Lee KiKwang, member of K-Pop group Beast, appeared on the Korean TV show ‘Hot Brothers’ last week, where he was given a makeover with an Afro wig and black facepaint and forced to eat watermelon in a “keep cool under pressure”-type stunt.

Apparently Lee was at the mercy of the show’s producers (and also, K-Pop stars are tightly controlled by their management, so he might not have had much say in whether he wanted to participate), but whoever is responsible for this should have known better. Issues of racism and xenophobia are complex in Asian countries, but there’s never any excuse for promoting this kind of stunt on TV.

I don’t want to post the actual photos of the watermelon part, because they’re kind of making me uncomfortable, but you can see them here if you wish.

Do you think the show was wrong to put this on the air, Lovelies?