Jimmy Kimmel in hot waters over racist comments on BTS

TV host Jimmy Kimmel landed in hot water after making racist comments on the popular K-pop band, BTS in the latest episode of his talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Just a week after comparing the 'BTS Fever' to COVID-19, while interviewing Ashley Park from Emily in Paris, the host has now insinuated that the group is deadly like the Omicron BA.2 variant of the virus.

His opening statements included the words, “You know, these variants, all the different variants, remind me of the boy bands in the late 90s and the early 2000s. You know, you had the big ones, like Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, and then that mutated into O-Town and 98 Degrees.”

He went on to say, "And we had the Jonas Brothers popped up, Big Time Rush. They kept splitting off in different directions, eventually One Direction. And they took pieces, and it popped up all over the world, until eventually, we get to one that’s so contagious it destroys all life on earth.”

Consequently, ARMYs have taken to social media to express their reservations against the humiliating comments on BTS as the hashtags #JimmyKimmelRacist and #StopAsianHate were seen trending on Twitter on January 29.

For the unversed, Jimmy Kimmel made a similar joke just last week when guest Ashley Park was talking about her experience with the group’s members responding to her cover of Dynamite.