BTS On James Corden: Papa Mochi Nickname And The Remarks That Angered ARMYs
You can see BTS on James Corden’s show, the Grammy’s and other popular events. But what happened between “Papa Mochi” James Corden and BTS? Find out the controversy right here!
BTS has gone global and how! Not only are they the biggest Kpop boy band in the world, they’ve broken all records and appeared on the Billboard Top 100, visited the President of the United States and spoken at the UN.
Oh, and they’ve also appeared on Carpool Karaoke and the James Corden Show.
I know, I know. Compared to BTS’s global, jetsetting ways, this might seem like small fish.
But the James Corden Show is watched by many and appearing on it marks the beginning of a truly global career as you’re much more visible to US and European audiences.
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BTS first made their appearance on Carpool Karaoke hosted by James Corden in 2020. Then next year, they were guests on his chat show too.
However, this entire period was marked with both sweet friendship between James Corden and BTS and hatred between the former and BTS’s ARMY.
Why was this? What exactly happened? And why on Earth is James Corden called Papa Mochi?
Well, I’ve got this article that explains all this and more. Read on below.
BTS on James Corden: Papa Mochi
Look at the entire timeline of BTS’s relationship with James Corden, their friendship, controversies and reconciliations right here. Check it out!
BTS attends Carpool Karaoke With James Corden
The start of the whole BTS-James Corden saga began when the Kpop group starred as guests in his show Carpool Karaoke where people drive around town doing karaoke to songs.
It was also in this particular show that BTS’s Jimin christened Corden with the Papa Mochi nickname.
This episode was highly anticipated by ARMYs and aired on Feb 25th 2020 on CBS. In the episode BTS could be seen singing along to songs like Bruno Mars’ Finesse and Circles by Post Malone.
They also sang a few of their own hits like Black Swan and Micdrop.
The leader of the group RM sat at the front with Corden while the rest of the group Suga, V, Jungkook, Jimin and Jin sat at the back of Corden’s van.
Jimin Gives James Corden The “Papa Mochi” Nickname
It was during this segment of Carpool Karaoke where the Papa Mochi nickname for Corden was born.
In the show, Jimin spoke about how one of his nicknames is “Baby Mochi”. A lot of BTS fans call him that as they think his cheeks are really soft and squishy like that of a Mochi (which is a traditional Japanese dessert like a rice cake).
They also feel Jimin is sweet like the dessert Mochi and hence have given him the moniker.
While doing Carpool Karaoke BTS happened to mention this fact to James Corden.
The latter then proceeds to use this nickname and says something on the lines of “Are you ready Baby Mochi?” who responds with “Yes, Papa Mochi”.
It was a spur of the moment thing and not scripted. Of course, Jimin, BTS, and James Corden all found this extremely hilarious.
BTS – James Corden Controversy
BTS fans caught on to the Papa Mochi nickname and used to fondly call James Corden that. But all this changed when Corden made some (in their opinion) unsavory remarks about BTS.
In 2021, BTS visited the 76th UN General Assembly meeting in New York along with Moon Jae-in, the South Korean president, as special envoys.
They were there to support the education of young people and also to help comfort the youth of the world as they were low spirits during the pandemic.
To this, James Corden, in his show remarked how the UN General Assembly meetings will have “unusual visitors” (referring to BTS) and how every “15 year old girl” will wish she was the UN Secretary General just to get a chance to meet them.
This was meant to be humorous, but unfortunately the BTS ARMY thought otherwise. They did not like that James Corden thought that BTS’s U.N. visit was something of an anomaly.
And they certainly did not like the insinuation that most of BTS’ fans were 15 year old girls.
So for a long time there was a call to “cancel” James Corden by the BTS ARMY. They were even trending the hashtag “#NoMorePapaMochi” to show their displeasure.
BTS Appears on the James Corden’s Chat Show
While it seemed that James Corden couldn’t possibly extricate himself from the situation, BTS made a comeback on the Late Late Night Show in 2021.
The Kpop group visited the show and magnanimously forgave James Corden for the remarks.
In the episode, RM brings out the topic by asking James Corden how he’s doing as some of his remarks have landed him into hot water recently.
To this, Corden replies that he made what he thought were two jokes that were “not in any way offensive to anybody”, and that the whole thing got blown out of proportion.
He also revealed that someone had sent him a tweet telling Corden that they hoped he died. Which of course, I think is terrible.
James Corden went on to say that he was wrong about calling BTS fans 15 year old girls as they have a more diverse fanbase, and that he himself, as a 43 year old man, was a huge fan of their music.
In the end it was all good as RM replied that BTS “appreciated the apology”.
And when James Corden asked if he was still Papa Mochi, Jimin just gave him a tight hug while saying ,”I believe you Papa Mochi.” This particular part drew a lot of “awws” from the audience who thought this was totally adorable.
Later, BTS went on to talk about their recent success in the American Music Awards or AMAs. They also spoke about how they missed performing for their fans (as it was the lockdown during that time).
The group even did a segment called Concert on the Crosswalk where celebrities seemingly randomly perform for their fans on a crosswalk.
During this segment they were asked about the Papa Mochi nickname again and Jimin replied how he calls James Corden “Papa Mochi” because he thinks that Corden is sweet like Mochi.
However, there was some confusion here as BTS themselves disagreed on why James Corden was called Mochi.
A few of the members thought they were calling Corden, Mochi because he looked like a Mochi.
FAQs on BTS Interview with James Corden
Want to know more about BTS’s relationship with James Corden? I’ve answered some questions I get frequently asked about this topic. Here you go!
Why Do BTS call James Papa Mochi?
It all started on Carpool Karaoke, a show hosted by James Corden where BTS were guests. In the show, Jimin revealed that his nickname is Baby Mochi which literally means baby “sweet rice cake”. He further went on to call James Papa Mochi and the nickname stuck.
When did BTS appear on the James Corden show?
BTS first appeared on a show called Carpool Karaoke in 2020. They later appeared on a talk show called the “The Late Late Show with James Corden” on December 16 2021. This show was aired on CBS and also posted to their Youtube channel.
Has BTS appeared on other shows like James Corden?
Yes, several! BTS has made innumerable appearances on American chat shows including Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
What did James Corden say against BTS?
When BTS was invited to the United Nations, James Corden made statements calling them “unusual visitors” to the UN and also remarking on how their fan base comprises solely “15-year old girls”. Needless to say, these remarks weren’t taken too lightly by the BTS ARMY.
Final Thoughts on BTS and James Corden
So that was the high and low of BTS’s appearance on Carpool Karaoke and the James Corden show!
What do you think? I personally feel that some of James Corden’s remarks were out of line, but his apology to BTS seemed very sincere.
And how great it was that they forgave him right away.
Also, Jimin stating that he was still their “Papa Mochi” made my heart melt. Aren’t they the sweetest?
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