Fans who could not get their hands on a ticket for the completely sold-out BTS tour donated their money to the Ukrainian crisis instead.
Global sensation K-pop boy group BTS are scheduled to go on their first in-person tour in over two years since the start of the pandemic. The group announced they would be doing four shows in Seoul, Korea, and another four in Las Vegas.
All 300,000 of the “Permission To Dance On Stage” tickets for the Las Vegas showings on April 8-9 and 15-16 sold out immediately, with resale prices now reaching over $19,000. In a tweet on March 2, Ticketmaster announced that all Allegiant Stadium presale tickets had been purchased by BTS ARMY membership holders.
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Similarly, tickets for the March 10, 12 and 13 concerts in Seoul also sold out before even going on general sale. The first tickets went on presale exclusively for the BTS fan base, known as ARMY, a day before they were meant to open up to the public.
Many fans were disappointed when unable to secure a ticket; however, the ARMY displayed the BTS giving spirit by donating their ticket money to the Ukrainian crisis instead.
One such fan wrote, along with a screenshot of his 165,000 Won ($135.47) donation:
“Hoseok, I failed to get a ticket. But you go ahead and meet other ARMYs and be happy. Let’s meet ten years later. It’s so hard [to get a ticket]. My heart hurts *tear* I donated the ticket money. I donated to the Ukrainian Embassy…PEACE…”
BTS has been known to donate generously and be heavily involved in charitable causes. The group raised over $3.6 million in its anti-violence and anti-bullying campaign with UNICEF back in 2017. They renewed their collaboration in 2020, pledging another $1 million to their “Love Myself” campaign.
The boy group also donated $1 million to Black Lives Matter back in 2020 and over $80,000 to address the COVID outbreak in Korea. Their ARMY base has been known to mirror the same giving attitude, donating to many of the same charitable causes.
Korean netizens were heartbroken over a picture of Ukrainians taking shelter at a Kyiv subway station in front of a billboard featuring BTS member J-Hope. The billboard had been put up by the Ukrainian BTS ARMY in honor of the rapper’s birthday on Feb 18, less than a week prior to the Russian invasion.
Featured Image via @btsukrprojects
