Little Mix and BTS Fans Are Dragging Simon Cowell for Trying to Invent a New Genre to Compete With K-Pop

He wants to call it UK-Pop. This is…messy.

Simon cowell who you know as the sassy V-neck-clad man on nearly every talent competition show, has managed to anger the entire internet in one swift motion. By “entire internet,” I mostly mean Little Mix and BTS fans…but that’s basically everyone, right? You see, he’s working on a show that will directly compete with Little Mix’s new series and trying to create a new genre of music to rival K-pop. There’s so much mess here!

Let’s start from the beginning: In an interview with The Sun, Simon explained that X Factor All Stars, which was meant to premiere next month, will not be happening. The series was supposed to feature past X Factor winners (like Leona Lewis). Instead, it’s being replaced with a new spin-off called X Factor The Band, which will create a powerhouse musical group, premiere in 2020, and compete against Little Mix’s new show of the same premise, The Search.

This is particularly juicy because apparently, Little Mix’s management asked Simon to coproduce their show. He said no because it was a conflict of interest. Since then, both parties have had a “fallout” and the premiere date for The Search has been bumped up.

“It a hundred percent makes it more exciting, there being a battle,” he said.

K, so on to the BTS drama. Simon never actually name-dropped the group, but still, stans are mad because Simon wants to create a new genre. “K-pop is ruling the world. This is a show to find a band to launch UK-pop,” he said. “It’s more than winning a record contract, it’s starting a new music wave.”

Uh, can someone tell Simon that UK-pop definitely already exists? There are already plenty of UK groups who have had international success. That’s just…pop music. There are far too many groups to name, but maybe One Direction, S Club 7, and the Spice Girls ring a bell? Also, let’s not forget that K-pop stands for “Korean popular music.” It’s extremely icky for an old white guy to be like, Yes, let’s take a specifically Korean genre, but make it British.

As you can imagine, this whole situation has totally annoyed BTS’s ARMY and Mixers. The new X Factor show will compete with both of the groups at the same damn time, and now, the fandoms are pairing up to drag Simon and support Little Mix’s show instead of The Band.