In 2024, we included Kim Nam-Joon – better known as RM, the leader of BTS, the biggest boy band in the world – in our 5th honour roll of 16 male role models helping to stop violence against women. We did so in good faith after conducting due diligence which showed that he had taken steps over the years to address his own internalised misogyny, support women in the arts, and speak out about violence against women in intensely patriarchal South Korea. We also cited him as a case study in our Father’s Day 2025 op-ed on the importance of imperfect male role models because, up until then, he had demonstrated the ability to conscientiously work on doing better when it comes to unlearning misogyny, sexism, and toxic masculinity.
Effective today, we are indefinitely suspending RM from our list of male role models.
We will also be reviewing and revising our Father’s Day 2025 op-ed that featured RM as a case study of a good but imperfect male role model.
HERE’S WHY:
On 12th August 2026, RM and his fellow BTS member J-Hope flew to Toronto to attend a concert by Usher and Chris Brown. J-Hope shared an Instagram video of them enjoying the concert and, shortly afterwards, Brown posted a picture of himself posing with both BTS members.
View this post on Instagram
This has sparked a major public outcry online as a large number of ARMYs (BTS fans) expressed their disappointment in RM and J-Hope for associating with Brown who is notorious for his violence against women including domestic violence, assault, and rape. Brown is currently out on bail with a UK court trial pending in October 2026 for his latest assault charges.
The Pixel Project had been waiting for RM to issue a public statement or acknowledgement regarding the Chris Brown concert before we responded to this controversy. However, it has been a week of silence on RM’s part and that silence is deafening.
BTS is currently the biggest boy band in the world; their every action has a huge impact and influence on pop culture and the global audience. Whether they like it or not, they are public role models by default, and with this great power comes great responsibility.
We have never expected any male role model (including RM) to be perfect. Everyone is human after all. But being a decent human being also means being accountable when your choices hurt other people.
RM’s (and J-Hope’s) choice to take that photo with Brown is, at best, careless about the wider damaging impact that comes from publicly associating with a known abuser whose track record of violence (notably cases of severe violence against women including Rihanna) is so extensive there is a Wikipedia page dedicated to it.
Intent does not always align with impact. Even if RM (and J-Hope) did not intend for that picture to be a public endorsement of an abuser or violence against women, their level of fame means that they have automatically platformed Brown in front of their millions of fans and the general public. In doing so, they have contributed to perpetuating the system that normalises violent men facing minimal consequences for gender-based violence. This is despite having a fandom that is at least 90% women and girls.
Additionally, as the outpouring of messages, posts, and comments across social media from ARMYs shows, the public association between both BTS members and Brown evident in the snapshot has also inflicted harm – intended or not – by causing mental and emotional distress to many ARMYs, some of whom are survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
To date, the negative ramifications of the picture of RM, J-Hope, and Chris Brown continue to ripple out. Brown clearly perceives it as RM and J-Hope’s support for him and has gone after a female ARMY for speaking out about him:
Yet RM (and J-Hope) continue to remain silent.
We cannot and will not condone any of this.
Like many men who appear progressive when it comes to women, it is now clear that RM lives with a cognitive dissonance he has either not registered or examined:
Many well-meaning men who read feminist books and treat the women and girls in their lives well have privilege blinkers that blind them to the ways in which the patriarchal system brutalises and fails women and girls again and again. They are also reluctant to call out or disassociate themselves from other men who display sexism, misogyny, and violence against women, especially men whom they perceive would benefit them.
HOW DO WE MOVE FORWARD FROM HERE?
Our message to RM:
Given that you (J-Hope, and your agency Hybe) have chosen to remain silent despite the ongoing impact of your public association with Chris Brown, we are not expecting a public apology or acknowledgement from you at this point.
We do hope, however, that you will find it in yourself to remember:
Remember your years of effort in supporting female artists and authors, educating yourself about feminism, consulting with a professor of women’s studies about your lyrics, and speaking out about violence against women.
Remember the part of you that cared, even just a little bit, about women and girls as your fellow humans deserving of equality and freedom from violence.
Remember that ARMY, your beloved fandom that has supported BTS all these years, is majority women and girls.
Remember the thoughtful part of you that always does better when you know better.
We also ask that you remember these statistics:
1 in 3 women will experience gender-based violence in their lifetime.
Even if you choose to remain silent about Chris Brown, we urge you (and J-Hope) to consider taking action to help women and girls who have suffered violence at the hands of abusive men:
Donate generously to local domestic violence and sexual assault shelters and hotlines in South Korea and EVERY SINGLE CITY IN EVERY SINGLE COUNTRY that the ARIRANG tour will be stopping in moving forward.
Some ARMYs are already donating to anti-violence against women organisations worldwide.
Why not join them?
Our message to ARMY:
Thank you for giving us the heads-up about the Chris Brown situation. We hear you and we see you, and we are very sorry for the pain and disappointment so many of you – including survivors of domestic violence, rape, and sexual assault – are now experiencing. We hope that you are looking after yourselves and able to access safe spaces for your mental and emotional well-being.
There is one silver lining that could emerge from this controversy: it has put the issue of violence against women front and centre in many people’s minds and sparked a lot of conversation about this human rights atrocity. Please consider:
- Learning more about this issue and getting your family and community talking about it – help break the silence around the violence.
- Donating in your own name to your local and national domestic violence shelters and sexual assault/rape hotlines/helplines. Not sure where to start? Check out https://nomoredirectory.org/ for organisations in your country.
Last but not least:
For women and girls worldwide who need help for domestic violence or rape/sexual assault, visit https://nomoredirectory.org/ to search for the nearest domestic violence shelter or rape/sexual assault helpline in your country.
For women and girls in South Korea who need help for domestic violence or rape/sexual assault, here is a list of hotlines and resources: https://nomoredirectory.org/south-korea/
For resources on learning about violence against women and what you can do about it, visit our website @ https://www.thepixelproject.net/
Photo Credit:
- Kim Nam-Joon – From Wikimedia Commons (By 티비텐 – YouTube (Time: 26) – View/save archived versions on archive.org and archive.today, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=144235914)
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