Italian news broadcast outrages BTS fans

Italian news program TG3 Mundo used images of BTS to report on the Burning Sun Scandal. Captured from Twitter @ItalianARMY_BTS

By Lee Han-na

On Jul. 1 Italian news program TG3 Mundo broadcast a report on the Burning Sun scandal with photos of BTS, the superstar boy band not involved to the scandal. The one-minute clip contained only three shots related to the scandal; the other shots were mainly clips of the BTS UN speech and at the Grammy Awards.

ARMY, the BTS fan club, is outraged at the improper usage of images that indicated the band was involved in the scandal and protested through social media and in emails demanding an apology from the media outlet.

TG3 has deleted the video and replied to a fan that generic images were used for the clips. Italian Army replied on Twitter, “They removed the video online, and the related tweet . They didn't officially apologize.”

A Korean online user commented, “They are reporting about the scandal. I would have understood it if they used clips of YG bands like BLACKPINK, IKON and Big Bang.”

Another suggested the clips were an intentional attempt to harm the band.

Fans are still calling for a proper apology from TG3, with some fans waiting for Big Hit Entertainment to take action.