Korean American producer and musician Jae Chong took to Instagram to call out TMZ on their blatantly racist coverage of EXID’s arrival in Los Angeles for the 2015 Korea Times Music Festival.
In his post, he not only
addresses the news station but also the subjugation of Asians especially
in American mainstream media, closing his statement with, “If you haven’t lived in the US…you might not know what I’m talking about. But this is absolutely disgusting~”
He points out that racism against Asians is often targeted
at the mental rather than aesthetic appearance, stating that these jokes
were still made while an Asian American was still present in the room.
Although his post was lengthy, many commenters agreed with his words.
In his post, he writes, “Racism against Asians is a
unique one…cuz it’s usually not physical attacks but psychological that
attacks the core of what humans consider sacred~ First, the sense of
belonging…Asians are always portrayed as the people who don’t belong in
America. Second, they attack the core of manhood…(Asians have small
dicks…u know the usual) Third, the sense of significance…They crack
Asian jokes while an Asian is in the same room (As seen in this
video)…Being perceived as unthreatening, passive, etc. gives people the
notion that they can openly make fun of us. Perhaps that’s our fault…cuz
most Asians feel they have better things to do like making money and
holding a job than to risk having to deal with every ignorant person out
there. If you haven’t lived in the US…you might not know what I’m
talking about. But this is absolutely disgusting~ #IHateRacismOfAnyKind”
After TMZ made their initial report on May 2nd, netizens were shocked at the unexpected blatant racism that appeared in a broadcast. Soon after, Amber posted a response to the event on Twitter to which both Roy Kim and 2PM’s Taecyeon retweeted her and added their own responses. g.o.d.’s Joon Park also posted a response to the incident on Instagram and echoed the sentiment.
Yedang Entertainment made a formal statement on May 4th saying that they will be contacting TMZ about the incident and revealed that member Junghwa, who was mocked in the clip, felt very hurt about the incident.
