By Lee Ji-hye
U.S. celebrity gossip channel TMZ is under fire over the “racist” comments of a reporter who mocked a K-pop star who spoke in English.
A video clip of the segment has gone viral among Koreans.
The TMZ segment, which mainly deals humorously with celebrity stories, aired last Saturday ㅡ showing K-pop girl group EXID member Junghwa greeting the TMZ crew in English, which the reporter mocks.
TMZ staff instantly show disgust at the reporter's comments.
As of Wednesday, "TMZ racist" was among the top 10 searched words on Korean web portal Naver, with bloggers and news outlets blasting the U.S channel for its comments.
On the main news program of television network JTBC, News Room, anchor Sohn Suk-hee said: "We could just shrug it off, but I feel weirdly provoked by TMZ ㅡ they make offensive comments that are rather subtle." He said he thought there was nothing wrong with the K-pop star's pronunciation.
Broadcasting network SBS interviewed a lawyer regarding TMZ's segment on celebrity program "One Night of TV Entertainment."
"In the video, you see the staff members trying to speak against the reporter and the way she mocked the K-pop celebrity, which is probably because they recognized the racist slur in her comments," lawyer Park Ji-hoon said, adding that he "feels offended as an Asian."
Along with growing criticism online, EXID's agency, Yedang Entertainment, said the reporter was "making fun of the way Koreans talk and their tone”, adding that it was not a laughing matter.
"It is a clear case of racism and we are going to go through Korean media in America to contact TMZ and demand a response," a spokesman said.
Several K-pop artists took to Twitter to criticize TMZ.
"I was going to stay quiet but I can't," F(X)'s Amber wrote. "Seriously, TMZ ㅡ not cool, all Americans face palm at your rude and childish actions."G.O.D's Park Joon-hyung took to Instagram: "When someone goes to another country and that person tries their very best to say that they are happy to be there in a foreign language, they should be welcomed, not mocked."