South Korean female pop group NewJeans’ member Danielle officially apologized for calling Lunar New Year ‘Chinese New Year’.
According to Korean tabloid Soompi, on January 19, Danielle sent her fans a message on the fan communication platform Phoning in which she asked, “what r u bunnies [NewJeans’ fans] doing for Chinese new year?”
The Australia-born singer was soon called out for referring to Lunar New Year as “Chinese New Year,” as Lunar New Year is a holiday celebrated by most Asian countries and not just China.
As Soompi explains, due to their limited knowledge of Asian culture, some Western countries refer to the holiday as “Chinese New Year,” even though it is not uniquely Chinese, which can be offensive to non-Chinese Asians who celebrate the holiday.
Soon after the backlash, the singer issued an official statement apologizing for her mistake. “Although I deleted it as soon as I realized my mistake, my message had already been delivered to many people, and it became impossible to undo,” she wrote in her statement shared by the outlet.
“Because Lunar New Year is a holiday celebrated by many countries and regions, including our country [Korea], my choice of words was inappropriate, and I deeply regret it. I also want to say I’m truly sorry to the Bunnies and many other people who must have been disappointed or hurt by my words.
I will not forget this incident, and I will try to be more careful in my words and actions in the future. Once again, I apologize,” Danielle concluded her statement.
