BTS Fans Slam Jimmy Kimmel For Joke On 'Contagious' Boy Band

Jimmy Kimmel earned the ire of BTS fans anew over the opening spiel of his show that aired recently.

The 54-year-old's monologue referred to a “contagious” boy band while talking about the latest COVID-19 variant, Omicron BA.2, on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Thursday.

“We’re learning more about this new version of Omicron that’s making the rounds at an even faster rate than the original Omicron. The new variant is said to be so contagious that none of you (studio audience) should be here, that’s how contagious it is...” he said, on the show.

“You know, these variants, all the different variants, remind me of the boy bands in the late 90s and the early 2000s. You know, you had the big ones, like Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, and then that mutated into O-Town and 98 Degrees."

"The JoBros popped up, Big Time Rush. They kept splitting off in different directions, eventually One Direction. And they took pieces, and it popped up all over the world, until eventually we get to one that’s so contagious it destroys all life on earth,” he added.

His spiel is shown in this tweet by a fan who wrote, "Racism is not a joke."

While Kimmel did not specifically mention BTS in his spiel, fans believe he was referring to the septet because he had made a similar joke when “Emily In Paris” star Ashley Park appeared on his show on Jan. 20.

Park told Kimmel that she was ecstatic when RM and V shared her cover of “Dynamite” on their Instagram pages. She said “she couldn’t think, couldn’t talk and couldn’t get up,” for the rest of the day. Park said she did not have a clue she got infected with the virus because she thought the symptoms popped up because of her shock from getting noticed by BTS.

“BTS fever...They’re both very dangerous. You’re lucky to have come come out of those alive,” Kimmel said.

Later, Park found out she had contracted COVID-19 which explained her weird feeling.

Kimmel's latest joke did not sit well with loyal BTS supporters, especially because he had not apologized for his previous comment about the group.

“I didn't expect Jimmy Kimmel to apologize, especially after BB backed him up like that, but I definitely didn't expect him to double down within a week. Hope this won't happen again but I won't be surprised if now he's going to take every opportunity to do it,” a Twitter user wrote.