When Blackpink was invited to take part in the popular musical segment from The Late Late Show, fans were naturally ecstatic — until a crucial and factually incorrect claim was made. During the seemingly inoffensive segment, James Corden once again put himself next in line on BTS ARMY’s radar when he inaccurately congratulated the girl group for a record that they did not produce.
During the fun moments between the late show host and the aforementioned band’s four members, one unfortunate blunder took place. Corden, at one moment in the video, congratulated Blackpink on being the “first K-Pop group to reach number one in the U.S. album charts,” and as ARMY would quickly point out, BTS was, in fact, the first group to achieve this historical record. As a result of their 2018 record, Love Yourself: Tear, BTS topped the charts in its debut week for the very first time.
This remark came exactly during a time when Jimin’s historical achievement on the Billboard charts was placed under microscopic attention by Billboard officials after the singer reached number one in its chart. As Billboard continues to change the legibility rules almost every time BTS tops Western artists in their own musical sphere — which has happened a total of three times — ARMY is understandably upset that media outlets and even talk show hosts seem to continuously undermine BTS’ achievements.
Since then, The Late Late Show‘s spokesperson has issued an apology to BTS fans, attempting to soften the blow by explaining that Corden meant to say Blackpink was the first “female K-Pop group,” to have reached the top of the U.S. charts. The tweet in question has also prohibited any replies.
Aside from the ongoing feud between ARMY, Corden and Billboard, many fans also expressed their thoughts regarding Blackpink’s continuous ego strokes by the media and fans, which oftentimes provide falsely claimed news that does not represent reality.
At the end of the day, both Blackpink and BTS have certainly achieved unprecedented records, unlikely to be emulated in the near future. While Blackpink’s own achievements are undoubtedly worthy of praise, ARMY may have a point in wishing for fairness within the industry and all its peers.