BTS Fans Match K-Pop Superstars’ $1M Black Lives Matter Donation
Fans of K-pop superstars BTS have rallied to support the Black Lives Matter movement
Fans of K-pop megastars BTS raised and donated $1 million to the Black Lives Matter movement, matching the septet’s donation of the same amount within 24 hours, organizers said Monday.
The band’s managers Big Hit Entertainment said at the weekend that they and BTS — currently one of the biggest acts in the world — had jointly donated $1 million to the ongoing anti-racism movement in the US and beyond, triggered by the death in police custody of an unarmed black man as an officer knelt on his neck.
“We stand against racial discrimination. We condemn violence,” BTS tweeted last week, which has since been retweeted around 1 million times.
The Big Hit announcement soon sparked a #MatchAMillion hashtag trending worldwide on Twitter, with a set of BTS fans — One in an Army — setting up an online donation project for the cause.
The power of @BTS_twt and their #ARMY—the international pop stars have once again shown the power of their social influence as they, along with @BigHitEnt and The BTS ARMY have collectively donated a little over $2 million in support of #BlackLivesMatter.https://t.co/zPzSwFTkzH
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) June 9, 2020
On Monday morning, One in an Army announced they had raised just over $1 million from nearly 35,000 donors.
“Just like BTS, we were able to donate 1M dollars to help fund bailouts for those arrested for protesting police brutality,” and support black-led advocacy groups, among others, they said on Twitter.
None of the fan group’s organizers are South Korean, according to their website, with most from Europe or North America.
The announcement follows a recent online effort by K-pop fans to take over the controversial #WhiteLivesMatter hashtag, often used by those who criticize the anti-racism protesters, by posting the tag along with videos and images of their favorite singers.
K-Pop Fans Take Over #whitelivesmatter Hashtag, Drown Out Racist Posts https://t.co/2sv25nKxFt
— Variety (@Variety) June 3, 2020
BTS — or Bangtan Sonyeondan, which translates as Bulletproof Boy Scouts — are the first K-pop group to top charts in the United States and Britain with a string of sold-out shows in Los Angeles, Paris and London’s Wembley Stadium.
“I am from London. My mom had to deal with racism all her life,” wrote one black BTS fan.
“I’m absolutely proud to tell her the group that… I adore supports us and stand with us.”