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K-pop band BTS is facing backlash from some fans after two of its members posed with controversial American singer Chris Brown and attended his Toronto show on Wednesday.
J-Hope (Jung Ho-seok) and RM (Kim Nam-joon) attended the second of two shows Brown co-headlined with Usher at Rogers Stadium.
BTS is scheduled to perform at the same venue on Aug. 22 and Aug. 23.
In a photo posted to Brown’s Instagram, J-Hope and RM are shown posing with the singer. They were also shown dancing and singing along to the show in videos posted to social media.
Brown has a criminal record and an extensive rap sheet.
His legal troubles started in 2009, when he pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge for an attack on his then girlfriend, singer Rihanna. Numerous other assault charges followed and Brown went to jail in 2014.
Most recently, he pleaded guilty last month to an assault charge in what prosecutors described as a bottle attack on a producer in a London nightclub.
Brown had to cancel concerts in Canada in 2015 after border officials denied him entry.
The photo and videos have prompted divided reactions online among BTS’s ARMY — a term for the South Korean pop band’s fans — with some expressing disappointment in the two members for associating with Brown.
“I stopped following them on [Instagram]. It’s hard to look at them and not see them posing next to [Brown] and smiling. It feels like I don’t recognize them anymore,” commented one Redditor.
“I am a woman before I am an army and there is not a man on this earth I’ll be a fan enough to make me compromise on that,” said an X user.
Others came to the defence of J-Hope and RM.
“Did it ever occur to anyone that they were there to see Usher?” a Facebook user wrote on BTS fan page BTS Army Los Angeles. “You don’t know if they knew anything about what Chris Brown did yesterday, much less 17 years ago, when they were kids.”
“Chris Brown’s history is serious, and acknowledging that doesn’t make anyone less of a fan. But there’s a difference between criticizing a decision and attacking someone’s character,” wrote another Facebook user.
“We don’t know what was going through their minds, what they believe about his past, or why they chose to be there, so making assumptions about their morals based on one night isn’t fair.”
Representatives for BTS have not yet replied to a request for comment.
