K-pop girl group Kiss Of Life apologise for racially insensitive live stream

K-pop female quartet Kiss Of Life have apologised via a handwritten note to their fans, following a controversial live broadcast deemed culturally and racially insensitive.

In an April 6 post on their social media accounts, a note with four paragraphs – each written by a different member – was addressed to their fans, known as Kissys. It said: “We really want to sincerely apologise for the content that was uploaded that caused so much disappointment to our fans.”

The girl group had celebrated member Julie’s 25th birthday with a live broadcast on April 2 with what they said was an “old-school hip-hop” themed party. The members sported accessories and hairstyles usually associated with black culture and rappers, such as big gold chains, cornrows and Bantu knots.

The broadcast was swiftly criticised by fans, especially black K-pop fans, who felt the video mocked black people and reinforced outdated stereotypes.

While Kiss Of Life’s label S2 Entertainment apologised via a statement on April 3, the girls directly addressed the controversy only via the handwritten apology.

The quartet, comprising Belle, 21, Natty, 22, Julie, and Haneul, 19, added in the note: “We are sorry. Our intention was to show how much we loved the category of old-school hip-hop because it greatly influences our music.

“While shooting the content, we ended up taking the concept too far. We realise now that our content was culturally insensitive and take full responsibility for our actions and can only promise to do better.”

They added: “We know that there is nothing we can say or do that will magically fix the mistake we made. The only thing we can promise is that we’ll continue to educate ourselves and show our sincerity through our actions rather than words.”

Kiss Of Life have lost over 200,000 followers on Instagram since the controversy erupted, going from 3.7 million followers to 3.5 million followers. While some fans felt that they were not intentionally making fun of black culture and were perhaps not aware of what the black community considers offensive, others felt that the group – made up of international members – should be more aware.

Both Belle and Julie were born in the United States and spent time living there; Natty is Thai and Haneul is South Korean.

This is also not the first time they have faced backlash for racial insensitivity. Julie apologised in 2023 after an old clip of her singing Strange Clouds (2011) by American rapper B.o.B surfaced. The song has lyrics that include a racial slur, and Julie used it while singing the song.

She said in a statement then: “An old video has resurfaced in which I, without paying enough attention, sang the original lyrics of a cover song that included a certain word, for which I deeply regret... I’m determined to be more cautious and meticulous to prevent making the same mistakes in the future.”

Kiss Of Life, which debuted in 2023, are known for songs such as Sticky (2024) and Igloo (2024). They performed in Singapore in December 2024 at the Yuewen Music Festival in Sentosa.