Chaeyoung of Twice made an apology Tuesday after posting a photo of herself wearing a T-shirt with the swastika emblem. This comes days after the K-pop star was spotted performing in a QAnon shirt on the South Korean music television show “Show! Music Core.”
In the photo, which has since been removed, Chaeyoung wore a shirt featuring Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols donning a swastika, a symbol associated with Adolf Hitler and the German Nazi party.
“Hi, I’m Chaeyoung from the band Twice. I apologize genuinely for the Instagram post. I misunderstood the significance of the swastika on the t-shirt I wore,” she claimed in a statement posted on Instagram in both English and Korean. “I genuinely regret for not studying it thoroughly, which has caused worry. I shall pay close attention in the future to prevent such situations from occurring. Again, we sincerely apologize.”
Chaeyoung, one of nine members of the female group, also performed while donning a T-shirt with the QAnon motto “When we go one, we go all.” The tagline and logo belong to the 2017 far-right political movement, which is notorious for propagating graphic conspiracy theories in support of former President Donald Trump.
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Supporters of the group have stated that Chaeyoung likely did not understand the significance of the offensive symbols when she wore them, and instead blame her stylists for failing to recognize the historical significance of the apparel.
This hiccup could not have occurred at a more inconvenient time, since the group’s popularity has increased in English markets. The release of their 12th mini-album, “Ready to Be,” which debuted at No. 2 between Morgan Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time” and Miley Cyrus’ “Endless Summer Vacation,” propelled Twice to the top of the Billboard 200. “Moonlight Sunrise,” their second English-language single, reached at No. 84 on the Hot 100.
