Actor Choi Wooshik has unexpectedly been facing allegations of racism after walking right past a fan who wanted his autograph at a fashion show in Paris, France.
On the 26th, a woman posted a video on her TikTok account claiming that Choi Wooshik intentionally ignored her at the AMI Paris Fashion Show. Introducing herself as an actress and writer, she said:
"Usually, I don't default to saying that weird or uncomfortable situations happen, you know, because of (my skin color). But what happened was so strange that like, your girl is still shaking."
She explained that she often gets invited to fan events because of her job and had even made a handmade sign for her favorite actor. She noted, "It was the end of the show and the celebrities are coming over to say hi to the fans, take pictures, and things like that. And then, I see my favorite actor came out. Now, bear in mind, I'm the only one in my barricade section that has a poster and a hand sign of him."
According to her, Choi Wooshik didn't even look her way. She claimed, "He looks at my poster, then he looks away, but he's walking towards us. He stands right in front of me, but he doesn't make eye contact with me. He's signing for people to my left. Then he starts signing above my head. At some point,he even signs the little traditional fan they were giving in the fashion show." She continued,
"He signs everybody else's stuff except for mine, and then he walks away."
She made it clear that the issue wasn't just about missing out on an autograph, expressing her frustration, stating, "What I thought was confusing is that he came all the way to the only sign and poster of him, signed everybody else's stuff, and left." She added:
"I was the only black person in that section. I don't know if it was racism or unconscious bias, but it was a deeply humiliating experience."
She further revealed that she even ran into him later at the after-party but chose to cross the street so she wouldn't think she was stalking him. She shared, "It's almost as if like I was being told, 'You're not allowed to be here' or 'You're not allowed to be my fan.'" She added, "If it's because I'm Black, I'm sorry but there's nothing I can do about it. It made me think that if you have darker skin, you can't be his fan."
To back up her claims, she also posted a video she recorded at the scene. In the clip, you can hear her repeatedly calling out, 'Please!' and 'I love you,' while the actor signs things for everyone else around before walking off. Even though his face was blurred out, videos posted by other fans quickly revealed that it was Choi Wooshik.
As the controversy started spreading, international fans are completely split. Lots of people criticized him over the alleged racism, but plenty of others jumped to his defense, saying things like, 'He can't possibly sign for everyone at the event,' 'Maybe he was embarrassed because she was openly showing how big of a fan she was,' and 'It just looks like he was signing randomly. This seems like a victim mentality.'
Looking at the big picture, Choi Wooshik has never had a single racism allegation in his entire career, both in South Korea and globally. In fact, back in 2020 after the death of George Floyd in the US, he personally joined the anti-racism #BlackoutTuesday campaign by posting about it on his personal social media account. He also has been communicating with international fans, actively hanging out with them regardless of their nationality or race, which is why some people are finding these claims so hard to believe.
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