Who Is Alex Williamson? New Details On Why The Australian Comedian Is Mocking BTS And Their Fans
Did he go too far?
YouTube Never cross a Kpop fan. Ever. Look, you may not dig the music, that's fine, there's plenty of music out there for everyone to find what they like the most. But just because you don't like a certain genre or a certain band that doesn't give you free license to poop all over people who do like said genre or said band. This goes double with Kpop fans, these peeps are ride or die.
Australian comedian Alex Williamson learned this firsthand when a lone tweet about the popular band BTS caught the eyes of the band's devoted fanbase. Before too long he discovered he was trending and friends, it only got worse from there... Who is Alex Williamson?
1. BTS
If you aren't familiar with Kpop as a genre, chances are you have never before heard of the popular boy band, BTS. Let me make one thing very clear before I go any further: they rock, their fans are a delight, and in this article I am just going to be reporting things that happened. I have absolutely no personal feelings about BTS whatsoever, so please don't be mean to be on Twitter.
If it sounds like I'm being overly cautious, it's with good reason. You see, the only thing bigger in the world of Kpop than BTS is the BTS Army. This is the moniker applied to their band of loyal and devoted followers. If you cross the men of BTS on social media, you'd better prepare yourself and brace for the full impact of every single member of the BTS Army coming for you.
2. Twitter
The reason BTS is in the news reason now is because of a popular Australian show called 20 to One. While the show might sound like it's a countdown (because it is), it's not one exclusively dedicated to music. They cover everything that's impacting the average person's world today, from political sex scandals to breaking trends and new movie releases.
On a recent episode of the show, BTS was featured and friends, the fine folks at this program didn't know what they were getting into. Their segment was NOT popular with BTS fans who accused the show of racism, and started a campaign on Twitter to see that the people responsible for it were punished. That's where Alex Williamson got involved.
3. Alex Williamson
Oh Alex Williamson. As a professional stand-up comedian and a verified Twitter user you would think Williamson would know better than to poke the proverbial bear of fandom. But when he became aware of the tweets the BTS Army was issuing, he decided that it was a good idea to get involved in the fray. Before long #alexwilliamsonisover and #alexwilliamsoniscancelled were trending.
You see, Alex didn't think that the segment on BTS that 20 to One presented was racist in the least. If anything, he agreed with the statements. He went even further proclaiming that anyone who likes BTS must not be very well educated, a total slam and one that invited plenty of abuse to be directed his way on Twitter. But Alex wasn't backing down.
4. Doubling Down
You see, most people would immediately back down and maybe even apologize if they were accused of saying or tweeting something offensive, but Alex wasn't one of those people. If anything, the guy went in completely the opposite direction, doubling down on his stance. To strength his claims, he even cited other Korean artists whose music he did think was okay.
But the damage was done. What Alex likely thought was a totally reasonable takedown about the boy band machine (designed by businessmen for the express purpose of milking teenagers for all their hard earned bucks) was still being perceived as an attack on Korean culture. Suffice to say, not a great day to be on Twitter if you're name is Alex Williamson.
5. His Resume
Alex has been in the game for a very long time. In fact, he's been working as a successful professional standup comedian since he was 18. He's even won awards for his jokes, and if you like his comedic stylings you don't have to look very far to find him. He's got a YouTube channel where he records shorts bits and he's very active on Twitter. Though maybe not after this. Lol.
In addition to his passion for comedy, Alex is also incredibly serious about the Australian Football League. He's even been so fortunate as to turn this passion into a career interviewing stars. He's interviewed some of the league's greats including Tom Scully, Jack Trengove, Kurt Tippett, Andrew Embley, and David Motlop.
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margot. She's an experienced generalist with a passion for lifestyle, geek news, pop culture, and true crime.