BTS has recently become the center of attention due to all the negative accusations surrounding them and their agency Big Hit Entertainment regarding blackmail and cheating at the 'BillBoard Music Awards.'
On September 5th, it was revealed that a reporter by the name of Jeon Won from Xports News had written an article claiming she had found proof as to how BTS rigged and cheated the voting system at the 'BillBoard Music Awards' by using "shortcut marketing," an illegal method of manipulating viral popularity and sales.
The reporter stated the following in an article: "With the accusations of illegal marketing practices, BTS' eligibility for the 'Top Social Artist' award comes to suspicion. The winner of the award is determined by the hashtag votes and BTS has received more than 300 million. However, some netizens are now questioning the legitimacy. If the marketing took place with the use of part-time employees (to increase votes), then it'll be fair for BTS to return the trophy."
After news surfaced of the person who tried to blackmail BTS and Big Hit Entertainment faced 1 year in prison, Xports News was quick to state that the article was intended to be an opinionated piece by the writer and did not reflect the views or opinions of the media outlet itself. The outlet left this official apology on their page:
"On September 6 at 7:30 PM KST, Xsportsnews made a report related to BTS.
The related article was an opinion piece by the reporter in a column format. The reporter found there was a problem with the news article's content immediately after reporting on it and deleted the article at 8:15PM KST from our website, and the article was then deleted from other portal sites consecutively.
We deeply apologize that the article's content contained a logical jump as well as for causing misunderstanding of the article as degrading to the related artist and fans' efforts, hurting them as a result.
The newspaper had no intention to degrade the artist or fans effort with the news article. However, we sincerely apologize for hurting the artist and fans as a consequence.
The newspaper will try to report more exact and balanced information from now forward by keeping this incident in mind."
What do you think of the media outlet apology? While fans are still awaiting an apology from reporter Jeon Won, ARMY feels a bit more at ease knowing that Xports News admitted their mistake. Stay tuned for more updates.
