TWICE member Chaeyoung has sparked outrage for another controversial wardrobe choice, this time involving a Nazi swastika.
Just a day after receiving backlash for wearing a T-shirt associated with far-right conspiracy group QAnon, the K-pop star posted a photo on Instagram in which she could be seen wearing a T-shirt with an image of a man wearing a swastika-emblazoned shirt.
The man in the image is Sid Vicious, the bassist for famous 1970s English punk band Sex Pistols. Vicious was known to wear clothes with controversial imagery, such as pornography or Nazi symbols, to incite outrage from onlookers. The musician wore the inverted swastika on multiple occasions near the end of his life, even choosing to wear it in the film “The Great Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle,” a mockumentary about the band’s rise to fame.
K-pop fans have expressed outrage online, with some accusing the industry of anti-semitism.
Chaeyoung has since removed the Instagram post and replaced it with an apology.
“I sincerely apologize regarding the Instagram post,” the apology reads. “I didn’t correctly recognize the meaning of the tilted swastika in the t-shirt I wore.”
“I deeply apologize for not thoroughly reviewing it, causing concern. I will pay absolute attention in the future to prevent any situation similar from happening again.”
Notably, neither Chaeyoung nor TWICE‘s label, JYP Entertainment, have released a statement regarding the QAnon shirt controversy.
