KB News Desk
Appearance at Toronto show ignites debate over celebrity accountability as anti-violence organization suspends RM from role model list
RM and J-Hope of BTS are facing criticism from some fans after attending a concert by American singer Chris Brown in Toronto, with the controversy prompting a women’s anti-violence nonprofit to suspend RM from its list of male role models.
On Aug. 12, the two attended Brown’s co-headlining concert with Usher at Rogers Stadium just outside Toronto. J-Hope later shared photos and videos from the show on social media, while Brown posted a backstage photo featuring himself with RM and J-Hope.
The images quickly spread online, prompting criticism from fans who questioned the bandmates’ decision to publicly associate with Brown, whose career has been overshadowed by multiple legal controversies. Brown pleaded guilty in 2009 to assaulting his then-girlfriend and fellow pop star Rihanna, and has faced several other allegations and legal cases involving violence.
Fans said the issue was not simply attending the concert, but also appearing with Brown backstage. They argued that public figures with widespread influence have a responsibility to consider the message their actions send, particularly when interacting with artists accused or convicted of violence against women.
Criticism intensified Wednesday after The Pixel Project, a nonprofit organization focused on ending violence against women, announced that it had indefinitely suspended RM from its list of “16 Male Role Models Helping to Stop Violence Against Women” after waiting for a week for RM to publicly address the controversy before responding.
The organization had included RM on the list in 2024, citing what it described as his efforts to confront internalized misogyny, support women in the arts and speak out against violence toward women.
“We have never expected any male role model (including RM) to be perfect. Everyone is human after all,” said the organization through a public statement. “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.”
While recognizing that RM and J-Hope taking a photo with Brown cannot automatically be interpreted as “a public endorsement of an abuser or violence against women,” the organization added that “their level of fame means that they have automatically platformed Brown in front of their millions of fans and the general public.”
However, such backlash has not been unanimous.
Some fans defended RM and J-Hope, arguing that attending a concert or posing for a photograph with another artist should not be interpreted as endorsing that person’s past actions. Others suggested they may simply have attended as fellow musicians.
Neither RM, J-Hope nor Big Hit Music has publicly addressed the criticism.
