Crush under fire for seemingly refusing to shake hands with Black fans at performance, he responds in statement

[My Everything]

Singer Crush has come under fire after video and testimony emerged of him seemingly refusing to shake the hands of two Black fans while performing at a recent event even while he did with the rest of the audience around them.

Certainly it appears to be a terrible look from him, and it’s understandable they felt hurt and that the backlash is severe. And it’s perhaps especially surprising since back in 2020 he was one of the most clearly outspoken against anti-Black racism.

Nothing would surprise me regarding racism in Korean entertainment at this juncture, and the only thing I wondered about was whether the others are wearing those gloves that Korea is still mandating at events for COVID reasons, which could make some sense. Cause otherwise this is truly a baffling decision for him, like even if he harbors those prejudices, just for doing something this blatant is nuts.

Either way, there’s enough backlash at this point where I wonder if he might make a statement, either to explain what happened or to make an apology, and I’d be interested in hearing it since the video certainly isn’t great.

——

Update

Crush has responded on Instagram, saying he did this action as a safety precaution, but not related to any COVID protocol. I dunno, man.

Update 2

Video from the perspective of the fans makes his statement look simply false, as nobody seemed to be pushing or anything. And definitely no gloves or health protocols seemingly involved. Damn, that’s bad.

Update 3

Other angles.

Source

[Nev Schulman]

Unfortunately this does look targeted, he skips them but then immediately goes for the other area. It seems like that area was the only one being skipped. Surely it may not be what it seems but that doesn't rule out the fact it looks strange.

[CrazyX]

cancel him.

[starsocks]

if he was like "yeah idk why I did that, I was performing and it happened really fast" it would've sounded way more believable

[Zack Morris]

I feel terrible for his black fans because how racist does someone have to be, to be physically repulsed by another group of people??? 

So yeah it’s fuck him and since he’s now deleted all of his BLM posts I hope that means he’ll be deleting his entire discography soon too. May he gain nothing or steal anything from black culture ever again  

[Ghosty]

12 minutes ago, Zack Morris said:

May he gain nothing or steal anything from black culture ever again  

let the witching hour begin...

[JJBB]

please, who believes that apology, they put no effort in making it credible. So tired of fake apologies. I feel super bad for the fans because they were apparently big fans of him. They must feel so sad. Just shows that no matter how many 'campaings' they do for the public, in private they are totally different.

[rananicolee]

The video is clearer than my skin. You can see him skipping over the black fans. 

[Thigh-high feminist]

That's unfortunate because his music is clearly heavily influenced by American r&b.

Yet he's out here avoiding the hand that feeds him. *sigh*

[MelanatedBeauty]

1 hour ago, Nev Schulman said:

Unfortunately this does look targeted, he skips them but then immediately goes for the other area. It seems like that area was the only one being skipped. Surely it may not be what it seems but that doesn't rule out the fact it looks strange.

Im cackling he didnt just skip them my man put his hand up in a 'woah woah" or "stop" action then continued on to touch other peoples hands

 

Im crying at this "apology" and that bullshit about antiracism. 

Edited October 10, 2022 by MelanatedBeauty

[StepOnMeJas]

Idk why anyone would be surprised. Isn't this the same man that wore blackface? Nothing new honestly. Artists will continue to be racist while simultaneously profiting and being influenced by the very thing they hate.

[panqueque]

The video and explanation looks bad, I mean if it was from other angle maybe it could have another explanation. There were some people saying he did the same stop sign to other people in the crowd, but still looks bad to skip some fans.

Rather than cancel him hope he learns to respect all their fans. 

[Your Biggest Fan]

Welp... going through my Spotify to see if he's in my library anywhere. My condolences to any collaborating artist that get caught in the crossfire of my deletions. 

[harumaki]

that apology is embarrassing  gtfo

[dododododododo]

2 hours ago, starsocks said:

if he was like "yeah idk why I did that, I was performing and it happened really fast" it would've sounded way more believable

Lol right the over-explaining just makes it seem more calculated 

[heart clue]

1 hour ago, StepOnMeJas said:

Idk why anyone would be surprised. Isn't this the same man that wore blackface? Nothing new honestly. Artists will continue to be racist while simultaneously profiting and being influenced by the very thing they hate.

it is indeed

the statement—not even gonna call it apology because… yeah—is just embarrassing, you could clearly see it was just two people he skipped. like other people pointed out it's incredibly disturbing that he reacts like this to his black fans when his music is heavily influenced by black people and their culture, also in addition to the blackface incident

[Guest]

damn this guy Fucked Up. dug his own grave and only has himself to blame.

i hope the fans who experienced this are OK. that must be so, so disappointing and upsetting to experience  they were front row at his show!! even if there wasn't any "ill-intention" behind his actions, that phony apology and DELETING HIS BLM POST is a really heartless response to this situation. wtf dude

 

[iKnife BurnCat]

I just feel bad for that fan, must have felt awful

1 hour ago, Your Biggest Fan said:

Welp... going through my Spotify to see if he's in my library anywhere. My condolences to any collaborating artist that get caught in the crossfire of my deletions. 

cancel culture works so fast

Edited October 10, 2022 by iKnife BurnCat

[OutroTear]

That apology doesn’t make too much sense when you see the fan’s POV video since they seem to not be squished up against the fence 

Did he really delete the BLM post???  I don’t have IG so I can’t see 

[Your Biggest Fan]

15 minutes ago, iKnife BurnCat said:

cancel culture works so fast

Zoom zoom zoom

[Winter Bear]

Before the statement I was willing to give him a tiny benefit of doubt, that maybe he was alternating between a wave and hand touches but no what the duck is that apology and that other angle makes him come across as even more of an AH. That said, I don’t think this will impact his career as k fans and oppar fans will keep supporting him.

[krystalized]

i don't even know him and i already dislike him

[Archer2006]

Another clown profiting off of black culture yet disrespecting black people at the same time. IF he was worried about COVID protocols then he would have given no handshakes period. 

Edited October 10, 2022 by Archer2006

[camilocorream]

the witch hunt begins

[Dont mind me]

Sorry for the fans, but how are they suprised by this? Especially after his blackface/michol thing, people have to learn that South Korea has a long long long way to go when it comes to accepting and treating all people of colour fair and respectful. 

Fyi- alot of K rappers think and behave the same as him. If a fan doesn't want to be hurt or surprised, see if their favs have diverse friends or even know about hiphop artists outside of the what is standard in Korea. 

Edited October 10, 2022 by Dont mind me