"I take full accountability" — IVE's Rei issues apology for recent controversy regarding her alleged racist remarks toward Tanned Hello Kitty doll

On Wednesday, July 31, IVE's Rei released an apology through her Bubble account regarding her recent controversy. On July 30, the idol went live on Weverse to update her fans on her recent life events. At the same, she showed her Tanned Hello Kitty doll to her fans.

She stated she dressed the doll in camouflage underwear and said that she wanted to make it look more Hip Hop. She also continued to make sounds such as "Gang Gang" and "Skrrt" as Hello Kitty was making it. This caused a stir on the internet as people thought it was a racist remark.

As netizens and fans continued to criticize her for her alleged racist comments, the idol soon took to her Bubble account to apologize for her actions. She stated she was aware of her inappropriate actions and would take full accountability for the same.

Her statement read,

"I realized while monitoring a recent livestream that while introducing a doll that I wanted to show off to DIVEs I unintentionally said some things that were inappropriate. I take full accountability for the fact that I said something wrong during the livestream and I would like to sincerely apologize to those who were hurt."

She continued,

"I will do my best to be conscious about what I say and how it affects DIVEs in the future and be more responsible so that I can only bring happiness to DIVEs. I apologize for writing this in Korean because my English isn’t very good."

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IVE's Rei garners attention for her alleged racism with her Tanned Hello Kitty doll

IVE Rei showed her Tanned Hello Kitty doll in her recent Weverse stream and said,

"It's tanning Kitty! I put this underwear. Originally it's just pink. I thought this underwear gives it a Hip Hop style, so I put it. (In Hello Kitty voice) Gang Gang, Skrrrrt, Skrrt, Skrrt, Skrrt, Skrrt, Skrrt, Gang Gang, Gang Gang, Show me what you got, show me what you got."

Many netizens called her out for those sounds and for dressing the doll in a certain way just because it was tanned. While the idol's actions angered fans, they are more settled now after Rei's apology.

IVE is a six-piece K-pop girl group that debuted under STARSHIP Entertainment in 2021. They have been one of the leading female K-pop groups in the industry with several hit tracks such as Dive, Eleven, After LIKE, Kitsch, Baddie, etc.

Most recently, the K-pop girl group released their third EP, Ive Switch, on April 29. The album holds two leading singles, such as Heya and Accendio. Both tracks garnered attention during their time of release and fans have enjoyed their live performances in music shows and other events.

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While fans have been upset about Rei's recent controversy, they hope the idol will be more careful with her words and actions in the future.