Pinoy Super Junior fans are demanding a public apology from ABS-CBN sitcom Home Sweetie Home after the show's December 22 episode seemingly poked fun at the all-male K-pop group.
The cast of Home Sweetie Home were in Seoul, South Korea during the episode.
In a brief conversation regarding activities that they should do while in Seoul, Empoy's character turned to the characters of Miles Ocampo, Trina Legaspi, and Michelle Vito and remarked, "Kasama ba sa 'Seoul bucket list' niyo ang pagpunta niyo sa Super Junior? Isama niyo ako, ah?"
The three girls then audibly replied, "Eww..."
Mile's character added, "BTS na ang uso ngayon! Napaka 'Tito' mo talaga... Super Junior, sobrang luma!"
This line was followed with laughter and another audible reaction of "Baduy."
BTS refers to an all-male K-Pop group composed of seven members. Formed in 2013, BTS made its first global breakthrough in 2017.
Meanwhile, Super Junior was one of the first artists to lead the K-Pop invasion in the Philippines.
The group was the first Korean idol group to hold a sold-out concert in Manila.
According to fan community head Happee of @happeehour, this concert "lasted 3 hours and has the first concert in the Philippines to have [a] massive stage setup comparable to Las Vegas Circus shows."
Super Junior will be celebrating its 14th anniversary in 2019.
FANS DEMAND APOLOGY
After the episode aired, Super Junior fans were quick to react to this dialogue and tweeted their anger through the hashtags "#ApologizeToSuperJunior" and "#RespectSuperJunior"
One netizen posted the video clip of the dialogue with English translation.
K-Pop community account @happeehour then spoke out on behalf of the fans to explain why the ABS-CBN sitcom should apologize.
She began, "I can't believe I just watched something so ignorant & insensitive. It saddens me.
"I didn't see the need for the 'eew' & 'so baduy' comments...
"Do u know how ur words had hurt & insulted so many? was it intended to be funny?"
]The tweet continued, "I understand what the show wanted to say in their scene—that [Super Junior] for the the older generation... that may be true if you're coming from the idea of them being the 1st K-idol group ever to have their full concert toru in Manila last 2010.
"But why add the 'eww' & 'so baduy' remarks?"
@happeehour then pointed out that K-Pop fans form a big community and "not just a funny hobby..."
The tweet continued, "We have grown together for years, we are family & have respected each other's choices of who we [support]. Pls respect & be more sensitive of our world.
"The problem with some [people] is that they do not know how much history we have in our K-Pop community.
"They only see the outside, the current & how big it is now.
"They do not understand that we'd react the same had it been another group."
HOME SWEETIE HOME RESPONDS
Early today, December 23, the team members behind Home Sweetie Home used their official social media accounts to send their apology.
The post read: "Home Sweetie Home apologizes for a dialogue on our December 22 episode which has offended some of our Kapamilya Super Junior fans.
"We have high respect for SuJu and acknowledge that they are one of the first groups to pave the way for KPop Revolution in the PH.
"We intended to establish their seniority, but we admit that we should have used better terms to say it.
"We truly regret the mistake, and it's a learning experience for us.
"We will be better po next time. Maraming salamat po sa pag-unawa, and Merry Christmas, Kapamilya!"
Michelle Vito, Trina Legaspi, and Miles Ocampo also took to their own Twitter accounts to apologize to fans.
Michelle tweeted, "Bago ko po simulan ang araw na po ito. Humihingi po ako ng sorry sa lahat po na nasaktan namin lalo na po sa Super Junior at kanilang fans (and even non fans) Sorry po talaga. I'm praying this coming Christmas na matanggap po namin ang forgiveness niyo po. Sorry po ulit.."
Trina wrote, "Good morning po! I would like po to apologize to the members and fans of Super Junior. Super sorry po sa mga na-offend at nasaktan. :( Thank you po for understanding."
Meanwhile, Miles apologized to fans while asking for the bashing against her to stop.
Her now-deleted tweeted read, "This is too much. I really don't want to react about this. Pero hindi pwedeng hindi. Ang sakit sakit sakit nyo po magsalita...
"First of all, I am not a fan of any K-Pop group. I really have NO IDEA AT ALL...
"Wala po akong alam at kilala. Kaya kung ano man po ang nasa script, wala po akong alam dun.
"And for those who are saying na 'wag mong idahilan na nasa script yun!' or dapat alam ko yung sinasabi ko, pasensya na po.
"May mga bagay po minsan ang artista na nagbibigay kami ng opinions with our lines, but this time, di po ako nagtanong kasi wala akong alam.
"So might as well just follow the script instead of pretending to know everything, diba po?
"Whatever it is, it was my character. NOT ME.
"So for the first and last time, I AM SORRY.
"Please please please PLEASE stop bashing me. Ang sakit sakit nyo magsalita. Please stop it."
Miles then updated her apology with the hashtag "#SorrySuperJunior."
She wrote, "To everyone who misinterpreted my previous post and saying that I'm not sincere on what I said...
"Again, to Super Junior and their fans here in the Philippines and around the world, I'm really sorry for what happened.
"I didn't mean to hurt the group or their fans. If you really watched the video, I didn't say that Super Junior is 'laos,' 'baduy,' or 'eeeeewwww.'
"Those words didn't come out of my mouth. I'm just doing my job and everything I said was based on the line one the script that was given to me.
"Again, my sincerest apologies to everyone."
SHOW OF RESPECT
Super Junior fans were not completely satisfied with the apology given by the Kapamilya show.
Some fans would want the public apology to be broadcasted on national TV.
One netizen said, "Super Junior have visited Philippines and held concerts here many times... but them being insulted like this. You need to publicly apologize on national TV! Super Junior won't be happy if they will hear about this!"
Another netizen pointed out, "Simple respect.
"If you can't do it, at least DONT DRAG OTHERS. You can dislike them but DO NOT HUMILATE THEM. They don't deserve it!!!"
One fan tweeted that "the group they think is 'outdated' is actually one of the most respected, popular & loved by many no matter what age range they belong..."