Netizens have hit back at Variety magazine after the publication was accused of asking BTS‘s Jungkook disrespectful questions and portraying a negative narrative in a new interview.
On July 14, Jungkook finally released his hotly anticipated solo track “Seven.” Unsurprisingly, netizens couldn’t hide their excitement after watching the video with Han So Hee and seeing the duo’s visual chemistry.
Of course, as Jungkook has just released his single, it’s not surprising that the outlet has been speaking to various media outlets about the release. One of those was with the well-known publication Variety.
From the beginning of the piece, ARMYs shared anger about the article as the publication explained that the interview was done with a translator, emphasizing the idea of BTS having translation issues because of their lack of “English” skills. Of course, considering how hard BTS works to be able to communicate with global fans.
Some questions made fans uncomfortable, including alluding to ARMYs as “Streaming bots.”
There was also a negatively worded question about the friendships within BTS, referring to “Interpersonal friendships.” It even specified Jungkook’s friendship with Jimin and whether ARMYs are “fixating on one person.”
Variety also seemingly tried to suggest that Jungkook is at some “advantage” with his solo debut because many of the members had already “tested the waters for solo work.”
When the interview was released, netizens couldn’t help but share their anger at the question. For many, it seemed like the outlet was “gaslighting” Jungkook into saying certain things that could be deemed problematic. They also hated how the angle of the questions and narrative were just disrespectful towards Jungkook.
Variety asking the weirdest out-of-line questions trying to set Jungkook up what the actual fck????? pic.twitter.com/UtvbEl3FJy
— lea⁷
(@seokjinbit) July 14, 2023
so the variety interviewer that interviewed jungkook tried to imply that jimin and jungkook aren’t friends, ask a question with racist undertones about latto and disrespect jungkook because of the language barrier? pic.twitter.com/UsAVrKDJOe
— skya
(@andfuckvmin) July 14, 2023
this whole interview with variety is basically them trying to gaslight jungkook into saying that armys are streaming bots and seven’s success will be inorganic bc of a “strategy” — just accept bts release good music and move on?? shocked but not surprised. pic.twitter.com/9qCpNfU8ac
— seven by jk OUT NOW ✦˚ (@jeonpixi) July 14, 2023
Yet, shortly after the interview was posted, it seems like the publication quickly changed some of the wording of the questions. While still speaking about a translator, they removed the part of his “command in English.”
The wording in the others has been changed to remove anything that ARMYs had earlier deemed “disrespectful,” whether it was the leading questions, serious words like “fixating,” and topics on ARMYs.
Although the wording of the questions has seemingly been changed, ARMYs still have evidence of the previous narrative and aren’t afraid to show their anger. While Jungkook’s solo is a positive occasion for ARMYs, Variety seemingly tainted it with the hope of creating some “Juicy” news.
You can read more about netizens praising Jungkook’s answers in the interview below.
