Jae Park, a former vocalist and guitarist of the South Korean pop rock band Day6, has apologized for remarks he made about K-pop artist Jamie Park.
Jae, who has recently been broadcasting on Twitch since his hiatus from music, took a jab at his former JYP Entertainment labelmate during a recent livestream.
A widely shared clip on social media shows the 29-year-old saying, “OK, now that I’m not in K-pop anymore, I can say this. Why is Jamie trying to be a thot?” He then laughed before telling his viewers, “That’s right! I said it. Tell her. I said it! Tell her!”
“Thot” is a derogatory slang term that describes a woman who is “considered to be sexually provocative or promiscuous.”
In an extended version of the clip, Jae claims he was “just kidding,” noting that “Jamie is incredible at music.” He also calls Jamie a “close friend” and a “badass queen.”
Another video of the livestream shows the streamer justifying his comments to his audience. Jae claims that he would tell Jamie that he called her a “thot”, because “your posting of this kind of picture with these kinds of poses – that makes me believe that you are perfectly described under that description of what I just said.”
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Jamie responds
Jamie would later respond in a pair of now-deleted tweets, “A what? Just remember how much I cared about you even before you were in your last company and how many times [I asked] if you were alright. I prayed for you. Your questions were like mine. It’s really sad.”
After deleting the tweets, she assured her followers that she’s “okay.” Shortly after, she tweeted: “I hate that we as women have to be subjected to mens [sic] humor to appease incels on the Internet period.”
Jae apologizes
Jae then took to Twitter to address the situation. He wrote that he was sorry “to Jamie and everyone about what I said. It was most definitely a comment made in poor taste and I feel terrible for making Jamie feel the way she does.”
“What I thought was friendly banter I now realize wasn’t. In no way was I referencing any kind of physical behavior or energy (trying to take a slight at Jamie) but rather the aura of what people refer to as a ‘baddie’ and thought the two were synonymous, however I do understand that this is in no way an excuse for my comment. My sincerest apologies to Jamie as well as to everyone who was hurt by it.”
Jae, whose contract with JYP Entertainment ended on Dec. 31, 2021, announced that he was taking a break from Day6 on Jan. 1, according to South China Morning Post.
As of this writing, Jamie has not publicly responded to Jae’s apology on social media.
