Stray Kids' Bang Chan Apologizes For His Recent Comments About Other Idols

Stray Kids’ Bang Chan has apologized for comments he made during a recent live broadcast.

On May 14, Bang Chan held his weekly “Chan’s Room” broadcast, during which he chats with his fans about various topics. Towards the end of the live, a fan asked Bang Chan, “How was ‘Music Bank in Paris’?”

After saying that he’d enjoyed the experience and sharing the stage “with a lot of great artists,” Bang Chan went on in English, “I don’t know, I might sound like a boomer. Because generations are different, and I know that as well. But I feel like it’s come to the point where greeting someone is not considered as basic manners… Because you know, if you see someone walk by, and you say hi, but then, if they don’t reply back, it’d be like, ‘What the…? Okay…’ But I feel like it’s come to the point where this generation is allowed to do that. [To] just not care… because there were a few scenarios where that would happen.”

Explaining that he was initially taken aback when some junior idols didn’t return his greetings, Bang Chan continued, “At first, I was like, ‘Okay, what… okay, this is…’ But then, the more I thought about it, I was like, ‘Maybe I’m just over-exaggerating. Maybe I’m thinking too much about it. Maybe I’m just a boomer.'”

“So I think that was the whole vibe,” he concluded. “That was one of the things I remembered from ‘Music Bank in Paris.'” When fans asked him which idols he was talking about, Bang Chan replied, “I mean, I’m not going to say names! But yeah, there are people out there… but I mean, I guess it’s a different generation. Probably just have to live with it, right?”

Following the broadcast, there was a flurry of speculation online over which idols Bang Chan might have been referring to, with many people guessing that it had been a specific idol from the “Music Bank in Paris” lineup.

On May 17, Bang Chan took to Instagram to apologize for his remarks and clarify that the idol “being mentioned currently” in online speculation was actually not one of the artists he’d been referring to.

Bang Chan’s full English apology is as follows:

Hello, this is Bang Chan from Stray Kids.

I apologize for the offense caused by the comments I made during a recent live broadcast.

I thought about the impact my words and behavior can have on others, and have deeply reflected on myself.

I would like to mention that it was not my intention to specify a certain artist, and that my comments had nothing to do with the artist being mentioned currently.

I would like to express my deepest apologies to the artist who has been hurt by my careless words. I sincerely apologize.

I will be more cautious of what I say in order to ensure this does not happen again.

Once again, I sincerely apologize.