The Chainsmokers INQUIRER.NET File photo (credit: Columbia Records)
American DJ duo “The Chainsmokers” are in hot waters after one of its members made a culturally insensitive joke while being interviewed in India.
Alex Pall and Andrew Taggart were recently in India during a stop in their Asian tour, when the former subtly made a remark about how Chinese people kill dogs for meat.
According to a report from Refinary29, Pall shared that he does not bring his pet dog Cheddar on tours since she is “really ill-behaved,” before adding: “Well, I don’t know if I’d bring her to China.”
The pair laughed shortly after the remark, which left the interviewer in shock.
Although Pall did not directly say it, Twitter users were quick to point out that he was referring to Chinese traditions surrounding the controversial Yulin Dog Meat Festival in Guangxi and other provinces in China.
Irate netizens accused Pall of being “racist and insensitive toward Asians.”
I don’t like the chainsmokers but the yulin dog meat festival still happens every year in china.
They are still jerks for joking about it.— gwen (@imacat_twt) September 11, 2017
soo how are the chainsmokers jus gonna be racist towards asians while they’re in asia being interviewed by an asian interviewer in asia
— joon day (@szabts) September 11, 2017
The Chainsmokers was referring to Yulin festival. Their comment doesn’t reflect on our boys. Stop being so childish 🙄#BTSALBUM7DAYS
— Taehyungie 🐯 (@kawaiinejenjen) September 11, 2017
The EDM artists, meanwhile, managed to perform at the music festival Ultra China over the weekend, without concerns over Pall’s remarks.
The duo also took to Twitter to air their side and apologize for Pall’s comments.
“I made a comment in an interview about being hesitant to bring my dog, Cheddar, to China, because I have read reports about dogs being slaughtered in certain provinces,” the statement reads. “We originally posted a video to share how much we love China and our fans there. We would never intentionally do anything to upset our fans, and we apologize if we offended anyone.”
The post also urged Twitter users to visit and support https://www.stopyulinforever.org/.” Khristian Ibarrola /ra
https://t.co/0ukfSpfybJ pic.twitter.com/nNnsWXFaWW
— THE CHAINSMOKERS (@TheChainsmokers) September 11, 2017