The KCON LA wave has once against swept K-pop fandoms in the United States, but all is not well in the City of Angels.

What has now soared to the status of a global phenomenon first embraced Los Angeles as its host city in 2012. This multi-day event–slated for August 1-3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center and Crypto.com Arena–maintains its long-running tradition of balancing its star-studded performing lineup with well-established talents and rising stars of the industry.

Given the global K-pop movement’s relevance and the event’s economic impact, the City Council went as far as declaring the opening day, August 1, as “KCON Day.” On top of that, the world’s largest K-pop festival kicked off with Meet & Greet schedules, allowing fans to connect with groups like ZEROBASEONE, IVE and P1Harmony. The main M Countdown event also brought on veteran talents as big as NCT 127 onto the stage.

And yet, all that noise and mainstream buzz was wasted on the highly anticipated showcase’s production standards, outraging a certain group of fans more than others.

2025 KCON LA: K-pop enthusiasts speak out on discrimination against disabled fans at US music festival

Back in 2024, more than 5.9 million fans from over 170 countries participated in the LA celebrations, according to NBC Los Angeles. This year, however, officials expected even more fans to be in attendance. Despite the massively anticipated turnout over the three-day festival, fans were only left dismayed with the results awaiting them at the venue.

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Fan-penned accounts surfaced on social media after the very first day of the music festival, with many slamming the LA event for mistreating people with disabilities. A concertgoer took to X and demanded a refund after sharing a photo that summarised their heartbreaking KCON experience on Friday (US time). Tagging the official KCON USA page, they wrote, “This is ridiculous and unacceptable. Hope you know there will be repercussions for your treatment of disabled fans.”

According to the photo they shared online, the person sharing the infuriating incident wherein they were left with no choice but to stay at a great distance away from the actual Meet & Greet stage. Given how far the K-pop fan was asked to stay, it’s hard to even make out which group was gracing the stage at the time. The user further spilled that their far-off position neither left any chance of their favourite singers spotting them nor did the officials make room for any provision that allowed the group members to wave goodbye to them in their proximity.

“Kcon staff said we could not be at the front where premium ada was put bc “premium is a paid event”, so is send off and now i will not be able to what i paid for,” they added in the same thread.

At the time of writing, the X post had amassed nearly 2 million views and more than 10,000 likes on the platform. Many users reacted by calling out the “disgusting” development that evidently ruined the K-pop fan’s day. Meanwhile, fellow disabled people who had attended KCON in the past recalled that they never encountered such disrespect at previous editions of the music festival.

“This is so crazy, is this a venue issue or a KCON issue because as a disabled person who has been to KCON, I’ve never heard of this happening,” read a comment under the post. The original admin who raised the complaint replied, “i honestly have no idea why they changed it other than they just found out that they can have a “raised viewing area” reserved for ada only and can call it a day and have just continued to go with that.”

KCON videos: More allegations of discrimination against disabled fans emerge

Hours later a second video post detailing a similar exhibit got the Internet up in arms yet again. Sharing a personally filmed account of their Meet & Greet experience with K-pop girl group IVE, a user discouraged fellow disabled fans to not even bother with the scheduled event. Highlighting themself sitting in the corner, the fan voiced their displeasure with the KCON staff for moving them to sidelines.

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However, their position completely restricted their view of the group members. Unlike the previously spotlighted grievance, this particular fan appeared to be in the front. And yet, that did them no favours. Having paid for ‘Meet & Greet premium,’ they were still unable to see or greet the idols.

“Put in a corner… unable to participate in anything just because I’m in a wheelchair. and some people had it even worse,” read the text overlay on their video. “I was literally in tears after this. I didn’t meet and greet my favourite group IVE, I didn’t participate in anything that I payed for,” the user tweeted alongside the clip. “Staff made me go to the side to look at nothing. I’m so bummed.”

‘KCON is a scam’: Internet fumes

That was not all. A third video shared by an event-goer showed the chaotic visuals of the artist send-off at the Los Angeles festival. The user plugged a video of the scene, capturing how people ahead of the barricade at the ZEROBASEONE Meet & Greet had no luck meeting their favourites either. “You couldn’t see any of the members,” they wrote on X.

Even this particular user highlighted the same mistreatment of disabled fans at the LA Convention Center. “They put ADA at the very back of the hall where you can’t even see anything. @kconusa how is this okay,” the user added.

The self-explanatory posts set off a rection bomb on X. Someone outrightly called KCON LA “a scam” for mistreating “people with disabilities,” while allegedly favouring “line cutters and sasaengs (obsessive fans)” and caring only “about those richest in front.”

An ATEEZ fans fumed about how KCON should be “reported for discrimination,” as they extended heartfelt apology to those who had to face the “ableist and downright horrible event.” Sharing their personal experience, they added, “I was told not to go a few years ago and to see that nothing has changed is SO disheartening.”

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On the other hand, an X user recalled how their experience of KCON in 2016 was vastly different from the 2025 scene. “When I went to KCON in 2016 they gave me a wheelchair and had me front row for EVERYTHING,” they commented. In a follow-up post, the user even shared proof of their successful fan moment when they took a snap of the BTS members onstage without using their camera’s zoom option.

“KCON used to really hook it up for disabled folks. Now we’re put in the absolute back of a room? Cool,” they wrote sarcastically.