When BTS announced that they would no longer submit their music for consideration at the 2027 GRAMMY Awards, major U.S. media outlets gave the news extensive coverage, describing the decision as a powerful warning directed at the awards system. International publications also placed BTS's move alongside similar acts of protest by global pop stars such as Drake, The Weeknd, and Morgan Wallen, all of whom had previously criticized the GRAMMYs over its lack of transparency and allegations of discriminatory practices.

Meanwhile, support for BTS's decision continued to spread across the entertainment industry and academia. Maggie Kang, director of Netflix's animated film K-Pop: Demon Hunters, shared an article about BTS's announcement on her personal social media account, adding a clapping emoji to express her support. Rapper Tablo also reposted RM's statement with the caption, "ARIRANG > GRAMMYs."

Rolling Stone кσяєα journalist Chase Kang, actor Daniel Dae Kim, and Hyundai Card Vice Chairman Chung Tae-young also publicly voiced their support for BTS. Among them, Chung openly criticized the GRAMMYs' clαѕѕification system, questioning the contradictions in its language-based criteria. He pointed out "BTS songs have a high proportion of English lyrics—how do they explain that? And does this mean music from ѕιиgαρσяє or ιи∂ια that doesn't use English isn't considered Asian Pop?". He went on to compare the logic to separating the operas of Wagner and Verdi into completely different genres simply because they are sung in different languages.

However, the person who caught ARMY's attention the most among those who publicly supported BTS within 24 hours of the announcement was B.A.P leader Bang Yongguk. The reason was not only that he became the first K-pop idol to publicly back BTS's decision, but also because of the "sensitive" history between him, his group, and BTS.

On July 31, Bang Yongguk shared a post about BTS's decision not to submit their music to the GRAMMYs on his Instagram Story, adding clapping hand emojis in multiple skin tones to express his support. He also reposted Hyundai Card Vice Chairman Chung Tae-young's statement criticizing the GRAMMYs' award system, further signaling his agreement with both Chung's argument and BTS's stance.

His gesture immediately drew attention from ARMYs because, for years, B.A.P and Bang Yongguk had been names frequently used by some K-pop fans to undermine BTS. Reacting to Yongguk's post, one fan wrote: "I never thought the first K-pop idol to show support for BTS's decision would be from a group that K-pop stans use to attack BTS." Another person was just as ѕнσ¢кed, asked: "Isn't he from the group where someone in the au∂ιєnce yelled that they were better than BTS at one of their concerts?".

Back in June 2023, during Bang Yongguk's solo concert, someone in the au∂ιєnce suddenly shouted, "B.A.P is better than BTS!" The remark sparked loud cheers throughout the venue. Yongguk himself appeared surprised before gently telling the fan not to say things like that because it could get him into trouble as well. This clip of the moment later went viral, amαѕѕing more than 5.6 million views.

During their rookie years, BTS and B.A.P were frequently compared because the two groups shared similar concepts and musical styles. At the time, B.A.P undeniably enjoyed greater public recognition and stronger momentum, making them a favorite comparison point for critics and antis who wanted to belittle BTS and dismiss the group's potential.

As the years went by, however, BTS ultimately proved to have far greater longevity. While BTS remain global superstars in 2026, B.A.P officially ceased group activities in 2019 and gradually faded from the spotlight. Even so, comparisons between the two groups have never completely disappeared. Some people still argue that B.A.P would have become bigger than BTS if they had debuted under a different company, claim that B.A.P's hiatus allowed BTS to rise, ask why B.A.P never surpαѕѕed "BTSнιт," or even go as far as blaming BTS for B.A.P's disbandment.

Given this history, many ARMYs were genuinely surprised to see Bang Yongguk become the first K-pop idol to publicly support BTS less than 24 hours after the group's announcement. For many fans, it served as another reminder that while some fans may engage in toxic fan wars, idols themselves often have mutual respect for one another—and sometimes even share genuine friendships. Some of the reactions from fans included:

- They use B.A.P to attack BTS, but never take the time to learn their history—what they went through with their former agency was no joke!! Not to mention, as far as I know, they all know each other and have always seemed to be friends!

- Jin and Youngjae are friends, same with j-hope and Zelo. They actually have a great friendship, unlike how haters use them to attack each other

- Stupid fans as always doing fanwars, rm and suga with yongguk and zelo used to collab before. Jin and youngjae were friends same with zelo and jhope

- Huge respect standing up with BTS especially with how vile their fans have been recently

- Honestly, the rivalry is strictly fanwar material. Off-camera, all these artists are lowkey fanboying/fangirling over each other

- K-pop stans keep doing this, but the B.A.P boys have always loved our boys so much. Junhong (Zelo), for example, has been friends with Hoseok for YEARS. I'm zero percent surprised—of course it had to be prince Yongguk himself

- It just goes to show how bothered K-pop stans are by BTS's success. They'll create a whole nonsensical narrative just to attack them using another artist as an excuse, only for you to find out that artist is actually supporting BTS

- I’ve always said that the B.A.P boys actually like BTS because they’re friends. The only problem is that there are people claiming to be their fans who just use them to attack BTS