Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Yesterday, it was brought up on social media that jobs for upcoming KCON USA events had posted listings for temporary workers on the site Backstage, but were specifically looking for White or Asian applicants.
Kcon is actually racist as hell wtf pic.twitter.com/sdq4DCknH0
— m is meeting wayv & nct nation japan?! (@nanasbannanas) July 17, 2023
In response to the backlash over blatantly discriminatory hiring practices, I honestly expected something of an apology just from a damage control perspective, but instead they released more of an explanation and excuses for why this happened.
— KCONUSA (@kconusa) July 18, 2023
As others have pointed out though, it seems unlikely they were unaware of it, as they were changing the listing as the backlash grew and the listing was removed completely shortly after.
Bullying companies work yall! They should still post some acknowledgment/ apology pic.twitter.com/zkxNvMIVKh
— m is meeting wayv & nct nation japan?! (@nanasbannanas) July 18, 2023
Furthermore, it’s notable that this was listed on Backstage and as an acting job, which allows them to list racial preferences and potentially dodge anti-discrimination laws.
Understandably, people haven’t been responding well to this explanation either, and I figured they’d have somebody to scapegoat for this to distances themselves before they responded, but instead released this Comic Sans-adjacent nothingburger of an apology. Terrible look.
