On 1 July, the British rock band Oasis made it to the Hot Search list on Weibo, China’s Twitter equivalent. It is surprising, as the band was never mainstream, even among fans of Western pop music. However, the trending topic was not because of the imminent reunion tour, but, unsurprisingly, something said by their frontman, Liam Gallagher. In this case, the Oasis singer posted a slur.
Breaking hearts since 1991, this time, the band really broke the hearts of the many fans they have in Asia, and in particular, China. Seemingly out of nowhere, Gallagher posted “Chingchong” on Twitter. The quickly deleted post by the Oasis singer uses the infamous ethnic slur that has been used to mock the Chinese language, as well as others in East and Southeast Asia.
- #Oasis: 11.32 million views on Weibo in the last 24 hours, ranking number 12 on the Hot Search list
- #liam发言 Liam posts: 1.39 million views on Weibo, ranking number 41 on the Hot Search list
From the heartbreak of fans since before their breakup in 2009 and those who’ve already got their tickets for the upcoming tour, to those who have always disliked the Gallagher Brothers’ antagonising manner, Chinese netizens reacted harshly, many took to Twitter to express their anger. One music news account said “Oasis should’ve stayed disbanded” while others joke “Blur is better”. Some on Rednote ask how they can ask for a refund for the tickets they have.
Others were perplexed by the unprovoked insult. But people in the football sphere of social media deduced that the Oasis frontman might be expressing his frustration after the team he supports, Manchester City, lost to Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia at the FIFA Club World Cup, only mixing up Asian countries.
As the West argue over the political statements at Glastonbury by artists such as Kneecap and Bob Vylan, Chinese fans are going through their own crises of art vs artist.
Update: Gallagher later posted an apology on Twitter.
