BTS and Big Hit Entertainment donated a whopping $1 million to the Black Lives Matter Movement to support anti-discrimination advocacies against colored people in the US.
According to a report by EW, Black Lives Matter managing director Kailee Scales confirmed that the superstar Kpop group donated to their cause through their label, Big Hit Entertainment.
In her statement, Scales said that their group was touched by the generosity of BTS and other allies who stand for solidarity in the fight for Black Lives. She said that they take comfort in support of people from all over the globe who have spoken up and stood with them as they deal with trauma and pain over years of oppression.
BTS, through its official Twitter statement, condemned racial discrimination and violence in all forms. The group of RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook said that everyone deserves respect and stood for the rights of all people.
BTS is the latest in the line of Kpop idols who moved to support the Black Lives Matter movement. It can be recalled that a stream of protests recently broke out in the US after a man named George Floyd died in the hands of a police officer who leaned his neck for eight minutes despite his complaints that he could not breathe.
It was reported that Floyd was arrested by officers after he was suspected of paying with a counterfeit $20 bill. Among those who spoke out about racial discrimination was rapper Jay Park, who donated $10,000 to Black Lives Matter.
He condemned the law enforcement for violating the law that they were sworn to protect. He later reported that his fellow artists from his AOMG label managed to raise a total of $21,000 among them and vocally supported the movement. GOT7's Mark took a more low key approach and donated $7,000 to the George Floyd Foundation quietly, Billboard reported.
In his post, he called on everyone to stay safe as they fought for their rights for equality and justice. Kpop fans also caused a stir in social media when they sidelined the hashtags of their idols to use their collective power to drown out the negative messaging of #WhiteLivesMatter.
Twitter users were originally shocked to find the hashtag trending but were pleasantly surprised that they were posts of Kpop fancams posted by different fandoms. The move was lauded as a brilliant way to turn the tables on racist sentiments, Variety reported.
