Recently, the fan community of BTS (ARMY) and Big Bang (V.I.P) had a heated argument on social media, after an interview in early 2025 by Taeyang with CNN.
During the interview, the reporter mentioned that Taeyang and Big Bang “are truly pioneers in making Kpop a global phenomenon.” The female reporter asked Taeyang how he feels about seeing Kpop taking the world by storm.
The male idol replied humbly: “It's fortunate that we can open the door to the global market for many Kpop groups who come after us, and they can perform on world-famous stages.
I don't think we were pioneers in that, but it's great to see our efforts have contributed to that.”
However, Taeyang's sharing unexpectedly sparked a fierce debate online. Many ARMY - fans of BTS - believe that BTS is the one who truly "paved the way" for Kpop to reach the international level, with outstanding achievements.
BTS fans simultaneously pushed the hashtag "BTS paved the way" on social media platforms, along with many comments criticizing Taeyang.
BTS fans even flooded Taeyang's Instagram account and left angry comments.
The male idol quickly discovered the incident. On his personal page, he shared a video link to the interview with CNN, calling on everyone to watch the entire interview to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.
Currently, Big Bang fans continue to respond to negative comments, "pushing back" a series of bad comments on Taeyang's account.
The actions of BTS fans have also caused controversy. Some people think that Taeyang had to speak up himself because he felt the incident had “gone too far”. Because fan communities having conflicts has always been a common thing in Kpop, and artists rarely speak up in this situation.
On the other hand, BTS' Jimin collaborated with Taeyang on the song "Vibe" in early 2023. BTS members have also expressed their admiration for Big Bang many times.
So ARMY's actions can create a bad impression of the BTS fan community. It can even indirectly cause awkwardness between members of BTS and Big Bang.
