Racial Discrimination Against Asians Reported At 'M Countdown' In Paris; Video Shows Guards Arrest Asian Fan

The recent "M Countdown" concert in Paris turned into an unfortunate event for some concertgoers — especially Asians — as reports claimed that on-site security exhibited racial discrimination against them. Videos showed security aggressively dragging one Asian concertgoer outside of the venue.

On Sunday, K-Pop fans from across the globe gathered at the Paris La Défense Arena in France to catch some of the most popular K-Pop acts and rising stars perform live, including ATEEZ, NCT Dream, SHINee's Taemin and PSY, among others.

While the event was supposed to be a joyous occasion, there was actually chaos happening among the audience as several Asian attendees got kicked out of the concert. Eyewitnesses claimed that excessive force was used against the Asian attendees, per local media outlet Star News.

A video of the on-site security aggressively dragging out one Asian man also circulated on social media, which sparked disappointed reactions from the K-Pop community. Twitter user @woosanseongsang, who witnessed the situation, wrote in the caption, "31 minutes of security vs fansites right next to me."

The user clarified that she did not know what caused the scene but was shocked that it happened right next to her. The user explained that there were other fan sites — a term used to refer to administrators of websites dedicated to their favorite idols who often bring professional cameras with them — who also got removed from the venue. But they experienced a "less aggressive" treatment than the one captured on camera.

In another tweet, the user assumed that security could have been on high alert because of the terror warning. However, it did not justify the excessive force. The user also shared how they noticed that security "heavily targeted" Asians, especially during the checking of bags.

Following the viral video, a representative from the show spoke to a local media outlet denying the racial discrimination accusations and said that the man in the video allegedly had a "Canon camera" with him, which was strictly prohibited. This was also the alleged reason why other Asian concertgoers got removed from the venue.

A member of the security team, who went by the username @TheSerbianBear on Twitter, also addressed the matter, explaining their side of what transpired. He said, "To clarify, before the video, the individual in white swung at my coworkers and got taken down, we do not use force for the pleasure of it, as you can see on the footage, there were at [least] 4 security [agents] for 2 people, check other videos, most of them were taken out one on one."

"Some of the [fansites] were [extremely aggressive], we only responded with the [adequate] posture, I personally still have bite and nail marks on my hands, arms and neck, but that's the job! They [were a hindrance] for the artists, production, and for the public!" he added in another tweet.

Most K-Pop community members were disappointed in the matter and believed that it was an act of racial discrimination as excessive force was unnecessary, despite the concertgoers breaking the rules.

"This is a scene of racism with no doubt. We view this as disrespect and violence specifically towards Asians. We ask for APOLOGIES from the security guards, the organizer of 'M COUNTDOWN' in France, and all the people who demonstrated racism at the concert," one user wrote on Twitter.

Another commented, "I don't care what you think of fansites, this is just f—ked up! Nobody deserves this kind of violence for just taking pictures during a concert or having a camera on them even if it's prohibited."

"They treat him like he [has] a gun, not a camera! Why all this cruelty and unjustified violence?!!!!" a third user said.

"Just saw videos of security kind of beating and actually choking fans that had cameras...violently... it's against the rules, and you can obviously kick someone out for that, but getting physical like that is honestly too much," a fourth user added.

Another wrote, "I hate fansites too, but you guys are so nasty there's no reason for them to be pinning him to the ground..."