On September 24, Thursday, at 12 NN KST, A100 Entertainment released a statement concerning their rookie girl group XUM's recent racism controversy.
The statement was posted to the group's official Twitter account. The statement reads,
Hello. It is A100.
We are releasing a statement about the recent racist controversy about 'DNA VIDEO'. pic.twitter.com/PuRxSZ8ruY — official_xum (@official_xum) September 24, 2020
"Hello. We are A100 Entertainment.
This is a statement made in regards to the recent controversy over the racially discriminatory comments made in the "DNA Video".
Our company has double-checked the "DNA Video" and recognized that problematic racial comments were made. In the video, we apologized for the hurt the XUM members have caused due to their conversation about heritage, as well as the subtitles made by the editors.
First of all, we would like to acknowledge and apologize for the mistake of our editor for using exaggerated effects and insensitive subtitles that have led to this misunderstanding. Particularly, we would like to apologize for the misunderstanding brought about due to the mistranslations in the subtitles.
There is no room for excuses. We bow our heads and apologize for the hurt we have caused. We promise we will be more careful with future videos and other activities to ensure that this will not happen again.
In addition, the "DNA Video", which was uploaded to our official YouTube channel on May 14, 2020, has been quickly taken down, and we would again like to apologize for causing our fans concern due to the controversy.
Finally, we, A100 Entertainment, oppose racism and hope for equality and happiness all over the world. In the future, we will become a better company and our artists will become a better XUM.
Again, we are sorry."
RELATED: Rooke Girl Group Under Fire for Insulting Filipino, African, and Native American Heritage
On September 23, rookie girl group XUM was under major fire after a video of them making racially insensitive comments went viral. The video was posted when the members were still promoting as members of NeonPunch and show them chatting about their predictions for their heritage.
Numerous racists comments were made during that scene, such as Baekah saying she though Iaan might have Filipino heritage because she heard that Iaan had a Filipino family member in her family and Iaan quickly correcting her and saying "Vietnam," before laughing. Dayeon suggested Iaan might have DNA from Ghana, to which Iaan visibly gets flustered and signs 'no', while the subtitles read, "the girl between two exceptionally white members."
Another scene has Baekah saying she thinks she might have African heritage, and Dayeon agrees. However, Dayeon says she agrees because Baekah "has a really loud voice", reinforcing African stereotypes. The subtitles then read, "A white-skinned Baekah from Africa?!" Dayeon then made a loud cry to mimic Baekah's loud voice, causing the girls to laugh. Baekah then jokes, "Do you feel like an Indian chief?"
What do you think of the situation? Check out the video here:
ABOUT XUM
XUM is a three-member girl group that debuted on September 2020. The group is comprised of Dayeon, Baekah, and Iaan. All three members are former members of NeonPunch, also under A100 Entertainment.
NeonPunch debuted in 2018. In August of 2020, A100 Entertainment announced that NeonPunch would be disbanding after two years together due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic preventing them from managing NeonPunch's future activities. That same month, they announced the debut of XUM.
