Bayern 3 Matthias Matuschik : “Racism Is Not An Opinion”, BTS’ ARMY Take Stand Against Racist Radio Host

Bayern 3 Matthias Matuschik : "Racism Is Not An Opinion", BTS' ARMY Take Stand Against Racist Radio Host

BTS may be the biggest and most successful boyband of all time but they still face problems and have to fight for their respect every other day. Them being Korean is seen as something that can be taunted, especially ever since Covid19 was reported. After a sensational performance at MTV Unplugged just yesterday, BTS and their strong, protective fanbasse, ARMY are already fighting off racist haters. This time, the ignorant comments came from a radio team in Germany.

Bavarian radio station Bayern 3 found its name trending worldwide after a radio host took a dislike to the latest release by BTS, a cover of Fix You by Coldplay. The group’s army of loyal fans, army, took to social media accuse the station’s Matthias Matuschik of racism after he blasted the band’s cover of Coldplay’s “Fix You.”

What did the Bayern 3 host say about BTS?

Matuschik compared the band to the COVID-19 virus, describing them as “some crappy virus that hopefully there will be a vaccine for soon as well. For this you will be vacationing in North Korea for the next 20 years!” He passed several ignorant comments like these and was instantly asked to apologize by army and locals alike, not to just BTS but also to the entire asian community who he had targetted with his ‘jokes’.

Sensing his comments might cause upset, Matuschik said his comments were not aimed at South Korea. “You can’t accuse me of xenophobia,” he said. “I have a car from South Korea. I have the coolest car ever.”

Hashtags like #Bayern3Apologize and #Bayern3Racist have started to appear on Twitter.

How the Bayern 3 responded to ARMY ‘s accusations

Bayern 3 defended their presenter and, while the station did concede he may have gone too far, it said this had not been his intention.

“It is the character of this show and also of the presenter to express his opinion clearly, openly and unvarnished,” the station said in a statement. They also implied that it is now a “trend” to call everyone a racist, even for jokes and half-hearted statements. The apology they issued was more of a statement of why they believe they did not say anything too false.

While Bayern 3 issued a statement as an apology, stating that Matuschik was “expressing his opinion in a clear, open and ironic, exaggerated way,” ARMYs were quick to respond that verbal abuse against people of colour is neither a joke nor ironic.

Sony Music Group, along with Columbia Records (US distributor of BTS’ music), took to social media to condemn racist sentiments and hate against the Asian community.

In 2018, BTS became the first K-Pop act to speak at the United Nations. The group’s leader Kim Namjoon, commonly known as RM, said, “No matter who you are, where you are from, your skin colour. Just speak yourself.” BTS, together with Big Hit Entertainment, also contributed to donating COVID-relief funds to help and support live entertainment personnel affected by the ongoing pandemic. The group is always speaking up against injustice, talking about struggles, helping their and other communities in every way they can. Ofcourse, army is disappointed at how western media and radio hosts always get away with anything they say.


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