TWICE’s Chaeyoung Apologizes for Wearing a T-Shirt With Swastika

TWICE‘s Chaeyoung apologized on Tuesday (March 21) after posting an Instagram photo in which the 23-year-old K-pop star is seen wearing a t-shirt featuring a swastika.

The shirt in the since-deleted photo had a graphic of a 1970s picture of Sex Pistols‘ Sid Vicious wearing a T-shirt with a swastika on it. The symbol was used as an emblem of the German Nazi party, as Adolf Hitler made it the centerpiece of the Nazi flag.

“Hello, this is Chaeyoung from TWICE. I sincerely apologize regarding the Instagram post. I didn’t correctly recognize the meaning of the tilted swastika in the t-shirt I wore,” her statement, written in both English and Korean, read. “I deeply apologize for not thoroughly reviewing it, causing concern. I will pay absolute attention in the future to prevent any situation similar from happening again. Sincerely apologize again.”

TWICE recently released their 12th mini-album, Ready to Be, and the set debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart dated March 25, 2023. The group’s English single “Moonlight Sunrise” is included in the seven-track album, in addition to songs like “Got the Thrills,” “Blame It on Me,” “Wallflower,” “Crazy Stupid Love” and “Set Me Free.”

The girl group was also honored with the Breakthrough Award at Billboard’s Women in Music event on March 1, where they chatted with Billboard on the red carpet about the album. “We are ready to show more of our beautiful inner side to the world and ready to show more of ourselves,” Tzuyu shared of Ready to Be.