Viral : BTS' Jungkook smoking pictures on LA streets divide internet, fans ask, 'Is it a crime?'

BTS' Jungkook landed himself in hot water. The K-pop sensation, who is in Los Angeles, USA, today, stirred a major buzz among the fans after a few photos and videos of him smoking went viral.

The photographs showed Jungkook smoking outside in one of the celebrities' favourite dining restaurants in LA. Wearing a casual all-black T-shirt and trousers, the ''Seven'' hitmaker can be seen smoking while he is having a fun chat with someone.

The picture was enough to stir a debate among his millions of fans, even some netizens started a feud, with one slamming the rapper for his actions and another defended him.

One user wrote on X, earlier known as Twitter, ''The only thing I was not expecting, is JUNGKOOK smoking Like a  teenager in the street, what is going on with you???''

Another user wrote, ''everyone be saying "it's harmful just because it's jungkook, you shouldn't tolerate him smoking." 

Another user wrote, ''The only reason I find Jungkook smoking unbelievable is cause he begged his dad to stop out of fear, but things change, people change, everything change (I didn’t mean to do that but slay) and if he is, it’s his voice, his lungs, his choice."

The third user wrote, "An adult man caught smoking in the 21st century? It's the end times! Talk about his music! If he smokes, that's nobody's business!".

In July, Jungkook, the youngest member of BTS, clapped back at the trolls who criticised him for drinking during his late-night live-stream sessions. Slamming the users, Jungkook said, “Some people would make fun of me and say, ‘yeah Jungkook is drunk and all.’ Yeah, so what? You don’t drink? Go ahead and talk about me every way you want, I don’t care. Like I said, I only care about the ones who care for me. If you don’t like me, go ahead and live like that. Thanks for the little attention you give me anyway.”

Seven remix version & plagiarism row

In August, Jungkook released the remix version of his debut single, ''Seven'', in collaboration with renowned Swedish DJ Alesso.

The new version came out in the middle of plagiarism allegations against the song. The song was hit with allegations by famous K-pop producer Yang Joon Young. The composer alleged that the song heavily borrowed the same scale sequence from Fin.K.L's Time of Mask. 

BIGHIT Music responded to the allegations via a statement issued to Star News. "We would like to reveal that allegations claiming Jungkook's Seven was plagiarised are false. Seven was made through a collaboration of five international producers and has no relation to the song that is part of a domestic album from 24 years ago," the agency stated. 
 
Meanwhile, Jungkook is set to perform at Global Citizen Festival 2023, which will be held on September 23 at New York City's Central Park. With this, he has become the first K-pop soloist to co-headline the event. 

“The festival sheds light on important causes and drives action and I’m happy to take part in it,” the K-pop star said in a statement. “I can’t wait to perform in front of many people at the Great Lawn in Central Park.”

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