K-pop girl group Kiss of Life apologizes for 'culturally insensitive' content
K-pop girl group Kiss of Life has publicly apologized after facing criticism for their hip-hop-themed livestream that was accused of being racist.
On Instagram, the group expressed remorse over the incident, which took place during a live broadcast to celebrate member Julie's birthday.
In a handwritten letter, they apologized for causing "so much disappointment" to their fans.
"We are sorry. Our intention was to show how much we loved the category of old school hip hop because it greatly influenced our music. While shooing the content, we ended up taking the concept too far," their letter read.
They added, "We realize now that our content was culturally insensitive and take full responsibility for our actions and can only promise to do better."
KIOF, composed of Julie, Natty, Belle, and Haneul, also underscored that they've spent the past few days learning and reflecting on their actions. Hence, they promised to continue educating themselves and show their sincerity through their "actions rather than words."
"Our mission has always been to spread confidence and love through our music. We truly regret the choices we made and are genuinely sorry for any pain and distress we have caused our fans."
In clips of the stream shared on X, the members of the group were seen wearing outfits reminiscent of some rappers' fashion. They had on big chain necklaces and one member was wearing two caps sideways on her head.
A now-deleted TikTok also showed the girl group lip-syncing and dancing to 50 Cent's In Da Club, which drew flak online.
"What Kiss of Life did is modern-day blackface and cultural mockery. Dressing up as Black people like we're Halloween costumes, while indulging in exaggerated stereotypes? This wasn't accidental. They sat down, planned this, and got dressed," one X user wrote, noting that the food in the video were also "stereotypical."
"Kiss of life going live for Julie's birthday making a caricature of Black people was not on my bingo card of 2025. From the hair, to the makeup, down to dialect and clothes... And even showing a picture of a group of black men that they're 'cosplaying.' Okay," added another.
Some users, on the other hand, said that they don't find what the group did offensive.
"I'm black. I don't find it offensive. It's an old-school hip hop party. They are not doing blackface or s**t," one user said on X.
"The theme of the party was hip hop and rappers and this is the idea of hip hop for many around the world, especially who grew up in the 90s cause every artist was doing that no matter the race back then! So definitely, Kiss of Life['s] intentions weren't racist," another chimed in.
In 2023, KIOF was formed under S2 Entertainment and made its debut in July of that year. They are known for their hit songs, including EPs Kiss of Life, Midas Touch, Sticky, Bad News, Nobody Knows, and Igloo, among others.
