The members of PRETTYMUCH, the American boy band that includes Canada’s Zion Kuwonu, are under fire for past racist and homophobic comments and alleged bad behaviour.
On Monday, the hashtag “PRETTYMUCHISOVERPARTY” was trending on Twitter.
Kuwonu, who is from Ottawa, and group mates Brandon Arreaga, Edwin Honoret, Austin Porter and Nick Mara are being called out for using racial slurs and using words like “gay” and “retarded” as insults.
Honoret and Porter are also being singled out for allegedly preying on young female fans. During a livestream on Friday, Honoret told fans: “I literally have nothing to say besides it’s not true, by any means.” He also tweeted “if you feel like you have been disrespected by me please dm me, I do not want to leave a stone unturned! This is very serious and im willing to converse and set any record straight!”
Fans shared a 2018 tweet by Kuwonu in which he seemingly mocked guys who paint their nails. He was also accused of using the N-word and, according to a tweet, "blocked fans who asked him to apologize.”
Kuwonu has not yet directly addressed the controversy. On Sunday, he tweeted: “I jus wanna move to an island and grow weed I swear.”
PRETTYMUCH was formed by Simon Cowell and debuted in 2017 with the single “Would You Mind.” The group has released three EPs and was set to open for Camila Cabello on The Romance Tour before it was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Ironically, Arreaga fumed on Twitter last week that cancel culture is “so stupid” and “a concept built on dragging people down instead of lifting people up.”
He wrote: “You’ll convince yourself you’re doing a ‘good thing’ by cancelling someone else, but really it’s just an excuse for people to be gatekeepers and control freaks. you’re judging someone on the ‘proof’ of their imperfections.. but that can’t be fair cause what about u?
“Problem is, people want to see other people fail.. and cancel culture is the literal proof of that. don’t be that person. it’s wack. come up with a new system that builds people up and educates them instead if dragging them down.”