I think the recent BTS/Chris Brown discourse is a reminder that we really don’t know our idols or their personal views.
And this goes far beyond BTS. BLACKPINK, Bang Chan, J-Hope and RM have all recommended Chris Brown’s music in some capacity, while NewJeans, aespa’s Winter and Giselle, and TREASURE have all been associated with Kanye’s concerts or music. There are also idols who have worked with artists like Dr. Luke and Diplo. And those are just the examples we happen to know about.
This isn’t even a K-pop specific issue. The Western music industry is no different. Some of the biggest artists in the world have collaborated with, praised, befriended or openly supported people with extremely controversial histories. The difference is that we often hold idols to this expectation that we somehow know their values and can predict what they would or wouldn’t support.
But we only know what they choose to show us. We don’t know what they believe privately, what they listen to, who they support, what they disagree with or what they’re willing to overlook.
There are probably countless examples we’ll never hear about.
We don’t know these people. We know their public personas.
submitted by /u/Ok-Mistake764
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