While dozens of fans in El Paso, Texas, waited to catch a glimpse of global pop sensation BTS, many others unloaded their fury on social media. BTS ARMYs, aka the K-pop septet’s fandom, were ticked off by multiple reports emerging from the US city while RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook were in town. One incident that led fans to accuse a local business of chasing clout and capitalising on the boy group’s fame occurred when an AI-generated image of the members went viral online.

The incident, along with several other reports, triggered a storm of enraged tweets on X, prompting many BTS ARMYs to declare El Paso the “worst venue to date,” and undeserving of the K-pop sensation’s attention.

Here’s one particular incident that provoked the fan club’s ire immeasurably.

Texas gym uses AI-generated BTS pics to its advantage

A picture featuring all seven members of BTS in athleisure wear against an LED-lit backdrop has been circulating on social media. It turns out the picture was artificially generated. Although the original photo posted by Work It Fitness Boutique, an El Paso-based gym, on Instagram has since been deleted, it didn’t slip from fans’ radar.

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The photo captioned “Look who came in for a quick pump before their concerts this weekend,” became a notable subject of discussion among fans online ahead of the group’s highly anticipated concert at the Sun Bowl over the weekend. With the K-pop act set to perform two shows in El Paso on Saturday and Sunday as part of its “ARIRANG” world tour, Work It Fitness Boutique opportunistically used the band’s brand value to uplift its own business.

Even simply zooming in on the image is enough proof that the picture is not real. Other inconsistencies, such as certain members flaunting tattoos they do not actually have, spoke volumes about how far the El Paso-based gym planned to promote itself inauthentically, further angering the fans.

As ARMYs urged each other to report the social media account, one X user said, “This is lowkey the worst city because why are they being mobbed everywhere, chased down in cars and literally all the businesses using AI images of them for clout.” Another infuriated fan added, “Cancel El Paso concert and give a date to African countries.”

Others even called out a series of similarly AI-generated posts featuring BTS. “This isn’t even the only one to do it either – multiple gyms, a restaurant, some production company,” someone wrote on X, adding receipts to back their claims. “(restaurant has taken theirs down, it seems, but seriously, I’ve never seen this happen before and it’s so gross).”

Yet another person commented, “At this point, we can already say that El Paso is the worst city the guys visited, right?”

“Maybe the whole city really is f***ing crazy,” a fan chimed in. “Nothing good has come out of their stay there. Hotel leaked by local news, “ARMYs” outside the hotel like it’s a meet & greet, BTS stalked & vids posted, AI bts used for promo. They should never go back there.”

On the other side of the internet, the Texas gym’s feed had already been wiped clean of the controversial post as if nothing ever happened. Some fans still made it a point to hold them accountable for spreading lies with AI images by commenting on other posts shared by the gym.

“So you just deleted the post with no apology? No accountability???” Presumably, a fan wrote about the given situation without explicitly underlining what the comment was about. Critics also added comments like, “Are you not embarrassed???” and “Ewww used AI to promote” under one of the most recent reels shared by the gym, introducing its newest spin instructor.

El Paso BTS concert was not a big hit

Thousands of fans descended onto the Sun Bowl, the venue for BTS’s two-day concerts in El Paso, Texas, over the weekend. On top of the online backlash rising against local businesses for using AI-generated photos of the members, the situation on the ground wasn’t satisfactory either.

As reported by The El Paso Times, BTS fans complained about being stuck in long lines at the Texas concert venue even after waiting their turn for more than two hours.

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“The line was over one mile long at almost 8 p.m.,” a fan told the local US outlet, as doors were slated to open at 5:30 pm on Saturday. The band was ultimately supposed to go live at 8 pm, but several social media posts shared by concertgoers indicated the show had been delayed as well. “People paid money for this,” the fan said, adding that as the wait got on some people’s nerves, they left the venue.

Another social media video about the “BTS ARIRANG EL PASO Day 1” concert suggested that the stadium in Texas was “inadequate.” Another post backed the claim, accusing organisers of being “unprepared” and pointing out that “only two entrances” were available at the location for “such a huge crowd.” The fan attending the show on Saturday also complained about “stalker fans” and “people throwing junk on stage” during soundcheck.

Other viral confessions alleging problematic behaviour on the part of fans also claimed that people “camped outside BTS’ hotel” in Texas and “chased” the members “down in the cars.”

The North American leg of the “Arirang” tour will send all seven members of BTS and their crew to Mexico City, Mexico, on May 7, 9, and 10. Other US tour dates for this month include Stanford in California and Las Vegas in Nevada.

Disclaimer: The content in this article is based on a viral social media discussion and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only.The social media opinions expressed here do not reflectthe official policy or position of The Financial Express.