In a recent viral concert video, the K-pop group KATSEYE was performing in New York as part of their global tour. After the performance, girls and in particular KATSEYE Yoonchae, brought a Gays for KATSEYE flag and held it up all over the stage. It sparked controversy online, labelling KATSEYE Yoonchae a homophobe. Many knetizens laid allegations of being homophobic due to her reactions, which reactions?
At the VMAs, K-pop girl group KATSEYE was asked, “What message do you have for your gay fans?” All the KATSEYE members cherished the gay fans and were very excited to answer the question. Fans accused KATAEYE Yoonchae of not showing as much interest as other group members. Fans assumed her lack of interest and interaction was homophobic or discriminatory against the gay community.
Is she homophobic or something? https://t.co/ya8AHN24ky pic.twitter.com/NGLxsxZJ55
— Jenn 🍡🍥 (@mappleEvermore) November 23, 2025
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Fans Defend KATSEYE Yooncha
However, many fans tried to defend her by highlighting language barriers, as English is not her primary language, and others jokingly said how Yoonchae dissociates at the wrong time. Many fans tweeted in favour or against the idol, for instance, A K-pop fan wrote in a tweet, “Oh so a member of this girl group is homophobic, and her fans actually defend and normalise it, yikes and noted. The whole controversy started at the VMAs and reopened at the New York concert on day 1. The flag should be KATSEYE FOR GAYS, but a typo error led to allegations of homophobia against her.
Siwon and his Commentary Online
LGBTQ issues chase Super Junior Siwon as he has a history of somehow indulging or getting accused of homophobic controversies. Back in 2015, Siwon retweeted a pastor’s tweet writing “same sex marriage did not exist”, which sparked uproar in the K-pop world. Again in 2023, Super Junior Siwon did something that shook the internet as he shared a meme on the fan app Bubble featuring a scene from Titanic with a line changed to “I’m trans”, which many considered against transgender sentiments or transphobic.
At SMTOWN Live, Super Junior Siwon held the hand of NCT Jaemin’s hand on stage. Some of the K-pop fans accused Siwon of performative action to gain popularity, support, and improve his image among the fans.
Super Junior Siwon’s Homophobia.
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On Reddit, fans showered their hate on Super Junior, and the answer is straightforward, as he supports right-wing leaders like Trump and Reagan online, shares transgender memes, and retweets anti-LBGTQ tweets. K-netizens also alleged that how can Siwon’s fans be defending him on these lines? No apology can fix the emotions and sentiments of transgender and lgbt people.
Super Junior Siwon Scribbled Out After Racist Controversy
i would like some clarification on siwon
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Jaejoong’s “Please Don’t” Jump Incident
Kim Jaejoong, in the early years of his career, was accused of being homophobic. On his talk show, Jaefriends, Jaejoong was watching K.Will’s “Please Don’t” MV, not knowing it had a queer storyline. He jumped up on the plot twist. Seeing this, some viewers labelled his behaviour as homophobic and accused him of queerbaiting after this incident.
A K-pop fan on Twitter wrote, “It’s 2024 btw, and he actually jumped up out of shock like he was watching a horror movie,” while another one defended Kim Jaejoong, stating, “people calling him homophobic even though he was caught reading yaoi in public and liked Eighth Sense.” For context, Yaoi is a Japanese term popularly known as boys love, depicting romantic relationships between male characters.
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His fans defended Jaejoong by reflecting on his past, reading Yaoi (Boys Love) in public, promoting BL drama Eighth Sense, and singing the OST for another Boys Love series. They also clarified that his reaction was genuine surprise rather than any sort of shock on the show.
Zico Flagged as Homophobic
Zico, a South Korean singer and rapper, used a homophobic slur, “f**got”, in his debut song, “Tough Cookie.” Not only this, but he also wore a Confederate flag in the video of that song. For this reason, Knetizens accused Zico of homophobic behaviour against the LGBTQ community. Zico’s label responded that his song and use of words were unintended. Zico didn’t harbour prejudice toward sexual minorities.
Idols Backlash (h0m0phobia and Cultural Appropriation)
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Fans accuse him of homophobic behaviour because of his song and use of a slur, featuring himself in the video wearing a Confederate flag, which shows oppression and overall hurtful language used overall in the song.
