Fans of the K-pop group Stray Kids are demanding Vogue Magazine take action against a group of photographers who allegedly displayed racist and disrespectful behavior to members of the band at the Met Gala.
On Monday night (May 6), the South Korean band Stray Kids made history by becoming the first K-pop group to attend fashion's biggest night at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
After much anticipation from their fans, all eight members of the group— Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N—arrived at the event, looking sharp in their Tommy Hilfiger suits and coats. The band has previously collaborated with the American designer label, starring in a campaign earlier this year.
Image credits: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Despite the enthusiasm for Stray Kids attending the prestigious event, people were indignant at the paparazzi's treatment of the men as they posed for photos beneath the white-and-green steps.
A viral video captures a group of photographers criticizing the artists' facial expressions. One of them can be heard saying, "I've never seen so many unemotional faces before," to which another one responded, "They're like robots."
When the men removed their coats to reveal their suits, preparing for another round of pictures, the first photographer yelled out, "Now, let's do it with feelings!" He then turned to his colleague mockingly, saying, "They're gonna start performing, right? Everybody, jump!"
Despite the enthusiasm for the group's attendance, fans denounced the "racist" remarks directed at the men by a pair of photographers present at the event
Fans of the group took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to express their outrage at the paparazzi comments.
"This was supposed to be a happy event. We were excited to see Stray Kids take the runway because they are GLOBAL ICONS; to have blatant racism, rudeness, and unprofessionalism by so many people in the industry is appalling. This should not have happened," wrote user @skztinypixie.
"STRAY KIDS DESERVED BETTER. We ask @voguemagazine #MetGala to make this right and to handle this professionally. A formal apology for how rude each photographer was. Stray Kids understand English, you dunces," the post continued.
"They understood every word you said, and that breaks my heart because they were looking forward to this event."
The Met Gala, held annually on the first Monday of May, is organized and presided over by Anna Wintour, Vogue's editor-in-chief.
It is not clear whether the photographers were hired by the event's organizers directly or what company they responded to.
In a viral clip, the photographers can be heard mockingly comparing the artists to "robots" and asking whether the men would "jump" and "perform"
Image credits: Cindy Ord/MG24/Getty Images
The situation led many to believe that the comments were motivated by racism and xenophobia.
"Western reporters can be super disrespectful to foreign artists (especially if they're Asian). I stopped being surprised long ago after seeing how some of them used to cover BTS and K-pop in general," someone said.
"It's just so embarrassing to see such old people act like children. Your job is to just keep quiet, take pictures, and go. There's no need for this racism and hate," another person wrote.
"I don't care if paparazzi are supposed to be rude or not. I just know that what they did is called racism, and it has to be punished," a third X user agreed.
With more than 8 million monthly listeners on platforms such as Spotify and more than 29 million followers on Instagram, Stray Kids is ranked as one of the most popular K-pop groups in the world.
During an interview on the red carpet with the South Korean group, designer Tommy Hilfiger accidentally revealed that the eight-piece band will embark upon a 40-city tour soon.
"What they did is called racism and it has to be punished," a fan demanded
