A news anchor in Texas is facing backlash from BTS fans after making an inappropriate joke about the band’s collaboration with Oreo – saying that the cookies carry a secret message that reads “death to America”.
The anchor, James Eppler, made the comments while hosting Good Day Lubbock and reporting on the upcoming collaboration between the snack company and the K-pop giants.
On June 8, Oreo will roll out some limited-edition biscuits made in collaboration with BTS, which will have the cookies in the band’s traditional purple colour and include sugar pancake-flavoured creme – inspired by the popular Korean food, hotteok.
“The creme is supposed to taste like the South Korean treat hotteok, which is a brown sugar-stuffed pancake that some of the band members say they ate as kids,” Eppler said on the show.
“That does sound good, right?,” he added, going on to quip that each biscuit is “engraved with one of 13 designs, which spell out a message to fans when put together that is ‘Death to America,’ which I think is really strange.”
“No, it’s not,” Eppler quickly said after, brushing it off while laughing.
? what about this is funny im so tired pic.twitter.com/xYGFMlasvS
— ِ (@kitteewhysker) May 27, 2026
While the news anchor was quick to laugh off the comments on the show, fans of BTS are not taking it as lightly and have been taking to social media to criticise Eppler for the comments.
“Spreading misinformation about an Asian boyband on a news show knowing damn well how America is treating minorities right now is really weird,” one person on X wrote, while another accused the anchor of wanting “to incite violence against BTS” by making those comments “in this political climate”.
“You need to train your news anchor better after you [have] fired this one, this was supposed to be a wholesome collaboration between Oreos and BTS,” wrote another fan online, and someone else chimed in “This is completely unacceptable. Using these kinds of comments as ‘humour’ only normalises racism and misinformation. It’s unprofessional, offensive, and defamatory.”
“There is no room for ignorance, xenophobia, prejudice, racism or anything in between in journalism. If James Eppler cannot report news without being unprofessional, he doesn’t need a platform,” another wrote.
At time of writing, Eppler has not publicly responded to the backlash nor offered an apology for the comments.
I am convinced they said this to incite violence against BTS, because what conservative American watching the news is taking “death to America!” as a lighthearted joke in this political climate?? Absolutely abhorrent behavior from James Eppler, fucking coward locked his IG acc https://t.co/MQzDyXtFzH
— Tri da Villain (@THEEEhottie) May 27, 2026
Spreading misinformation about an asian boyband on a news show knowing damn well how America is treating minorities right now is really weird https://t.co/XHWeFMkTrM
— kat (@kookyun) May 27, 2026
Inappropriate and disrespectful. News should not say things like this about BTS. They’re legendary, humble and extremely kind and talented. This is bs
— GOLDENJUNG (@goldenjung15666) May 27, 2026
@GrayMediaGTN did you know that @fox34 @KCBD11 employees journalists that make racist jokes about a korean band. The joke is not only unfunny, but also talking lightly about death to americans while running what basically is an advertisement segment for @Oreo which is a huge…
— Amal⁷ ⊙⊝⊜ 🪭 BTS COMEBACK MARCH 20 💜 (@Mugiwara_Army) May 27, 2026
This is completely unacceptable. Using these kinds of comments as “humor” only normalizes racism and misinformation. It’s unprofessional, offensive, and defamatory.
There is nothing funny about this, and we expect better from media outlets like @fox34 and @KCBD11. I highly doubt… https://t.co/YpCq4o3Sfz
— BTS Daily Chile⁷ (@BTSDailyChile) May 27, 2026
@fox34 @KCBD11 this xenophobic and racist ass ain't taking you anywhere. And wtf are you even airing??? Apologise and fire that employee of yours
— theydontknowboutshimmy⁷ (@Waraich1089285) May 28, 2026
In other BTS news, as well as the Oreo collab, the band will also be joining Madonna, and Shakira in co-headlining the first ever World Cup Final Halftime Show.
Last month, the K-pop icons kicked off their huge 2026 and 2027 world tour at Goyang Stadium in South Korea, and broke out tracks from ‘ARIRANG’ for the first time. That gig saw them debut ‘Body to Body’, ‘Hooligan’, ‘2.0’, and ‘Like Animals’, with RM performing seated for much of the set after spraining his ankle in rehearsals.
NME caught the show and gave it four-and-a-half stars, with Rhian Daly writing: “Throughout, it’s clear that they’re still as committed to BTS as before their enforced break for military service, RM referring to decisions they’ve made so they “can keep doing this for a long time”.
“It’s a sentiment that makes the fireworks-heavy final song, ‘Into The Sun’, feel beautifully optimistic – this might be the end of the show, but BTS’ moment in the sun is far from over.”
The current run of shows are the first tour dates from BTS in three years and will see them cover 34 regions with 79 live shows, marking their biggest tour yet. Find all ticket information here, UK tickets here, and international tickets here.
Before kicking off the dates, they held a free concert in Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, which was livestreamed to over 190 countries on Netflix and welcomed roughly 104,000 fans – breaking the record for the largest-ever public concert in South Korea.
‘ARIRANG’ was given a four-star review from NME, which read: “Much of ‘ARIRANG’ negotiates polar ideas – BTS as heroes or normal people, the buzz of the spotlight and the hush of their private worlds, longing for the euphoric parts of life to continue versus wanting to get off of the ride.”
Since it dropped, BTS have unveiled a surprise hidden ‘ARIRANG‘ track, and NME has created what it considers to be the “dream BTS setlist”. Check it out here.