The company behind K-pop group Monsta X apologized Monday for putting one of its members in a shirt emblazoned with an Arabic phrase.
In one of the promotional images for his new solo EP Duality, I.M. wore a shirt with an Arabic phrase Muslims recite during prayers.
After fans called out the 25-year-old rapper-singer, Starship Entertainment removed the photo from social media and said in a statement: “We regret not taking further measures to make sure that there were no religious implications in the concept photos in advance.
“We sincerely apologize to all who felt uncomfortable with our actions. Going forward, we ensure that we will make every effort to prevent something like this from happening again. Once again, we truly apologize for this.”
The T-shirt controversy has given a shot of publicity for the Friday release of Duality, which includes a track titled "God Damn."
Last October, Rihanna apologized publicly for including a track that samples a Hadith in a Savage x Fenty show. (Hadiths are records of the traditions or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad and are sacred to Muslims.)
The pop star called it an “honest, yet careless mistake.”