TWICE's Chaeyoung apologizes for wearing a shirt with swastika
Chaeyoung has expressed her apologies for wearing a shirt with a swastika symbol.
In a now-deleted Instagram post, Chaeyoung is seen wearing a graphic shirt featuring Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious wearing a swastika, a symbol affiliated with the German Nazi party led by Adolf Hitler.
After being called out, Chaeyoung immediately took down the photo and apologized, saying she didn’t “correctly recognize the meaning” of the featured symbol.
“Hello, this is Chaeyoung from TWICE. I sincerely apologize regarding the Instagram post,” she wrote. “I didn't correctly recognize the meaning of the tilted swastika in the t-shirt I wore.”
The 23-year-old K-pop star expressed her apologies, assuring her followers that she will pay attention next time to prevent something like this from happening again.
“I deeply apologize for not thoroughly reviewing it, causing concern. I will pay absolute attention in the future to prevent any situation similar from happening again.”
“Sincerely apologize again,” she concluded.
Fans have expressed their support for the K-pop star for immediately addressing the issue, where one user commented: "Honestly, I saw her Instagram post 2min after it was out and I was just scrolling through the photos and admiring her beauty, I didn’t even see or pay attention to the symbol. I was just admiring her and her caption that said 'girls girls girls,'" she wrote.
"I’m literally Jewish and didn’t even pay attention, stop crying about it and appreciate that she actually recognized her mistake and took full responsibility," she continued.
"[I] never doubted her intentions, [I] love chaeyoung and ik [I know] she’s a literal sweet heart that was just ignorant in her latest post, [I] hope she just takes this as a hard lesson to be careful next time," another user tweeted.
Chaeyoung is part of nine-member K-pop group TWICE, composed of Tzuyu, Nayeon, Dahyun, Jihyo, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, and Mina. They recently released their 12th mini album, Ready To Be, with hit songs, Set Me Free and Moonlight Sunrise.