Gamix performs the "eye-pulling" gesture while doing the "BAD" challenge, mimicking Ateez member San. [SNS]
Gamix performs the "eye-pulling" gesture while doing the "BAD" challenge, mimicking Ateez member San. [SNS]

Japanese influencer Gamix, who has more than 2 million followers, knelt in apology after making a racist "eye-pulling" gesture while mimicking Ateez member San.

On Monday, Gamix posted a video to Instagram titled "I sincerely apologize."

Dressed in a black suit, Gamix said, "I sincerely apologize for the gesture I made," adding that he was sorry to "San, the members of Ateez, their fans, and everyone in the Korean community who felt hurt or uncomfortable because of it."

Gamix said he is also Asian and had used the gesture as self-deprecating humor. "I have seen people overseas take a racially derogatory expression that was directed at them and turn it into humor," he said.

He added that he had "naively thought" that, as an East Asian person, mocking the gesture himself and reframing it as humor "might somewhat lessen the weight and meaning of the act."

"I have absolutely no feelings of hatred or contempt," Gamix said, before kneeling and bowing until his forehead touched the floor.

The controversy began Thursday, when Gamix posted a video on Instagram of himself doing the Ateez "BAD" dance challenge. While mimicking the choreography and facial expressions, he used both hands to pull at the corners of his eyes — a gesture widely recognized as a racist caricature of East Asian appearance.

As criticism spread, Gamix deleted the video without explanation. After calls for an apology continued, he ultimately posted the apology video four days later.


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