Starship Entertainment Releases Official Apology Regarding MONSTA X I.M’s Solo Teaser Images

They immediately took action.

Recently, MONSTA X’s I.M released a series of concept images ahead of his debut solo album DUALITY.

While fans were excited for his solo debut, some noticed that a teaser photo featured him wearing a shirt with the phrase, “Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim”. Written in Arabic, this sacred phrase means “In the name of Allah, the most gracious and the most merciful.”

Concerned about exploiting a religion, fans quickly asked Starship Entertainment to take the appropriate action by taking down the photos immediately.

Starship soon responded by issuing a formal apology through MONSTA X’s official fan cafe about the controversy.

| MONSTA X Fan Cafe/Daum

This is Starship Entertainment. In regards to the concept photos that were released for I.M’s digital mini album ‘DUALITY’, we have taken down all the photos that include clothes with religious meanings. We regret not taking further measures to make sure that there were no religious implications in the concept photos in advance.

We sincerely apologize to all who felt uncomfortable with our actions. Going forward, we ensure that we will make every effort to prevent something like this from happening again. Once again, we truly apologize for this.

— Starship Entertainment

Many fans praised Starship for their quick and thorough response to the controversy and the fans’ concerns.

With K-Pop becoming more global, it is important for companies to educate themselves on racial and religious topics as they continue to widen their audience.

MONSTA X