K-pop superstars and two-time Grammy nominees BTS were guests on the Nov. 23 episode of “The Late Late Show With James Corden” and they talked about the show host’s jokes he made when the idol group spoke and performed at the United Nations General Assembly hall last September.
“It’s good to be back. But, James, how about you? You have been in some hot water with ARMY. Are you all right?” BTS’ RM asked Corden.
Last Sept. 20, BTS, appointed by Korean President Moon Jae-in as Special Presidential Envoy for Future Generations and Culture, spoke before world leaders at the second Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Moment of the Decade of Action meeting.
After they spoke, BTS’ “Permission to Dance” video, which they filmed in the UN General Assembly hall and surrounding areas, was shown during the meeting.
In the Sept. 21 episode of “The Late Late Show With James Corden,” Corden talked about BTS at the UN.
“And did everybody see this? The United Nations General Assembly kicked off this morning in New York City, and it starts with some pretty unusual visitors. BTS were there. BTS visited the UN and here's a performance they put together for the world leaders,” he said.
After the “Permission to Dance” clip was shown on his show, Corden said, “Lovely. It must be weird for whoever uploads the UN General Assembly meeting to YouTube. 15 million views! I knew that these trade tariffs would be popular. I sensed that with the trade tariffs.”
“Why BTS? The world leaders have no choice but to take BTS seriously. At the end of the day, BTS has one of the largest armies on the planet earth. Historic moment. It actually marks the first time 15-year-old girls everywhere found themselves wishing that they were Secretary-General Antonio Guterres,” he said, referring to fans who wished they were the UN Secretary-General in order to meet BTS.
Corden’s comments angered BTS ARMYs especially when he called BTS’ presence at the UN “unusual” and for calling the fans “15-year-old girls.”
“BTS & ARMY truly loved & respect James Corden or Papa Mochi genuinely but this time, the way he disrespect or say not good words to our boys is really disappointed,” one fan posted on Twitter.
Another wrote, “People always show their true colour at some point but James Corden we never expected you to DISRESPECT BTS like this. Especially when you KNOW EXACTLY what BTS and ARMY stand for.”
“James Corden” trended on Twitter for his comments about BTS.
During his latest episode with BTS, a flustered Corden explained his side of the controversy.
“Does everybody know what happened, what this was? So we said that we thought that -- we did two jokes which I didn't think were in any way funny to anybody, where we said it was unusual you were kicking off a UN summit with a performance, and we said, and this was where I think it was wrong, we said that your fans were 15-year-old girls, which, of course isn't true because I'm 43 years old and I consider myself to be one the biggest BTS fans on planet earth,” Corden explained to BTS.
Corden added, “But, yeah, it was -- I've never been on that side of the army before, and--whoo! The first I knew about it was when Reggie sent me a text, do you remember, Reg? And I was, like, well, someone just told me that they hope I die today, which did feel extreme.”
“It did feel extreme in response to what I thought were two quite harmless jokes, which we never meant to be at anyone's expense because, I hope you know this, we absolutely love you and we love the entire ARMY. we do,” added Corden.
He said, “I consider the BTS ARMY to be... I’ve seen them at their absolute best, when they are a true force for good, like they supported charities that I support at home and they're amazing, and I don’t know, the prospect of doing anything that may have upset them is I didn't enjoy that feeling and I hope they know that we would never do,” he said.
At that moment, RM told him, “James, it's all right. We appreciate your apology. We just like to clear the air with ARMY.”