Hip-hop singer and producer Crush denied claims that he was racist toward fans at a festival over the weekend.

Fans on Twitter and other social media platforms called out Crush for allegedly refusing to high five two fans at the 2022 Someday Pleroma Festival, held at the Nanji Hangang Park in Mapo District, western Seoul on Sunday. A short video of the singer performing on stage went viral on Twitter, in which Crush appears to pass by two fans in the audience with darker skin, according to the Twitter user who uploaded the video.

“I don’t think Crush should get away with this,” read the tweet.

Crush uploaded a post both in Korean and English to his Instagram account hours later, explaining the situation.

“I just wanted to address the issue revolving around the audience interaction from my performance last night,” read the statement. “To avoid further misunderstanding, I would like to explain that I had to refrain from giving out high fives with the fans in particular sections as a safety precaution – fans were getting too close to the fence holding up the audience section.”

“I made a quick judgment not to approach for the safety of my fans,” he added. “I sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding that my actions may have caused.”

Crush, whose real name is Shin Hyo-seob, debuted in 2014 with the single “Sometimes.” His hit songs include "Just" (2015), “Oasis” (2015) and “Bittersweet” (2018).


BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]