Publish date: 2023-11-13

K-Pop group BTS is taking heat, again, for the Nazi symbol seen in a magazine photo shoot that a Reddit thread originally attacked in 2017. The Simon Wiesenthal Center revived the criticism after issuing a statement that condemned several members for “wearing hats with the Nazi SS Death Head logo” on Nov. 11. It was a symbol associated with the party that caused “the Nazi mass murder of 6 million Jews during the WWII Holocaust,” as the not-for-profit organization pointed out. Even the director of Global Social Action, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, demanded an apology — and BTS delivered. The seven-member group’s company, Big Hit Entertainment, clarified the awful oversight in its official response on Nov. 13.

“Regarding the wearing of a hat displaying a logo reminiscent of Nazi symbolism, again as previously explained the incident was in no way intentional,” the company wrote, which was posted on its Facebook page. It then pointed out that “all apparel and accessories” from the photo shoot were “provided by the publication conducting the shoot,” but still took blame. “We would like to offer our sincere apologies for inadvertently inflicting pain and distress to anyone affected by totalitarian regimes in the past by failing to strictly review the clothing and accessories that our members were made to wear, as well as to anyone who may have experienced distress and discomfort by witnessing an association of our artists with imagery reminiscent of political extremism,” the company continued.

The apology was just a few lines among a lengthy statement that addressed even more of BTS’ recent controversies. The Japanese station TV Asahi uninvited the group, which had just spoken at the United Nations in September, from delivering a live performance on Nov. 8 because of another insensitive clothing article. As seen in a 2017 episode of the group’s Bon Voyage series, Jimin’s T-shirt showed a photograph of the mushroom cloud over Nagasaki, Japan, which was the aftermath of the devastating atomic bomb that struck the city in 1945. “PATRIOTISM OUR HISTORY LIBERATION KOREA,” the shirt read.

The controversial shirt Jimin wore gets sold out

— allkpop (@allkpop) November 8, 2018

Big Hit Entertainment also apologized for the uproar the shirt caused, writing, “In all activities involving BTS and any other artists associated with our company, Big Hit does not condone any activities of war or the use of atomic weapons, is adamantly against them, had no intention of causing distress or pain to anyone affected by the dropping of atomic weapons, and we will continue to adhere to these principles.”

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