BTS' RM Suspended From Anti-Violence Role Model List Over Chris Brown Concert

Unlike their introspective previous solo releases, BTS rappers RM (Kim Namjoon) and j-hope made an unexpected appearance on Wednesday night (Aug. 12) at Chris Brown and Usher's blockbuster R&B Tour: Raymond & Brown concert at Rogers Stadium in Toronto. Both Brown and Usher met the BTS members backstage and shared photos with them on Instagram, with Brown captioning his post with the message, "WALK in your purpose. Even if you have to walk alone first❤️." The visit occurred while the 7-member group paused between two sold-out stadium dates on their ARIRANG world tour. The brief travel window between their Baltimore shows and upcoming Texas dates allowed the duo to experience the Toronto performance in person.

According to Billboard, the outing took place during the second and final night of Brown and Usher's two-night stand at Rogers Stadium on August 11 and August 12. BTS had just wrapped up a 2-night residency at M&T Stadium in Baltimore on Tuesday before taking a break until their scheduled August 15 performance at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Billboard noted that BTS is scheduled to play a double-header at the same 50,000-plus capacity venue on August 22 and August 23, suggesting the two artists were possibly conducting venue recon. During the Canadian concert, j-hope posted social media footage showing the pair lip syncing to Brown's "Look At Me Now," alongside video clips of Usher performing his 2000s classic Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit "Yeah!" and clips of Brown on stage captioned "Let's Goooooo!"

The visit has sparked intense backlash and split reactions among fans across social media platforms, with many questioning the bandmates' decision to publicly associate with Brown given his history of legal issues and allegations involving domestic violence and sexual assault. Brown's past legal history includes pleading guilty in 2009 to assaulting his then-girlfriend and fellow pop star Rihanna, a May arrest in London connected to a 2023 bottle throwing incident where he pleaded guilty to affray in July, and a $13 million judgment won by his former housekeeper Maria Avila over a dog attack.

Criticism intensified on Wednesday after The Pixel Project, a nonprofit organization focused on ending violence against women, announced that it had indefinitely suspended RM from its list of "16 Male Role Models Helping to Stop Violence Against Women." The organization, which added RM in 2024, waited a week for him to address the matter before taking action, stating, "RM’s (and J-Hope’s) choice to take that photo with Brown is, at best, careless about the wider damaging impact that comes from publicly associating with a known abuser." While acknowledging the photo cannot automatically be interpreted as an endorsement of violence, the group noted that "their level of fame means that they have automatically platformed Brown in front of their millions of fans and the general public."

However, the backlash has not been unanimous, with some fans defending the artists and arguing that attending a concert or posing for a photo does not endorse past actions, or that they simply attended as fellow musicians. Neither RM, j-hope, nor Big Hit Music has publicly addressed the criticism as the members prepare to rejoin their bandmates on August 15 in Texas.