KISS OF LIFE, also known as KIOF, is a South Korean girl group of four members: Julie, the leader, Natty, Belle, and Haneul. The group made its debut on July 5, 2023, with the eponymous extended play (EP) Kiss of Life. Since then, it has released two more EPs, one single album, and seven singles, including Shhh, Bad News, Nobody Knows, Midas Touch, Sticky, R.E.M., and Get Loud.
The members recently found themselves embroiled in a controversy following a now-deleted livestream that was made to celebrate Julie's birthday. The stream had the theme of “Old-School Hip Hop Vibes.”
Netizens didn't take kindly to the broadcast, calling out the girls' group for alleged racism and cultural appropriation.
More details on KISS OF LIFE's loss of over 200k followers
The members of KISS OF LIFE made a lifestream to celebrate the group leader Julie’s birthday. The stream had the theme of “Old-school Hip Hop Vibes,” and so the members tried to dress and act accordingly. However, the members' fashion choices and behavior during the stream sparked outrage among fans and netizens.
Fans accused them of cultural appropriation and racism. Each of the members wore styles associated with Latino and Black communities in ways fans and netizens considered offensive.
Belle received the most outrage for dressing in a Cholo-inspired outfit and calling herself Taco Belle.
“Julie, born in Hawaii, said the n-word and apologized, Belle, born in Seattle, acting crazy. I actually liked Kiss of Life, and I thought Julie's apology was sincere, but this proves that black people are just something you can make fun of but if you get blacklash your sorry,” @aekatss tweeted.
“Belle telling the fans “promise you won’t leave the fandom after watching it” is very evil and insensitive and shows they didn’t care and knew the group would receive instant backlash from that r*cist *ss live.” @LOKISPACEGEMS replied.
“Our admins have traveled hundreds of miles and spent so much money and time to show our love for KISS OF LIFE and didn't expect anything in return but respect. And you couldn't even give us that,” @reifofinha added.
Following the backlash from fans, KISS OF LIFE issued an apology via their social media accounts. Allegedly, the shared apology had each paragraph handwritten by a different member of the group.
However, the group is still experiencing damage due to their content. The fallout was massive, and their social media accounts experienced a visible drop in their followers. KISS OF LIFE lost 78,438 Instagram followers and 8,000 YouTube subscribers within the space of two days after the livestream. Their most significant loss, however, was in their official TikTok account, which lost at least 100,000 followers.
In addition to this massive decline, the group also lost several loyal fan accounts that were once focused on promoting the group.
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At the time of writing this article, apart from the initial apology letter, the members have maintained silence concerning the controversy.
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