News Analysis India

Tag: v

  • BTS visits White House to discuss combating hate crime surge

    By Associated Press

    WASHINGTON: K-Pop sensation BTS visited the White House on Tuesday to talk with President Joe Biden about combating the rise in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans — bringing superstar sizzle to an otherwise sad and scary topic.

    Band members J-Hope, RM, Suga, Jungkook, V, Jin and Jimin joined White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at her briefing with reporters on the final day of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Jimin said the band had been “devastated by the recent surge” of crime and intolerance against Asian Americans that has persisted since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

    “It’s not wrong to be different,” Suga said through an interpreter. “Equality begins when we open up and embrace all of our differences.” V said that “everyone has their own history.”

    “We hope today is one step forward to understanding and respecting each and everyone as a valuable person,” V added.

    The band members wore black suits and ties and took turns briefly stepping to the podium. They got a tour of the White House before the briefing and held a closed-door meeting with the president in the Oval Office afterwards. Biden administration officials have spent recent weeks holding roundtable discussions and other meetings with Asian American leaders to discuss the violence.

    Since its debut in 2013, BTS has garnered global recognition for the members’ self-produced music and activism, including an appearance at the United Nations. The band topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart three times in 2020, and was nominated for prominent music awards like the Grammys, Billboard Music Awards and MTV Video Music Awards.

    The normally cramped White House briefing room was even more jammed than usual, as journalists on-hand to cover BTS packed the aisles alongside the rows of seats assigned to outlets who regularly attend. The White House livestream — not known for large, middle-of-the-afternoon audiences — attracted more than 230,000 viewers before the event even began.

    After the band members spoke and had their comments translated, reporters began to ask them questions, but Jean-Pierre — who had said previously that members wouldn’t take questions — intervened, saying, “We’re gonna go.” That prompted BTS members to offer, “We’re sorry” as they filed away from the podium.

    Following the band was Brian Deese, director of the White House National Economic Council, who was there to address reporters after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s meeting with Biden earlier in the day.

    “I get to go home and tell my kids that BTS opened for me,” Deese joked, adding that he was sure the room was “as excited” to talk about inflation’s impact on the U.S. economy as they’d been for the band.

    The scene was fun but the issue that brought the group to the White House was not. The rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination since 2020 has included the March 2021 killing of eight people at Atlanta-area massage businesses, including six women of Asian descent.

    Following those shootings, Asian American organizations across the U.S. staged unity events and took to social media to call for an end to racist attacks. Within days, BTS tweeted, “We stand against racial discrimination” and included the hashtags #StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate.

    “We condemn violence. You, I and we all have the right to be respected,” BTS wrote then. “We will stand together.”

    On Tuesday, the band thanked its fans, with Jungkook saying, “We still feel surprised that music created by South Korean artists reaches so many people around the world, transcending language and cultural barriers.”

    “We believe music is always an amazing and wonderful unifier of all things,” he added.

    Jean-Pierre said BTS is hoping “to combat racism, xenophobia, intolerance” that Asian communities have faced. She noted that Biden signed legislation combating COVID-19 hate crimes and issued an executive order reestablishing the White House initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific islanders, while helping to promote research to prevent racism against such communities.

  • BTS member V recovers from COVID-19, released from quarantine after a week

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: BTS member V has made a “full recovery” from COVID-19 and has been released from quarantine on Tuesday, according to the South Korean music group’s management agency. The 26-year-old singer, whose full name is Kim Tae-hyung, was diagnosed with the disease on February 15.

    In a statement posted on fan community forum Weverse, BigHit Music said, “We would like to inform you that BTS member V has made a full recovery from COVID-19 and his quarantine has concluded as of today, February 22. He has been receiving treatment from home from Tuesday the 15th, and he is now able to return to his daily activities.”

    According to BigHit Music, the singer did not exhibit any particular symptoms during his quarantine. “He had a slight fever when he first began treatment at home but has since made a full recovery,” he said. In response to a concerned fan’s post on Weverse last Thursday, V had written “I am feeling good.”

    When the agency announced V’s diagnosis, they said the singer was in contact with the other members of the band but everyone was wearing masks. Last December, fellow BTS members Suga, group leader RM, Jin also tested positive for the virus.

    In January 2021, BTS member Jimin went through surgery for acute appendicitis while also recovering from COVID-19. The seven-member band, which also includes Jung Kook, is currently on an “extended period of rest” after their performance at four in-person concerts in Los Angeles late last year.

    BTS are set to hold three ‘Permission to Dance’ shows in Seoul next month.

  • BTS to take ‘extended period of rest’ for first time since 2019 hiatus

    By PTI

    SEOUL: South Korean music sensation BTS are taking an “extended period of rest” to enable the group to get “re-inspired and recharge with creative energy”.

    This will the boy band’s first hiatus after they took a several-week break in late 2019.

    “BTS is planning to take a second official extended period of rest since their first in 2019 after they complete their official scheduled events of BTS Permission To Dance On Stage- LA and the 2021 Jingle Ball Tour,” their management company, Big Hit Music, wrote in a statement shared on Twitter.

    BTS stayed active in order to engage with fans in 2020 and 2021 amidst the COVID-19 situation, and achieved dazzling results to cement themselves as top global artists.

    The management company also revealed that the group’s members – Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook – will spend the holiday season with their families for the first time ‘since their debut’ in 2013.

    “This period of rest will provide the members of BTS who have tirelessly committed themselves to their activities, a chance to get re-inspired and recharge with creative energy,” the statement added.

    While on their break from performing, Big Hit Music revealed that BTS — the full name is Bangtan Sonyeondan (Bulletproof Boy Scouts) or Beyond The Scene, their English branding — will be focusing on the release of a new album that will mark “the beginning of a new chapter.”

    They will also be preparing for a concert this coming March to “connect and communicate with the fans in-person in Seoul.”

    The news comes weeks after the group took home artist of the year, favourite pop duo/group and favourite pop song at the American Music Awards.

    They were also nominated for a 2022 Grammy Award in best pop duo/group performance for their hit song “Butter”.

  • BTS’ V tops Japan’s celebrity ranking for 33 consecutive weeks, achieving ‘perfect all-kill’

    By ANI

    SEOUL: Korean K-pop group BTS member V proved his one-top popularity in Japan.

    BTS V has topped the ‘K-pop male idol ranking’ of Japan’s idol ranking site ‘NEHAN’ for 33 consecutive weeks with 20,889 votes.

    During this week, V also topped the ‘Korean actors in their 20s ranking’ of Japanese site ‘BIHAN’ for 29 consecutive weeks.

    Considering that he appeared in only one TV series ‘Hwarang,’ the expectations for actor ‘Kim Tae-Hyung in Japan are significant.

    In addition, V also topped all Daily, Weekly, Monthly, All-time popular rankings of Japan’s ranking site ‘KPOP JUICE’, achieving the ‘perfect all-kill’.

    Moreover, V has also been ranked first on the ‘Most Popular K-pop Idol in Japan’, ‘Most handsome Korean idol’, ‘Favorite BTS member’, and ‘Most handsome BTS member’ ranking on Japan’s popular ranking site ‘Ranking,’ which reflects real-time trends, proving his unrivalled popularity.

    The celebrity also showed off his music power by recently listing his solo and self-produced songs from the second to sixth places on Japan’s Top 100 chart of the global streaming platform ‘Deezer’.

    Other members of the iconic group are RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, and Jungkook. 

  • Bombay HC asks Amazon to take down Telugu film ‘V’ over actor’s defamation case

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has directed OTT platform Amazon to take down a Telugu movie until the makers of the film deleted a scene in which a city-based actor’s photograph was allegedly used without prior permission.

    Justice Gautam Patel on Tuesday heard a defamation suit filed by model and actor Sakshi Malik against Venkateshwara Creations Pvt Ltd for allegedly using her photograph without permission in their movie.

    Malik’s advocate Saveena Bedi said the scene showed Malik’s photograph, referring to her as a commercial sex worker.

    “Simply using another image, and most especially a private image, without consent is prima facie impermissible, unlawful and entirely illegal. In a given case, it may also be defamatory, depending on the type of use,” the court said in its order.

    The order copy was made available on Wednesday.

    “The fact that the image has been illicitly used is bad enough. It only makes matters worse when used in a plainly derogatory and demeaning vein,” Justice Patel said.

    The court directed OTT platform Amazon to take down the movie within 24 hours until the said scene is deleted.

    “It is not acceptable for them (movie’s makers) to merely pixelate or blur the images. The entire sequence, which has the image of the plaintiff (Malik), is to be removed immediately,” Justice Patel said.

    Malik’s advocate Bedi had argued that the actor has a huge fan following on social media and has also appeared in a few Bollywood songs.

    Bedi argued that Malik’s photo was used illicitly by the defendant in a Telugu movie titled ‘V’ that was released on Amazon on September 5, 2020.

    As per Malik’s suit, she had commissioned a photographer in 2017 for creating a portfolio.

    “In August 2017, she (Malik) posted some photographs from the portfolio on her Instagram account.

    One of these photos was used in a scene of the Telugu movie where there is reference to a commercial sex worker,” Bedi said.

    According to the suit, this was an unauthorised invasion of privacy and unauthorised use of private material.

    It was defamatory to Malik that her image was used to depict her in the motion picture as an escort or commercial sex worker, it stated.

    Justice Patel in the order noted that the contentions raised by Malik and her lawyer were correct.

    “Indeed, I do not believe there is any other way of looking at it,” the order said.

    The defendant claimed that they had contracted with an agency to procure the image and had assumed that prior approval would have been taken from the woman, whose photo was to be used.

    The court, however, noted that this argument of the defendant seemed “less than compelling”.

    “Surely any right-thinking motion picture producer would have insisted on seeing an approval or consent by the model or person who is featured or to be featured,” Justice Patel said, adding that this must be the standard procedure everywhere.

    The court said once the defendant has made the necessary alteration and deletion, the same will have to be shown to Malik and her advocate.

    “Only after this, I will allow defendant 3 (Amazon) to re-release the movie,” Justice Patel said, posting the matter for further hearing on March 8.