A trading card depicting the members of BTS with injured faces has been pulled from a set inspired by Sunday night’s Grammy Awards following complaints of insensitivity amidst an increase in anti-Asian violence.
“We hear and understand our consumers who are upset about the portrayal of BTS in our GPK [Garbage Pail Kids] Shammy Awards product and we apologize for including it,” read a statement from Topps that was shared on social media on Wednesday.
“We have removed the BTS sticker card from the set, we have not printed any of the sticker card and it will not be available.”
The “Bopping K-POP” card showed cartoon versions of BTS being hit with a Grammy statuette in a game of Whac-A-Mole. It was intended to show sympathy for the group, which had a Grammy nomination for “Dynamite” but did not win.
One fan tweeted: "The caricature version for the other artists seems cute and child-like, while the one for BTS depicts them as beaten, bruised with the look of fear on their face ... You're supporting the hate against Asians, this is not even qualified as a garbage humor, this is hateful."
Another tweet read: "It’s downright racist. For anyone trying to brush it off as comedic, depicting violence like that toward an Asian group during these times is hateful & dangerous."
Other cards in the $19.99 U.S. set depict Megan Thee Stallion, Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift.
Topps planned to print the set based on the number of orders placed online before March 23.
Attacks on Asians in the U.S. and Canada have increased during the pandemic. Former U.S. president Donald Trump regularly referred to COVID-19 as “the China virus.”
— Topps (@Topps) March 17, 2021