled "problematic", and faced greater hate because another aespa member, Karina, recently faced intense online scrutiny for sporting an alleged right-wing inclined jacket.
Fans defended RM and aespa's Giselle in hat controversy
Some fans felt that bringing up the past and drawing hate towards RM and Giselle were okay attempts by Jungkook stans to shift attention from his political scandal. They said, "It's pretty obvious that his (RM's) and Giselle's caps have a glaring difference between JK's current controversy; stop covering it up if you want to grow other controversies."
They acknowledged that the duo's hats drew inspiration from MAGA, but also stressed the difference in gravity between one that included a country's name (in the case of Jungkook) and the other, which was an inspired version using the word 'comedy'.
