Bts & Papa Mochi Are Reunited

Ok this was so long ago but watching this again just brought me back to that time. They were two little jokes, but they were jokes that absolutely could have been anything else aside from feeding into two toxic narratives: that a boyband can't do anything meaningful (and that the reason why they have to be taken seriously is because of how scary ARMYs are) and that all BTS fans are teenage girls. He could have said "a lot of world leaders were allegedly dancing in their seats" or "concert tickets are going to be harder to fight for now..." and those would have been hilarious and harmless jokes. He didn't deserve the death threats and I'm glad that him and the boys still have their bond, but I'm not excited for future guestings on his show. Something I want to point out though is that all the boys are very aware of how fandoms (especially that of boybands) are seen as consisting of crazy, hormonal teenagers. RM, especially, is good at navigating that. When they were making their name in the US, hosts would ask if they had any crazy experiences with ARMYs - he would translate the question differently to mean "meaningful experiences" or sometimes say "no, they would never hurt us" etc. Of course a part of that is good media training, not talking about bad experiences they must've had (trust me, there are some crazy ARMYs out there) but it's still sweet that RM does that. This interview is another example, a lot of us appreciated that he said "we appreciate your apology" 💜 Even just bringing that up was ballsy, I think James Corden didn't expect it 😅

Alexis

It's been awhile since you posted this so I don't know if you'll see this comment. Regarding V and the other members laughing. Sometimes he does make jokes with a straight face that the others catch. But quite often he is also saying something oddly in Korean. He's known to not always be the best speaker. He mixes up his words or phrases things oddly. And he repeats certain things often in one sentence. Translators mostly just skip over it and translate what he meant to say, so non-Korean fans don't realize. The other members do often laugh. Sometimes they correct him or question what he means. Other times they put it together and "translate" what he meant. They and editors often call it Taetae language and in much older content V's alien language. I'm assuming this was the case here because usually his jokes are translated so foreign fans can get it too. But his stumbling usually isn't.

Lashette

tbh I took the joke as meaning a young girl wouldn’t normally wish to be an old man but now they would bc that old man is close to bts. i didn’t take it as every army is a little girl. even if that was the joke it doesn’t matter bc people have been saying that about fans of boy groups for YEARS…..

Charmaine

Your profile picture is my all time favorite moment of Tae and Jimin. Haha. Too cute.

Nanon ApoBangpo⁷

probably this week...

Madison

the joke was stupid but did nothing to deserve the level of hate and death threats he got from fans. the army is a really hardcore fanbase, if you even offend them a little bit it turns into a mob. this entire interview was deeply uncomfortable. if you learn anything from it just make opinions yourselves, you dont have to listen to what armies try to convince you of necessarily. its up to you guys.

Lachie

Guys it has been more than a week since you uploaded the last bon voyage episode.. When are you gonna do it?

I actually didn't get mad about the joke. I wasn't all happy but for several reasons i decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. I stopped liking him after THIS interview. He knew he pissed off a lot of people and made them feel disrespected, and he was given a perfect oportunity to apologize and he didn't take it. He made a mistake - which is fine, everybody makes mistakes - and the polite and mature thing to do is to apologize. It shows humility. When you hurt somebody is not about you, it's about what the other person is feeling. And this man made the situation about him, very egocentric. Besides he tried to get out of this situation the same way he got in... using more negative stereotypes. He says he loves them but apparently not enough to care about their fans. He NEVER looked once at the camera. He only focused on BTS when it was pretty clear that none of them were showing signs of anger. I guess for him love and respect are only for famous people. He just needed to say i'm sorry. It was so easy. He is a grown man, a successful host and an actor. He has all those tools and he didn't bother to use them and also no PR skills. So disappointing on so many levels. I was a huge fan of him and not bc of BTS. I've watched his show since it started. Ps: He admitted that he needed therapy to stop being a brat because he got famous and that his "parents prayed for him, and his sisters tried to speak to him about what a dickhead he was being." Plus there are several stories about him being an arrogant asshole.

Diana Rabago

I want to really clarify something about the jokes he made. In this interview, he really focuses on the "I called them 15 year old girls" part. And of course some were upset with that. But actually, he didn't mention the part most people were actually upset with. He made the assessment that 15 year old girls couldn't be interested in politics, unless a boyband gave them a reason. he implied teenage girls to be thoughtless and only act like 'crazy' teen girls. It was the underlined misogyny that most were ACTUALLY upset with. He conveniently didn't mention this part to bts during the interview.

Kimberley Telford

Yes, this exactly. You explained very well the POV of those of us who were really disappointed (to say the least) with the situation, thank you.

Bes

the carpool karaoke was in 2020 before the pandemic, this interview was after their crosswalk concert in 2021 last year! you should really check it out :)

nylecoj

those 15 yr old girls type of jokes have an underlying misogynistic tone. often it is used to imply that 15 yr old girls are shallow and likes "cringy" stuff like boybands and makeups and when you as a girl likes stuff that are by default related to men like sports you are cool and not like other girls. Its not really about army's age. cause we all know thats not true i myself is 22 but also once a "15 year old girl" who was also dismissed by this type of connotations.

EricaFajardo

I'm so happy that RM addressed this issue and told him to his face because ARMY stands up for BTS and BTS stands up for ARMY. We have no one else, only ourselves. I also recommend xceleste's video where she recounts the mistreatment that BTS has suffered throughout their career.

Maay

THIS 🙌🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Maay

I hope you react to "Lets BTS" is a korean show and its super good!

Maay

I'm using translator so sorry for the mistakes. Personally, I think the joke was horrible, it was a direct offense to Army and BTS's work as people and artists. Putting a fandom that is gigantic with different ages, races and nationalities into one category is offensive. Obviously it shouldn't rise to the level of threats but if fans don't speak up and complain we will be ignored, especially on a subject that army always tries to change. They didn't even apologize to Army who supported the show, if they had apologized from the beginning it wouldn't have evolved the way it did. Nobody deserves threats and I can't say for sure that some other crazy person didn't do it but not in the exaggerated way that he says. Rather people posted their ages, professions and demanded an apology.

Maay

Please react to Let's BTS! It's super deep and interesting also they interviewed BTS by keyword that related to their album/ themself/ and army. They also allowed the boys to say something that they want to say to the member too. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x81thik https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x81tmmh

Liza Rang

Also, it's easy to think ARMYs are over-sensitive but if you'd been through what BTS & ARMY have, you would be too, I promise.

SNBangtan

We were so proud of Joon for bringing James' comments up and then ending with "we accept your apology" despite James trying really hard to avoid accountability. Worse things have been said about BTS by many a TV personality, of course. James definitely spun his comments a little to come off better but I think most of our issue was that James has been a favorite in our community for a long time--like since 2017 (he's Papa Mochi!)--and ARMYs have been so good to him (raising money for his charities, sending him flowers, giving him the biggest ratings of his career) so to hear the same old tired "jokes" that the rest of the world foists on us from him (when we know he knows better), it was a betrayal. He was one of the industry actors who seemed to get what BTS was up against and seemed to want to give BTS a platform where they were taken seriously as artists so for him to push the "their fans are screaming teenage girls" stereotype was a very unpleasant gut punch. So there was very strong backlash. Though most of it was calm, cool, collected--grown ARMYs expressing their justifiable disappointment and asking for an apology for example. Of course, some people take it too far--ARMY doesn't endorse or encourage or tolerate death threats (if we come to know about someone leveling them, we get their account suspended) but every fandom has their jerks (and if you're an asshole on the internet, you're an asshole on the internet regardless of who you stan). Plus people slap on a BTS profile pic to troll and make us look bad all the time. I was more offended that James, having seen all the good we do, used his platform to give those trolls attention again casting ARMY in a role he knows doesn't apply to most of us. Anyway, BTS forgave James and most of us did too. It was a reminder to us that we can't trust anyone but BTS at the end of the day (though John Cena and Jimmy Fallon and Halsey have yet to fail us *knock on wood*). So that's kind of the full story there. We can take jokes. But we're particularly sensitive about people perpetuating untrue stereotypes about them or us (ARMY). So hearing it from Papa Mochi of all people really sucked.

SNBangtan

Idk, i think many overreacted to that joke, I'm 27 yo and i don't feel offended by that joke about 15 yo fans, why be ofended if there's a big percentage of ARMY that are that age 😜 and about BTS vising the UN , maybe James wasn't informed and it's ok, it's a mistake and we all make mistakes. As a non English speaker person I like James a lot, I like the interactions between him and the boys, they seem to be comfortable everytime they meet and Jimin seems to like him a lot so if the boys are ok then I'm ok too 💜 and if they keep going to his Talk Show is because they enjoy it, not like when they went to Ellen Degeneres show 2 times and never went back when she made them feel uncomfortable with one joke, because that ONE joke was offensive, I'm sure James didn't mean to be offensive.

dani from Chile

Yees me too, even before all this happened

Carol 💜

This interview was so cringy I’m sorry 😭😭

Gakuk

Please react to each member on VLive by Fandoms Unite 🤍 -Namjoon Being Adorable on VLive ❤️ -Jin Being Iconic on VLive 🧡 -Yoongi Being Iconic on Vlive 💛 -Jhope Being Our Angel on VLive 💚 -Jimin Being Goofy on VLive 💙 -Taehyung Being Extra on VLive 💜 -Jungkook Being a Mess on VLive 🤍

ParkMinJeon

I like the interviews with Jimmy Fallon more

ParkMinJeon

Definitely wasn’t because the “joke” didn’t translate well. There are so many ARMYs who speak English and are native English speakers who were offended as well— just like myself.

gnuoyawh

Ew, not this disgusting man 🥲💀 Trying to make disgusting jokes and not even apologizing. He’s a whole clown

Malu x

Heyy, please watch the crosswalk concert too when you can!! Thanks a lot for your videos

Aly

Also, this is the proof that the guys KNOW what’s happening. They actually almost NEVER address things like these. Usually when there is a not so good experience with a show or host, they just never go there again and silently show what they think. They don’t engage with things directly, which I think is great. So that’s why it’s surprising that Joonie said sth. I think it’s because he genuinely wanted to “clear the air” and also cause they usually really DID have a good thing going on with James so they wanted to maybe make the situation ok without ignoring how army felt about all of it. Cause, they do NOT appreciate when people disrespect army. But in any case, throwing hate is not acceptable and the majority of the fandom doesn’t do it

Rinakin

I think everyone explained the situation well.. the joke was bad, nothing special, and I think if it had come from some other host, we would get annoyed but not that much. BTS have had some not so great experiences with American hosts so there was like an internal joke within army that we trust only James Corden and Jimmy Fallon cause they have had a good relationship with the guys for a long time. So when the “joke” came from him, belittling us and the guys as well I think the reaction was bigger than it would have been. A little context, when they went to the UN last year (they were there twice before) there WAS some comments in the American media in the sense of “what are they doing there lol”, so you would think someone like James, who knows them, would maybe talk about WHY were they there and about their role as Korean Envoys of the President.. but no, his team decided to make army ONCE AGAIN the butt of the joke. So that’s why people got sensitive. Honestly, I think he exaggerated a little bit. Everything I saw on twitter were people politely explaining him why the joke was bad, but yeah, there are always some trolls and bad apples in the fandom as big as ours. BUT the craziest thing in this interview is the fact that Namjoon brought it up!! Hahahah we were SOOOO surprised 💜 he stood up for us 💜

Rinakin

this was what was said, i think it's part of opening monologue? "The United Nations General Assembly kicked off this morning in New York City, and it started with some pretty unusual visitors… BTS were there. BTS visited the UN… (and the some comments about the performance there) ..Although lots of people are saying why are BTS there, the world leaders have no choice but to take BTS seriously. BTS has one of the largest ARMY on the planet earth. Historic moment. It actually marks the first time that 15 year old girls everywhere found themselves wishing that they were Secretary General António Guterres."

cLyNeSnOw

Basically it was a low hanging fruit kinda joke that comedians make. My problem is that generally ppl belittle teenage girls and their interests ALL THE TIME and it's just so basic. Some new material would be appreciated. Yes some were overly sensitive and there was a handful that went over the line but all seems to be forgiven.

Infinite Ree

I don't think that the joke was bad enough to warrant the amount of hate that he got, but it is a bit annoying that the "15 year old girl" comments are still being made, even when ARMYs prove time and time again that we are not made up of a bunch of teenagers. I'm 19, and so I didn't take much offense to it, but I'm sure that the 25% of the fandom who are aged 40 and up, as well as the 31% of ARMYs who do not identify as female took the most offense to this comment, which is justified. I think it was mostly offensive to some because James had been so educated about ARMYs for many years, calling us charitable, fun and kind, praising us every chance he got, and so on. He knew that the fandom was more than its expected demographic. After all of the hate that ARMYs get for being fans of BTS, it was nice to know that a celebrity actually saw us as the people we are. And I guess it hurt some people to hear James (who had spoken for us and defended us so many times) reduce the fandom to a group of mindless, hormonal teenage girls.

Sydney Defreitas

And about the uncomfortable feeling, it could be because of this or because it was 2 years without extern contact you know? They were already quite comfortable with James but 2 years is a lot, they spend two years just on their own with their own staff without getting out of Korea etc, so it has this feeling of going back to "how it was" and all, idk

Carol 💜

Err, the joke was that they went to the UN assembly to speak and perform and James said it was unusual and that it was the first time 15 year old girls would like to be politics or something like that, it was really a joke but a bad one... I think things got out of proportion because army gets really sensitive with this kinda of "jokes" since we already have been made fun of like this and there is a lot of toxic people on the fandom too but i also think he exaggerated to appeal more you know?? But anyways it is what it is, i don't think army trust him like before but it's an industry and he has one of the most famous talk shows in the U.S. so it's good to promote there and stuff, and they seemed happy so that's what matters!!!

Carol 💜

I notice Wes references Ashton Kutcher a lot in these reactions lol. Speaking of Ashton Kutcher, BTS played hide & seek with him and James Corden and you guys should definitely watch it. It’s really funny. Here’s the link if you need it: https://youtu.be/JPS3QC86Jio

Annie

Please watch the Crosswalk concert too, it's so good and funny!!! It's what they filmed prior this interview, it was at the end of last year!! Carpool Karaoke was in 2020, it's this interview it's cool and not awkward lol: https://youtu.be/6_dPHFg7lxo

Carol 💜

About the James thing, I think people overreacted because we have been called "teenage girls" before so the whole death threats thing and bad google reviews was extra in my opinion. Also that's how talk shows work, they say things that gets attention. We don't know what gets cut out in editing and you can actually hear james say, "It wasn't an apology" in the video midst his laughter so i guess it depedns on how you take it, but they look happy and the paparazzi videos that came out they still looked happy then, at the end of the day its an industry, people say and do things for the views and money. The whole situation brought ratings, good or bad, they still got them.

Madison

A lot of online bts fans and kpop fans in general can be very sensitive and act like comedians can’t make jokes towards their favorite celebrities. The joke wasn’t even that bad but James still got a huge amount of hate which is the crazy part.

Saniah Bullard

This is a much better (and less awkward) interview https://youtu.be/qKuwYOIS_VQ

shianne

The whole thing with Army was blown out of proportion but they were upset that James called all of army ‘15 year old girls’ and said that it was unusual for them to be at the UN even though they had spoke there 2 times before and other artists have performed there before them 💕 Personally I think the whole situation was much more exaggeration it needed to be especially taking up most of the interview time but I genuinely don’t think James meant to cause any harm with comments and everyone’s entitled to their own opinion 😆

Skye

This one was actually filmed after their ‘crosswalk concert’ at the end of last year :)

Skye