BTS: ARMY Calls Out the MTV VMAs for Xenophobia for Not Nominating BTS for Best Quarantine Performance
MTV announced the nominees for the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, and once again the awards show is being called out for xenophobia. Last year, fans accused MTV of creating the Best K-pop category as a way of keeping the Asian artists from being nominated for the major awards.
Now, MTV is being criticized for keeping the Best K-pop category and not nominating the groups in the major categories. In addition to being kept out of the running for some of the major awards, BTS was not nominated for Best Quarantine Performance despite their record-breaking “Bang Bang Con The Live” concert.
BTS performed ‘Bang Bang Con The Live’ in June
After their Map of the Soul Tour was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, BTS put on “Bang Bang Con The Live.” The virtual concert gave fans the chance to see a live BTS show while waiting for in-person concerts to be safe to attend.
To view the concert, fans purchased a virtual ticket on Weverse, a fan platform created by Big Hit Entertainment. One type of ticket was for fans with the Global Official Fanclub ARMY Membership and one was for fans without the membership.
According to a press release from Big Hit Entertainment, an additional 10,000 fans joined the fanclub before “Bang Bang Con The Live.” The virtual concert reached 756,600 concurrent viewers across 107 regions, becoming the biggest global audience for a paid virtual concert.
RELATED: BTS: The Best Moments From ‘Bang Bang Con The Live’
During the live concert, BTS performed old hits from their discography, gave a preview of their Map of the Soul Tour, and performed their beloved song “Spring Day.” With the concert, the Korean band earned the Guinness World Record for the most-viewed concert livestream of all time.
BTS was nominated for multiple VMAs
For the 2020 MTV VMAs, BTS was nominated for Best K-pop, Best Pop, and Best Choreography. Their music video “ON” currently has over 169 million views on YouTube, and the “ON” Kinetic Manifesto Film : Come Prima has over 225 million views. The song reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and their album Map of the Soul: 7 debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
While the group was nominated for Best Pop, becoming the first Asian act to do so, they were shut out of other major categories. The band was not nominated for Video of the Year, Artist of the Year, or Song of the Year.
Fans called out the MTV VMAs for xenophobia
While not a major category, fans found it confusing that BTS was not nominated for Best Quarantine Performance. ARMY cited that BTS put on a full-length concert and broke a Guinness World Record for a concert livestream and still did not receive recognition from MTV.
In 2019, the hashtag #VMAsRacist trended on Twitter after MTV announced the Best K-pop category. For the second year in a row, ARMY called out MTV on social media for snubbing BTS and accused the awards show of xenophobia.
“The continuous snubbing from BTS off main categories like video/soty/aoty in these western shows IS xenophobia. They pull the same (if not more) numbers and have the same impact in the industry as all those other artists and yet aren’t taken srsly because they’re korean,” a fan tweeted.
“bangbangcon wasnt nominated for the best quarantine performance we had 750k live viewers and broke a guinness world record….. this is literally xenophobia,” one fan tweeted.
Due to the fact “Bang Bang Con The Live” was a paid concert performance, some fans have speculated this made it ineligible for a nomination.
