“WDYM why we drinking with KPOP?”- Fans enraged by Radio host’s alleged racial remark towards SEVENTEEN members at DJ Khalid’s event

On September 21, 2024, the radio and television personality Ricky Padilla shared an Instagram story allegedly passing racist remarks toward SEVENTEEN member Vernon, who was spotted at DJ Khalid's LIV Miami. Ricky Padilla shared a video where the group member Vernon was seemingly standing using his phone amidst the crowd of people grooving to the music. He captioned the story:

"Why we drinking with k pop idol."

For those unversed, SEVENTEEN members, Mingyu, Vernon, and Woozi paid a visit to DJ Khalid's LIV Miami, where they were spotted greeting the artist by giving a hug and shaking hands.

Subsequently, the radio personality's Instagram post circulated on social media, inciting backlash against him where fans proudly stated that the SEVENTEEN members were invited to DJ Khalid's party and the musician even greeted them. One tweet read:

"WDYM 'why we drinking with KPOP'? J Khaled personally invited these idols and even greeted them in the first clip of his IG video. If they were 'nothing,' would he do that? Looking down on K-pop idols in 2024 is still a thing?"

The fandom expressed their anger on social media regarding the alleged racist remarks passed by the radio personality. They also hoped that the boys did not get any nasty expressions from the people present at the party.

"It hurts to think that Vernon is probably the only one who fully understands the side-eye and attitude from certain guests, but he can’t say anything to Woozi or Mingyu because they’re having fun. We wanted them to have fun, not to be treated like they don’t belong,"- a fan reacted.

"Rather than your 'disappointment' or infantalizing the boys, there is a much more concerning issue here such as experiencing first-hand racism. it's sad. it's much more disappointing,"- a fan shared.

"and i hope nothing worse happened in that table such as giving nasty looks to the boys or saying something nasty that the boys might have heard. i am so pissed,"- a fan mentioned.

The fandom also believed that the radio personality could have left the party if he was insecure about the artists. They also stated that this sort of behavior was the reason they did not want K-pop artists to interact with Western artists.

"He is obviously looking down on them. Seventeen is way more popular and richer than him,"- a user reacted.

"this is why i don’t want to hype any interactions between kpop idols & western artists unless it already happened & it was a good interaction,"- a user commented.

"Insecurity at its finest. He has the option to leave the party if he's not fine partying with "kpop" Why waste your time?"- a user mentioned.

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More about SEVENTEEN

The South Korean K-pop group SEVENTEEN features thirteen members, including Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, S.Coups, DK, Jun, Wonwoo, Hoshi, Mingyu, The8, Vernon, Seungkwan, and Dino. The band made their official debut on May 26, 2015, with the extended play (EP) 17 Carat, which emerged as the longest-charting K-pop album of the year in the United States.

The group's impressive list of discography includes Love & Letter, Teen, Age, An Ode, Face the Sun, 17 Hits, Always Yours, 17 is Right Here, Boys Be, Going Seventeen, Al1, You Make My Day, You Made My Dawn, Semicolon, Your Choice, Attacca, and other records.

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SEVENTEEN is set to return with their 12th Mini Album, SPILL THE FEELS, on October 14, 2024, at 6 pm Korean Standard Time.