Entertainment
BTS share devastation over anti-Asian hate crimes as they appear at White House amid President Biden meeting-Rishma Dosani-Entertainment – Metro
The Butter singers are in the US.
BTS appeared at the White House today amid a meeting with President Joe Biden (Picture: Getty)
BTS spoke of their devastation over the anti-Asian hate crimes across the United States as they appeared at a White House briefing earlier today.
The K-Pop megastars, made up of Jimin, V, Suga, Jungkook, J-Hope, Jin and RM, made their way into the White House for a meeting with President Joe Biden, on the final day of Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month.
The Butter singers appeared in front of a press conference where they called for a stop to the violence.
Addressing the crowd – and the many thousands watching on a live stream- RM began: ‘Hi, we’re BTS and it is a great honor to be invited to the White House today to discuss the important issues of anti-Asian hate crimes, Asian inclusion and diversity.
‘Lastly, we thank President Biden and the White House for giving [us] this important opportunity to speak about the important causes, and remind ourselves of what we can do as artists.
‘Once again, thank you very much.’
BTS members spoke at a brief press conference (Picture: Getty)
The seven-piece then took turns to approach the podium, with Jimin explaining, via a translator: ‘We were devastated by the recent surge of hate crimes, including Asian-American hate crimes.
‘To put a stop on this and support the cause, we’d like to take this opportunity to voice ourselves once again.’
J-Hope took a moment to thank their fans, known as the Army, for being so supportive.
‘We are here today thanks to our Army, our fans worldwide, who have different nationalities and cultures, and use different languages,’ he said. ‘We are truly and always grateful.’
‘It is not wrong to be different, I think equality begins when we open up and embrace all of our differences,’ Suga said.
V agreed: ‘Everyone has their own history. We hope that today is one step closer to respecting and understanding each and every one as a valuable person.’
Jungkook added: ‘We still feel surprised that music created by South Korean artists reaches so many people around the world, transcending language and culture barriers.
‘We believe music is always an amazing and wonderful unifier of all things.’
The K Pop stars condemned anti-Asian violence in a statement (Picture: Getty)
It was previously announced that the Dynamite stars would be meeting with President Biden to discuss inclusion and representation, as well as how they could use their huge platform to spread awareness and shed more light on the cause.
In a statement, the White House said: ‘President Biden has previously spoken about his commitment to combating the surge of anti-Asian hate crimes and signed into law the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act in May 2021 to provide law enforcement with resources to identify, investigate, and report hate crimes and ensure that hate crimes information is more accessible to AA and NHPI communities.’
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BTS have previously spoken out over anti-Asian violence in a heartfelt statement, encouraging fans to stand together against hate.
‘We stand against racial discrimination,’ they penned in a statement. ‘We condemn violence. You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together.’
‘These experiences were enough to make us feel powerless and chip away our self-esteem. ‘What is happening right now cannot be dissociated from our identity as Asians.’
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