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#VMAsRacist: BTS Fans Are Furious VMAs Sidelined K-Pop Into A Separate Category

No love for the 'Boys with Luv'.
Screenshot

K-pop band BTS’s fans, the ARMYs, are upset with the apparent sidelining of the Korean boy band in the nominations for the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) announced on Tuesday.

BTS got just four nods, including three in the newly created K-pop category, which fans are calling out for being exclusionary.

ARMYs tweeted criticism of the nominations with the hashtag #VMAsRacist, saying the creation of a separate category kept Asian music stars out of contention for major awards like ‘Song of the year’, ‘Best pop video’ and ‘Video of the year’.

bts outsold,,,, EVERY SINGLE,,, artist in the artist of the year category but the vmas didn’t wanna see that so they made a whole new category just to not acknowledge the power and influence bts has had over the whole industry throughout 2019. a JOKE pic.twitter.com/5kJMhtfKkM

— ❥CHI0MA (@THICJ00N) July 23, 2019

suddenly kpop can’t be included in original voting categories.. #VMAsRacist pic.twitter.com/FxcKhPKbG1

— laie | bts x3 (@hxxrtthrob) July 24, 2019

Anyways, creating a category for just kpop just because you don't want bts winning the awards they rightfully deserve is xenophobic 🤡#VMAsRacist pic.twitter.com/NSQOhZd6t6

— darshanie (@taeubaeful) July 24, 2019

imagine feeling the need to create a whole ass category because you don’t want to put koreans into your original categories #VMAsRacist pic.twitter.com/7k2EegftNv

— janine (@heyyanini) July 24, 2019

2019 has been a big year for BTS. The K-pop band created a new YouTube record for the most-viewed 24 hour debut when they dropped the video for ‘Boy With Luv’ featuring Halsey. The video had 74.6 million views on YouTube in 24 hours.

Map of the Soul: Persona, released in April, was their third album to hit no.1 on the Billboard 200 within a year, making BTS the only artists to achieve the feat since the Beatles in 1995-96.

It ain’t even just about bts too. Monstax got a nomination for Who do u luv yet only French Montana was mentioned for the song and he was only a feature. And bts has outsold many western artists and all they get is best kpop artists. The xenophobia jumped out #VMASracist pic.twitter.com/z0deVyfYdp

— HoseokIsTheLightToMyLife☀️ (@FuckOff20010) July 23, 2019

The fact that BTS’ accomplishments are being pushed away from mainstream media is disheartening especially with everything they bring for Asian representation. Separating Asian artists into a different category? Disappointing and disgusting #VMAsRacist pic.twitter.com/RAwsz70Mvx

— jinhyuk 💔 jungmo (@_rayofhobi_) July 24, 2019

The way that BTS are shoved into a category with artists that are nowhere near their level (sales wise, touring wise, streaming wise, etc) to prevent them from getting more awards. The xenophobia #VMAsRacist

— Tash 🌙🧚♂️ [SLOW] (@ennrjb) July 23, 2019

exactly. 1D didn’t get their own “british pop” category, and 5sos don’t have an “aussie pop” category, so why is kpop singled out? 🤔🤔🤔 #VMAsXenophobic #VMAsRacist https://t.co/IqdNaqpM3P

— mare 🍯🧸💖 (@honeybear_myg) July 23, 2019

BOY WITH LUV STILL HAS MORE VIEWS AND DAILY ENGAGEMENT THAN ANY OF THE VIDEOS NOMINATED FOR VIDEO OF THE YEAR THE XENOPHOBIA JUMPED #VMASRacist pic.twitter.com/JHHpuYUXCu

— 𝓪𝓷𝓰 🌙 ATEEZ GIVEAWAY 📌 (@dopeyoongii) July 23, 2019

Fans also took issue with the poster used to announce BTS’ nomination as it cropped out many of the band members to focus on Halsey.

‘Boy With Luv’, a collaboration between BTS and American singer Halsey, received nods for best collaboration, art direction and choreography.

#VMAsRacist BTS ft halsey more like halsey ft BTS VMA's cancelled I hope that K-pop idols won't attend it especially BTS (no hate I love halsey she's my queen but the fucking pic where are other BTS members f*ck you pic.twitter.com/jn5feaTgu9

— WONHOE (@truftrated) July 23, 2019

Our boys were nominated best colab with Halsey but look at this photo!! #VMAsRacist 👀 Why focus on H? No offense meant to her but why didn’t they use a group photo?! 😑 pic.twitter.com/xUdtWXXu3v

— Kei🗽 🌈 BTS & BTS ONLY (@preeteepnay) July 24, 2019

Fans vote on the winners of the VMA awards, which will be announced at a show on 26 August, but they do not vote on the nominations.

Other nominees in the K-pop field include girl band BlackPink, Monsta X, NCT 127, EXO and Tomorrow X Together.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.