ASTRO and AROHAs receive an apology from TMA for plagiarizing Arashi’s stage

K-pop group ASTRO and their fandom AROHAs were finally given a justification from The Fact Music Awards for member Moonbin’s solo stage being the same as of Japanese group Arashi’s.

On October 2, 2021, ASTRO performed ONE and After Midnight, but what heated things was Moonbin’s introductory stage. Fans were quick to notice that the marionette stage resembled Arashi’s live tour performance held in 2017-2018.

Some fans rightfully defended the group stating it must have been the company’s fault, and they have been proved half right.

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The Fact Music Award apologizes to ASTRO and fans for Moonbin’s plagiarism controversy

ASTRO Moonbin’s passionate solo introduction stage wowed many fans at the 2021 The Fact Music Awards on October 2. Soon after, to many fans' utter disappointment, netizens revealed that the stage’s concept, design, and background music was plagiarized from Japanese boy band Arashi’s Ohno Satoshi’s performance.

The marionette concept's colors, features, and music used in Moonbin’s stage directly resembled Arashi’s ARASHI Live Tour 2017-1028 untitled.

The topic raised many eyebrows as ASTRO is one of the top boy groups in the K-pop industry. Two days later, on October 4, the organizing committee of TMA released a statement apologizing to the group, as it was a clear mistake from the production company’s side.

A company called Box Media was responsible for the directing and producing of the entire awards show. TMA has confirmed that they planned the marionette stage for Moonbin, “to bring out the best” of his talent. The error occurred as Box Media did not thoroughly go through the content details while planning the stage.

TMA’s organizing committee also stated that they, along with Box Media, take “full responsibility for this mistake.” They also informed fans that they’ll pay extra attention in the future.

While the apology has been issued, it doesn’t lessen the two gruesome days ASTRO fans went through on stan Twitter.

In other news, ASTRO member JinJin was announced to have tested COVID-19 positive on September 19, according to the group's agency, Fantiago Entertainment. Moonbin and Sanha had crossed paths with him too and were tested. Their results came back negative, and the members went for self-quarantine while their schedules were canceled.

Meanwhile, ASTRO also won Artist of the Year (Bonsang) at TMA 2021.