James Corden‘s recent episode of Carpool Karaoke has come under scrutiny by ARMY for spreading misinformation.
On April 19, all four members of BLACKPINK appeared as guests on Carpool Karaoke. The host James Corden cruised through the streets of Los Angeles with the girl group, singing along to their popular hits as they shared some exclusive stories about the tracks and their life as trainees.
BLACKPINK Open Up To James Corden About What Their Life Was Like As K-Pop Trainees
As customary of the show’s format, the host talked about the numerous achievements of the girl group, highlighting their fan pull in the United States especially. Among the several impressive records set by the group, James Corden mentioned that they were the first K-Pop group to reach #1 on the “US album charts.”
La reacción de BLACKPINK a algunos de los récords impresionantes que tienen como grupo, son tan lindas 🥹#BLACKPINKCarpool pic.twitter.com/y17djbbdQQ
— ARON 꽃 (@lovskpink) April 19, 2023
The clip soon spread on social media, and BTS fans quickly called out the misinformation in his statement. The phrase “US album charts” was pretty vague, to begin with, and most people assumed it implied the Billboards Hot 200 chart. Though BLACKPINK was the first K-Pop girl group to land #1 on that chart with their latest album, Born Pink, they are the overall fourth K-Pop act to have this achievement, following BTS, SuperM, and Stray Kids.
When LY: Tear went #1 in Billboard 200, it was the:
– 1st Korean / Asian album to go #1
– 1st foreign album to go #1 since 2006 (12 years)
– 1st foreign album to go #1 since 1995 (23 years) if you exclude classical crossover albums
– 1st World Music Album to go #1@BTS_twt pic.twitter.com/bjr9ap6yl2
— Wandering Shadow (@shadow_twts) May 18, 2022
While ARMYs called out James Corden for not doing his research and spreading misinformation on his show, some fans felt that Corden was actually referring to the US iTunes chart but were quickly corrected about that as well. Fact-checking fans pointed out that in August 2016, BLACKPINK topped the Worldwide iTunes Albums chart with Square One, but they were at #3 on the US charts. During the same year, in October, BTS topped the US iTunes Album chart with Wings, becoming the first K-Pop act to do so. The first K-Pop girl group to achieve the same milestone was Red Velvet.
bts still did first on the US itunes chart
delete this asap https://t.co/kKuTmtwVlm pic.twitter.com/6OovzhFw4x
— ᴅ⁷ (@sotyParadise) April 19, 2023
so after all checked Red Velvet is officially the first kpop girl group to have a #1 album on US iTunes AND 5th overall (after Destiny’s Child, Pussycat Dolls, Fifth Harmony and Little mix) @RVsmtown pic.twitter.com/yOtKGGfdUU
— knowles.🫧 (@ksgyonce) June 19, 2019
Some gave James Corden the benefit of the doubt that he probably misspoke “first K-Pop girl group” as “first K-Pop group,” but the demand for him to clarify his mistake remained constant. On April 20, the Twitter account of The Late Late Show With James Corden published an apology statement, admitting that the staff made a mistake and gave the host a card with the wrong information.
Sooooo we made a mistake in our BLACKPINK Carpool Karaoke last night.
We wrongly gave James a card to read that said BLACKPINK were the first K-POP group to land at #1 on the US album charts when that honor belongs to BTS. BLACKPINK were, of course, the first female K-POP group…
— The Late Late Show with James Corden (@latelateshow) April 19, 2023
While some fans are appreciative of this apology, others feel that the segment should be edited out of the episode to avoid any further spread of the wrong information. Regardless, it is unfortunate that the two groups got tangled up in such unnecessary controversy. Fans of both groups feel that as the spearheading representatives of K-Pop worldwide, both BTS and BLACKPINK should be warranted more respect by the media.
