BTS fans furious over news anchor’s ‘Death to America’ joke; Here’s what happened

BTS' latest collaboration with Oreo's limited edition has sparked fan frenzy already. However, the celebration quickly turned into an online controversy after a news anchor made a shocking remark on air, which left the fans of the South Korean boy band fuming. As the clip spread across social media, fans have expressed frustration and disappointment.

What's the controversy surrounding the news anchor over BTS' Oreo all about?

A news anchor in Texas is under fire over an inappropriate joke during a segement about a collaboration between Oreo and BTS. It refers to a broadcast by FOX34 (KCBD) news anchor James Eppler, who made a xenophobic joke about the messages engraved on a limited-edition BTS Oreos, falsely claiming the cookes spelled out 'Death to America'. The remark sparked immediate backlash from BTS fanbse.

Soon fans took to X to call out the news anchor and one user wrote, "So Mr. James Eppler, news anchor on @fox34 @KCBD11 decided it was a great idea to make a horrible and xenophobic joke about BTS's message to their fans found on their new collaborative OREO Cookies; “[...] the wafers are also engraved with one of 13 designs which spell out a message to fans when put together and that is 'death to America' which I think is really strange [...]” James, you know, if you really feel this way towards BTS, best not to do the ad at all, saves you speaking absolutely nonsense. Just saying. Oh and here is a song James and his colleagues who laughed can listen to. Alexa play "ALIENS" by BTS!!"

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Another user wrote, "Joking about “de@th to america” while reporting on bts oreo collab was extremely unprofessional and reckless. coming from fox News given today’s political climate & with how polarized the U.S. is right now, comments like that can easily be weaponized and spread out of context."

"I actually think it's important to call out racism every single time bts experience it, ESPECIALLY now that they've long established their place in the western market. i think every comedian and every news anchor and every media person who thinks they can get away with it should get whacked and idc if they call us crazy", wrote the third user.

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For the unversed, the purple wafers have a sweet crème filling inspired by Hotteok, a popular South Korean street food (a warm, brown sugar pancake). The cookies feature 13 unique embossments designed by the band members themselves, including their names and the iconic BTS ARMY light stick. When placed together in a specific sequence, the cookies form a hidden message to their fans. Packs feature a QR code that directs fans to a digital campaign to submit love letters, aiming to build the “World's Largest Love Letter to BTS".

Racism attacks against BTS

This is not the first time the South Korean boy band BTS, who are busy with their Arirang world tour, have faced such jokes. BTS have faced earlier and spoken out against several incidents of racial discrimination, xenophobia and offensive media portrayals throughout their career. The group and their massive fanbase (ARMY) have continually campaigned against these attacks, leveraging their global platform to fight anti-Asian hate.

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One of the incidents of racism against BTS includes a promotional graphic for the 2026 FIFA World Cup halftime show being widely condemned for featuring poorly generated AI images of BTS. Fans criticised the publication for distorted faces, confused identities, and careless representation, calling the image disrespectful. In another separate incident, the Chilean television network Mega issued an apology following heavy backlash over a racist and xenophobic comedy sketch. Comedians parodied the band while mocking the Korean language, using inappropriate jokes about COVID-19 and vaccines.

While a popular German radio host drew massive international outrage after comparing BTS to the coronavirus and calling them a "bad virus". The host's remarks prompted fans to trend hashtags denouncing the comments as overt racism.

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To actively combat xenophobia and intolerance, the group visited the White House in June 2022 to hold a press briefing and discuss the importance of Asian inclusion, representation, and the urgency of addressing anti-Asian hate crimes with President Joe Biden.