The Most Controversial K-POP Photoshoots of All Time 

the fact that all these are not under the idols' control yet netizens criticize the idols rather than the company who allowed to sign up for the photoshoot or the photographer

For me, I love Stellar's marionette not because of the sexy concept but because of the music itself, the meaning of the music speaks volumes to people who were once used/toyed and abused in their relationships and I can relate to it.

The fact that a lot of people from the "disrespected" Cultures think that is totally fine if it's done correctly. Sometimes people overreact and blow things out of proportion.

one of the ntx members is wearing a bulgarian traditional costume and actually most bulgarian kpop found it cute and we didn't mind. we were actually happy they used something from our culture. you really can't speak for all the nationalities/ethnicities represented.

I loved Stellar and I miss them, but I glad they're not forced to do something against their liking anymore. Sting and Crying were my fav songs.

Damn. Started with Stellar. They are so tragic because they're so talented but their agency resorted to sex tactics. 😭

Glad that there are still people who would talk about problems like this so that way agencies could pay more attention on what their making their artists do for concepts.

if an idol group got dressed in the national costume of my country i would love it!!! if there's no mocking it's all cool! it's appreciation and celebration!

And this is how after several years idol gets problem with mental health / depressions

It feels horrible These idols were forced to do this…😕 I remember seeing the photoshoots for SHINEE Sherlock and I was uncomfortable….and we all know who did that..smh

It's not the idols' faults though, just the companies desisions

Although Taemin looked gorgeous with his long hair during Sherlock promo, I will never stop feeling sad every time I remember the times he gently tried to express how uncomfortable it made him feel to see the photos where they tried to show him like that. Nowadays there is much more talk about dysphoria and gender identity, but back then they tried a thousand ways to mold him as if he were a doll and they crossed many boundaries in his personal space and what his body should look like. Because he is not only a kind person but also strong-minded and because he had a lot of support from the other members, fortunately he did not end up resentful of his own body or others for how they treated him, and he even learned to use his androgeneity for his benefit and part of his artistry.When you're young it's hard to feel comfortable with your own body during puberty, and having a lot of people trying to make you feel different from other guys your age and feel less than others for not being masculine enough, more so in a society like South Korea. The same thing happens with girls, they sexualize them as much as possible and they end up being attacked by said society.

Jesus, people are so easily triggered by any cultural references. This is getting ridiculous. How can one be offended by using another country's traditional music in a few seconds of the song or a hairstyle that was meant to just look good and instead it infuriated the public because "it's cultural appropriation" can the world just like... Chill? Everything everyone does is wrong, inappropriate and offensive. I understand if the intention behind it was bad or if the idols were forced to do something, but for example saying that a native clothing can't be a costume is honestly too much. Why is it that crosses and biblical themes can be used by everyone and the other religions' symbols can't? If my favorite idols wore a traditional outfit from my country I would be so excited to see it be recognized by them and the last thing I'd consider would be that they wore it to make fun of it or the nation. People are twisted, man.

I am from India , and here not only hindus, but christians and other religion people too wear Bindis. And sometimes we wear it for stage performances too & its not only used by married women but anyone can use it. Married women wear Kumkum.

No but seriously, netizens can’t let Aespa breath just like 2 seconds, they put all the hate on aespa while it is obviously not the girls fault if this was “plagiarised”…. The hate towards them is getting simply ridiculous and this is honestly tiring to only see hate comments when you watch a video / an article talking about aespa ….😤

Do you know whp created the Sherlock concept with underage Taemin? MIN HEE JIN. Taemin revealt he felt uncomfortable and Minho said it felt wrong. That witch shouldn't be near minors. You already saw the pics she has in her house and how she likes films with p*do concepts such as I'll take her as a daughter, or films with minor actors being s*xualised such as Blue Lagoon.

Note: Stellar is a group under The Entertainment Pascal, NOT Top Class Entertainment. The latter is a Chinese entertainment company which manages Xiaoting of Kep1er and has nothing to do with TEP.

At some point the concept of cultural appropriation gets confusing cause Aladin for example is a Disney classic but also completely distorted from the mid eastern culture

As an Indian person I don't find it offensive for any person wearing bindis, using Indian melodies or doing Indian dance moves for the matter.... rather in India we appreciate it..... and if u are a foreigner and visiting India u will get treated as a celebrity 😉

as an indian i don't know how a bindi is so much offensive to people literally anyone in this world can wear a bindi

Most of these complaints by fans are ridiculous.

About bindi Chinese brides and goddesses wear that? I've seen so many traditional Chinese paintings & drama starring wearing bindis

I absolutely love the fact that Indians defend Nature and don’t have a problem with their concept for rica rica! People need to calm down and stop being offended when it literally doesn’t have anything to do with them!

most is indeed the companys trouble, and often idols just don't know (they train so much, and many drop out of school), so people should let comapnies know without creating the bonfire. I'm glad many from the part of the world people saw as disrespectful was happy to be seen in a appropriate way

In my opinion, they’re adults and can be as sexy as they want, any type of photos. They don’t owe netizens anything. It’s always female idols getting the most backlash for expressing their sexual side. On the other hand if it’s the agency, yes it’s wrong but again they have a contract, sometimes they don’t have the money to break the contract

Less than 30mins 💃💃💃💃💃 Earliest I have ever been 😊😊🤗 Anyway, thanks for the update ❤️❤️

Honestly, I would be extremely happy if my culture got noticed by kpop artists. They could use the most stereotypical parts from it and I'd thank them.

When is this trend "complaining about everything" gonna stop?! Its tiring and old now. I had an indian babysitter and she always had to put a bindy on me and I loved it, or dressed me in typical indian clothes. Would that be inappropriate today? If I would get a hairstyle or outfit from another culture, it would be out of appropriation and interest. And I wouldn't be pissed if someone else in china or america woyld dress in our traditional clothes or hairstyle. Why not?! Since when is it all a cultural inappropriation?! Every cultur stole/took from others, or else we all wouldn't evolve and wouldn't know what a wheel is today. Idiots

I have that Shinee album and i regret nothing. And the next one. I will forever hate knetz for Sulli, Go Hara & Jonghyun :)

Taemin was still a minor during Sherlock so he shouldn’t have been styled sexually. And while I’m fine with sexy concepts in general when members are adults, I read that the inspiration for the photoshoot came from gay adult magazines, which makes me so uncomfortable. There’s a difference between sexy and pornographic.

It's usually the company or the photographer most are perverts not just in Korea but whole if east Asia

It blows my mind how the idols is blamed for something they didnt have any control or say and how these company can use their idol as scapegoats for these scandals or controversies just for exposure 🤦🏾‍♀️

I can't believe the infamous Shinhwa 2001 photoshoot was not mentioned

some will people straight up hate the idol even if it's not their fault at all

I think that if a person of legal age wants to do a sexy photo shoot and is NOT forced to do so, there is nothing wrong. on the other hand, when someone is forced to do so, which is usually the case with idols, it is problematic and should end. worst of all is the hate these artists receive for something that is not even their fault.

Stellar songs are still some of my favorites.

Really Over a bindi ? If you ask Indian women in real life most of them wouldn't care or infact say they it looks beautiful on them

I swear people aren't allowed anything anymore without getting hate

WHATS WRONG WITH LOLITA FASHION !!!! It bothers me how much people say something is “to Lolita” cause it’s inappropriate like ???? Do u not know what Lolita is ???? Don’t call something to much of a subculture u don’t understand it boils my blood

Literally most born an raised ethnic minorities appreciate NTX’s photoshoot and as pretty much everyone knows that cultural clothing is formerly referred as costumes. Even if you want to take an educational fashion course they will call any piece of clothing a costume and same goes for the term attire. Also notice how the majority of backlash was against the African attire, why does the US (and everyone who gets influenced by it) specifically want to always push us to the side? Same goes for specific Asian attires. It’s funny how they also group us in a few boxes also based on our appearances mainly: Africans suddenly can wear attires from each black African country but can’t wear the attire of a more light skinned (not necessarily non black passing) Arab country and so Arab people can wear the attire of each other’s and Asian people can wear the attire of each other’s as long as they pass that one ethnic group. For example Chinese,Koreans and Japanese can emerse each other’s clothing but it’s wrong if Koreans wear Indian clothing and Indians can also wear Pakistani clothing etc and Chinese passing Russians can wear Chinese,Koreans and Japanese clothing too etc. At the end of the day the western media is still pushing us to the side gaslighting us making us believe it is for our own’s good as if world leaders aren’t advised to do the same(even if in their own terms) and some places don’t specifically require people to dress a certain way. At maximum the Napoleon costume was disrespectful because it was specifically Napoleon , not just a French military general/sergeant and France has a ton to offer too! For NCT, the presence of Arab culture isn’t wrong, but the presence of the Mecca was! Arab culture ≠ Muslim culture. They often go along but not necessarily. At this point they don’t even want to celebrate different architectural styles (that yes, they often have deeper meanings-origins but what doesn’t?) other than Korean and the European castle(that is maybe more popular than the Korean one in royalty inspired music videos). NCT’s most viewed song is “Kick it” which is has references to Bruce Lee and is set in a Chinese building but the only Chinese member featured in the song wasn’t even in the music video. People are biased, sometimes it is great to listen to their opinion and see their point in order to be respectful but for a few years now it feels more like they are pushing a secret despise towards minorities and say “Keep that stuff in your home between your people only, we don’t want to see it or it to be expanded and known at all”. They need to get out of their bubble.

Onlyoneof watching: 😦we better wear shirts

Why isn’t anyone talking about shinhwa’s naked photoshoot especially junjin he was the youngest during that (Andy wasn’t in the photoshoot) junjin had it butt showing in the photo shoot

8:19 I’m an Indian and I haven’t watched the mv but why so serious? Like srsly why are people getting so sensitive about dressing like other cultures, yes saying it as costume is a bit extreme but as far as I think this girl group didn’t deserve that much hate?

I loved the nct make a wish concept tbh

That Rotta dude need to have limits. Idols have such young fans and the companies should be careful.

Ntx concept was not offensive except maybe the fact it was called costume.

We need another stellar group

I just love this channel nothing else

When being inspired is represented as being plagiarized 🤔

I feel like Kpop companies need to be smarter now. Especially since their aim now is to be globally marketable. I don’t think someone else’s culture should be a concept. It’s great when embracing your own culture but I don’t think others should be used.

i am a muslim and i am deeply hurt by nct islamic concept. they imitate a mosque which is the most sacred place for muslims around the world. we muslims cared the most about religious values. please respect every religion

They have to becareful in this industry but netizens should stop bcz of their bad comments toward idol it affect on them i know some of concepts are too much but its not their fault company should be responsible and bcz of netizens hate comment we lost sulli and hara people dont even think about idols they are also human and i felt really sad for them even after their death people never leave them alone

Regarding the last one, in old Korean culture didn't they also wear colored red dots on their face for marriage? So how is it cultural appropriation if their own culture did it too

rip sulli, goo hara, and jonghyun (and any others who died this way). hopefully one day society will learn by you, grow a brain and treat people with empathy and respect. not in my lifetime probably.

I don't know how blue hexagonal table (that you can see clearly in the MV at the time stamp 1:21 ) is clearly resembling a black square building with gold decorations.

netizens should grow up i mean these photos aint even that revealing and they are old enough to do it. Some koreans need to change their mindsets. Damn when sulli’s name came up it really triggered me I still dont forgot what they did to her

I literally don't see what's wrong about other ppl or idols wearing other ppls traditional clothing. Like can everyone stop saying it's cultural appropriation. I feel proud to see others wear learn about my culture and wear my cultural clothing. U don't have any rites to hate someone just because they wear others traditional clothing as long as they don't make fun of it and do not talk bad about it. I'm might be a teenager but at least I'm wiser than some of u adults who take every little thing as a big issue. Even old ppl don't see any fault with it.

Netizens really need a reality check the way they criticize all these idols especially female idols is just disturbing

Actually, the reason you might find some Muslims arguing over the NCT "Make a Wish" comeback is because it indeed is very disrespectful to us. Mosques are where we pray and using them as a symbol in music is very disrespectful to us. I'm not hating on them. But I'm stating the reason most Muslims would be mad at them. We ourselves don't use mosques and Islamic symbols in our music Cuz it's highly disrespectful. But anyways, that seriously does not mean you should hold the idols responsible for it or throw them death threats. Cuz that's seriously not okay.

Most of kpop fans: Minors & Late teens Almost all the idols, mostly 4th gen: Early teens. Companies: **Let's ignore that** Edit: And, yes, companies, not idols. 💕

as a muslim woman myself when i saw the pin on 6:52 im more like eh, the dome design is over used by now in all forms of designs. Also the ornate cube that resembles the Ka'Ba, fam that is not a resemblance no more that is how the Ka'Ba usually is made in trinkets, souvenirs and more, having it as a small cube instead of the bigger item and the NCT member being bigger than the Ka'Ba is probably what pissed of the community since it insinuates that the NCT members are bigger than faith and religion and God (if that makes sense) Also added note, Ka'ba is in the middle of the mosque Al Haram, but Mekkah is also not just a city, it is the holy city for us and TLDR, only muslim people may enter. Since it is one of the cities that we need to visit during our pilgrimage. (Umroh and Hadj) to summarize it, imho using both the Ka'Ba designs or the mosque dome designs are ok, if the proportions were different specially with the Ka'ba. If the NCT members were standing in front of it, with the building being bigger than they are tbh I don't think that would be a bad thing. but yeah... I can go on a long time explaining things and tbh i dont think any of ya'll will fully read this. Still I wanna type this all down for the rare person who does want to be educated on what is ok and what not is ok when it comes using our religious symbols.

Didn't the ceo of new jeans also did the shinee lolita concept? Right? 😐

As a muslim, I dont see how NCT mv was disrespectful. I swear fellow muslims are sensitive abt anything that concerns the religion

The whole "cultural appropriation" mess is out of control. So sad for our future and this 'everything is offensive' culture. It's all about context. And idols have no say about any concept for their albums or fashion styles.

Someone should really the netizens to scold the company for what they force on the idols, not the idols themselves.

Some thoughts in Cultural Appropriation (CA)... Item 1: This one is first because it is most important. If you are not part of the culture that is allegedly being appropriated you need to shut up and let the people who are actually part of the culture speak for themselves. I don't know how many times I've seen people jump on the CA hate wagon only to have people from the culture that is supposedly being appropriated say that it's not a problem. In many, if not most, cases the so-called 'victims' of CA are saying that they actually enjoy seeing their culture appreciated by people of other cultures. Item 2: Music and dance are universal. They are meant to be appreciated and shared. Stop accusing people of 'stealing' this sound or that dance move. This is not cultural appropriation, it's cultural appreciation. Item 3: Hair styles and clothing are much like music and dance. Please, stop accusing people who wear hair styles and clothing that is normally a day to day style of CA. If a person likes a hair or clothing style enough to incorporate it into their look, that, again, is cultural appreciation, not appropriation. Imagine if Americans started getting all bent out of shape because non-Americans were wearing t-shirts and jeans or cowboy boots and hats. Item 4: The same as Item 3, but with architecture. Item 5: False claims of ownership. Be sure that whatever you claim as part of your culture actually belongs solely to your culture. I won't get into specifics here but, for a while there, a group of people were claiming that a specific 'look' (let's just call it that and leave it there) was being CA'ed by people of other cultures. Come to find out, after some research, that 'look' was not only somewhat common all over the world, it had originated in an entirely different culture than the one that was trying to claim it. So, in reality, the group that was trying to claim CA had actually appropriated someone else's culture. Caveat: Obviously any item of actual religious or ceremonial significance should not be disrespected. Some examples would be religious iconography, a priest's cassock, a Native American war bonnet and so on. Caveat 2: Consider the intent. Simply wearing or displaying items from another culture is not inherently insulting. Using those items to mock another culture, on the other hand, is unacceptable. This, however, is not a case of cultural appropriation. It's just people being bigoted jerks. Caveat 2A: Never immediately assume negative intent. People make mistakes. No one can legitimately expect everyone to know every little detail about every culture on the planet. Sometimes, through sheer ignorance, people can cross the line and give insult where no insult is intended. Kpop is a perfect example of this. Quite often they make mistakes and display imagery or items that they thought was pretty, or cool, or whatever, not realizing that that imagery or item has a real cultural significance for some people. How they react when their error is pointed out is what matters, not that they made the mistake in the first place. Here endeth the lesson... 😁 Sorry for the overly long comment. I was kind of bored and this killed some time. To anyone who actually waded through all that and got this far, I hope you have a great day.

most on the featured i had seen it personally that's all

Why is it that they always represent Africa with Danshiki? It's not even a general attire, each country has its different prints

I still stan Nature because Girls is one of my favorite songs/MV’s, period. Not sure how they go from that to Rica Rica which was “okay”. I do hope they can find that magic again. Those girls deserve better.

4th :D

I wish people would stop with the cultural appropriation thing. But that is just me ✌🏼

I'm from Scotland and someone wearing a kilt does not offend me. Lmfao, such an offensive act! xD

In shock till this day by how they used kaaba and mosque in “make a wish” its really sad bc the song is really good :( it’s the most disrespectful controversy toward Muslims after cl’s and jay park

Kpop fans are so soft.

The boy group NTX that wore the cultural costumes was not bad in my perspective, they didn't look like they were trying to offend the cultures, and one of the members wore a traditional Romanian costume and i am romanian, but my reaction wasn't "omg they're offending my culture, they're making fun of my nationality" i was actually happy that they wore the costume in the first place. I can't speak for all the nationalities and cultures that were shown in their costumes, but i know that some people whos cultural costumes were shown here are happy or like how they look, some of them are not offended or mad. And also when these kinda stuff happens it's usually the Americans who point it out and literally cancel people even tho they are not the ones whom culture or nationality is talked about in the first place, if you would have showed an french person or an any other culture that they wore they wouldn't be that mad, (i'm not talking about everyone, just about some of them) so why make this such a big deal?

Hypocrites everywhere!!!!!!!!

I actually knew in “make a wish” they used the Islamic design I was very disappointed since I am a NCTzen but it’s not NCT fault it’s obviously SM for letting them use something that disrespect other religions but ngl the song was the best NCT song they made in a while -> Please let’s all respect each other religion😊💚

Stellar had good music. That’s the sad part. They could’ve been more tasteful with it and been like AOA

Costume was the wrong word to use, if they had used Outfit or clothes, it'd be better, but Netizens would still be upset lol.

so ppl using costumes to adore our culture is a mistakes now?

Oyy.. Issue talaga ang ibang tao 😅 How about jaiho 😅

oh

In India, different kinds of bindi resemble different things and can be wore both by men and women. And is no way wrong to war them, but at the same time, when you wear them you should be in a very proper dress else its inappropriate

the way most of them are from SM ent,,,

Min Heejin is a weirdo for doing that to SHINee and especially to Taemin...

Its so mean... If top artist use the style and elements of other culture that means they are recognizable and they popularizing them. For me if any artist appear in karakalpak costume or juwellery i will cry from exitement and post it everywhere🧚‍♀️

As a Muslim,I wasn’t offended by make a wish at all!tbh I love music videos with some middle eastern inspo,since i mean they wouldn’t use middle eastern aspects in they mvs if they wouldn’t like it,right?has nothing to do with disrespect imo

If any KPop fans are wondering whether it's cultural appropriation, just look at Oli London and ask yourself this question: Is what he does considered Jimin's appreciations or Jimin's appropriation? That's the same way other culture feels when we see part of our culture badly done/depicted in a KPop video.

what's new to SMTown!

Girls is a legendary song but Rica Rica is a shame in their discography. The song is bad, the MV is bad and the choreo is weird.

As a former muslim and a middle eastern i don't have any objection or complaint against NCT dream using this kind of costume and mv. But that kaaba and mosque figure really upsets me they shouldn't use religious things for music.

I am Muslim l love nct but sm did a bad for nct music video

Was that Jiseong at 4:37?

It's inappropriate especially to the minor fans watching them. The company should do better for some of these idols who are exploited and manipulated into doing things which they have no control over

1 HOUR AGO

Sm really a mess !!!

seconddd

ACTUALLY it was said by a n_Ch staff member, that NATURE are preparing for a comeback with a concept 'showing a vastly different concept from that of Rica Rica'

0:56 excuse me Stellar's label is not Top Class Entertainment, it's The Entertainment Pascal. Top Class is a chinese label, the home of Kep1er's Xiaoting and more. Do further research before posting! Edit: TEP is formerly known as Top Class Ent. but you could've used TEP

yes i didn't like nct u's make a wish (in terms of style)