James Corden Criticized for Calling BTS Fans '15-Year-Old Girls'
Film/TV

James Corden Criticized for Calling BTS Fans '15-Year-Old Girls'

James Corden is facing backlash for describing BTS fans as "15-year-old girls."

This past Monday, the special presidential envoys for South Korea appeared at the United Nations to deliver a seven-minute speech, which was followed by an electrifying video of the group performing "Permission to Dance" at the UN Assembly Hall. So naturally, Corden decided recap the event on a recent episode of The Late Late Show. However, he opted to do it in a pretty dismissive way.

"The United Nations General Assembly kicked off this morning in New York City, and it started with some pretty unusual visitors: BTS," Corden said during the broadcast, before adding that this was "the first time 15-year-old girls everywhere found themselves wishing that they were Secretary-General António Guterres."

Obviously, this led to ample backlash from ARMY, who expressed disappointment in the "unprovoked" jab. And while some went on to point out that the fandom isn't just teenage girls, many more took to Google's viewer ratings tool to bring The Late Late Show's 4.2 star rating down to a reported 1.4 stars.

Meanwhile, others dubbed Corden a "snake" and "clout chaser," while several viral tweets talked about revoking his "Papa Mochi" nickname — a reference to BTS member, Jimin, bestowed upon the talk show host after BTS' "Carpool Karaoke" segment in 2020.

"Papa Mochi no more," as one fan wrote. "James Corden talked about BTS appearance at the UNGA in his show and he thinks the UN guesting BTS was an 'unusual' and 'weird' experience."

Neither Corden nor The Late Late Show have addressed the backlash. However, the clip in question has since been removed from all of their official accounts.

Photo via Getty / Jose Perez / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images