Norwegian reporter apologizes over 'racist' question for Korean actress
A Norwegian reporter based in Los Angeles has apologized to Korean actress Kim Soo-hyun after her “racist” question during a recent interview angered many of her fans. Screengrab of Flaa's Instagram
By Jung Min-ho
A Norwegian reporter has apologized for a “racist question” she asked Korean actress Kim Soo-hyun, also known as Claudia Kim, during a recent interview.
Kjersti Flaa, who is based in Los Angeles, apologized on Instagram Thursday after her “offensive and ignorant” question enraged many of Kim's Korean fans.
“Since I posted my interview with her and Ezra Miller I have realized that something I asked her came off in a way that was never intentionally meant as being anything else but curiosity, but it has later been brought to my attention that it sounded ignorant,” Flaa wrote.
“I am a Norwegian myself and English is not my first language and I was really impressed that Claudia could read Harry Potter in English at a very young age (since she grew up in Korea and I know that English is not her first language).”
This came a week after Flaa had an interview with stars in the film, “Fantastic Beasts 2.”
In an interview video released on Nov. 7, the reporter asked Kim and Miller about their first encounters with the Harry Potter books.
After Kim responded that she read the books when she was a middle school student, Flaa had a surprised look on her face and asked whether she was able to speak English at that age.
“Ooh, but you read it in English, then? So you did speak English? That's cool,” Flaa said.
Kim looked slightly taken aback by her reaction, and Miller chimed in and said she is fluent in English.
Flaa's remarks, which many thought came from an assumption that Kim, as a Korean, wasn't good at English, angered her fans. Many demanded her apology; some fiercely attacked her on social media, calling her “racist.”
On Friday, Flaa apologized again to Kim.
“I have received a lot of emails with extremely unpleasant threats to me and my family after several sources are calling me racist and other terrible things. I have been totally heart broken by everything that has happened,” she said.
“All I wanted to do was make a great interview with her and Ezra and I am sorry to everyone that was disappointed. Now, please spread some love into this world instead of fueling it with more hatred. And if you read this Claudia, please forgive me if I offended you.”