BTS is Like COVID-19: ARMY Angry Over Bayern 3 Presenter Matthias Matuschik's Racist Comments

German radio network Bayern 3 presenter Matthias Matuschik is being slammed by the ARMY [BTS fans] who have termed his comments insulting BTS as racist. Matuschik had compared South Korea's top boy band BTS to COVID-19. He had also told that the BTS members should be sent to North Korea for 20 years.

Matuschik started bashing BTS after the Kpop band performed Coldplay's Fix You during MTV Unplugged program. According to SportsKeeda, the presenter said that BTS was like a virus akin to COVID-19 and also hoped for a vaccine to be available soon for the same.

Reacting to BTS' performance in MTV Unplugged he said it was a paradox in itself. "BTS, yes, they actually have an MTV Unplugged now - with a boy band, Unplugged! That alone is paradoxical! Yes? And then these... these little p***s brag about the fact that they covered Fix You from Coldplay, where I say: "This is blasphemy!" And that's what I say as an atheist!"

He also went on to say: "This is... this is sacrilege, for this you will... for this you will be vacationing in North Korea for the next 20 years!" This made BTS fans [ARMY] angry and started trending #Bayern3Racist and #RassismusBeiBayern3 on Twitter. Following this, the radio network issued a statement instead of an apology.

"Matuschik wasn't trying to be offensive, he was just clowning around. He was playing a character and expressed his opinion clearly, openly, and without make-up," the station stated. It also said that he was not actually a xenophobic or racist person and asked people to go through Matuschik's Facebook page.

Who is Matthias Matuschik?

Matuschik, also known as Matuschke, is a German radio presenter. He is also a comedian and has formerly worked as a DJ. He is working with Bayern 3 since 1998. He was also nominated for the Best Moderator award in 2011. It is not the first time Matuschik's comparisons have invited the wrath of the public.

While moderating the show 'The Wolfratshausen River Festival' in 2015, he had compared the creation of smoking areas with anti-Semitic coercive measures [also referred to as hostile actions or discrimination against Jews]. He was widely criticized for this. This time, his comparison of BTS to COVID-19 and reference to the boy band is being termed as racism against Asians.

BTS MTV Unplugged

BTS members RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook took part in the MTV Unplugged program and performed two tracks from their album BE, Telepathy and Blue & Grey. The boy ban also covered Coldplay's Fix You.

BTS also performed Life Goes On and signed off from the music show with their Grammy-nominated song Dynamite. The group chose to give the real feel of unplugged and instead of colorful clothes it performed Dynamite wearing white suits.