KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — Korean-American singer songwriter Eric Nam has broken his silence on the cancellation of his upcoming House on a Hill tour stopover in Malaysia following backlash from local fans for liking a pro-Israel Instagram post.
“Hi everyone - following the horrific events of October seventh, I liked a post that I believed expressed a position of anti-violence, anti-hate and was against intolerance,” the singer posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) today.
“My liking of that post was a reaction to waking up to devastating news, as someone who has always been pro-human, pro-peace, and for love and equality for all.
”After that, I received threats related to my scheduled show in Kuala Lumpur. Out of an abundance of caution for my team and my fans, I made the difficult decision to cancel the show.”
Nam stood firm on what he said was his neutral stance, saying that his heart is broken ‘for the Palestinian and Israeli families that have been ripped apart by violence and are facing unimaginable loss’.
Hi everyone - following the horrific events of October 7th, I liked a post that I believed expressed a position of anti-violence, anti-hate and was against intolerance.My liking of that post was a reaction to waking up to devastating news, as someone who has always been... pic.twitter.com/GyMx4Fuii0
— Eric Nam (에릭남) (@ericnamofficial) October 30, 2023
Fans had called Nam out for his stance after his liking of the post and questioned his ‘quiet’ removal of his Malaysia tour date which was supposed to take place in February 2024.
didn’t expect it from eric nam but imagine if idols were allowed to express their political views, i’d probably be stanning 4 people in the industry imo pic.twitter.com/VuyJcVqtRB
— ℰlena ⟡ | 樂- (@SSICK3RACHA) October 16, 2023
eric nam dah drop out malaysia stop from asia tour hahaha pic.twitter.com/82wIbv1mfJ
— Iqah (@rafiqahramli) October 27, 2023
Nam had been silent on the backlash, leaving his manager and brother to address the kerfuffle on Discord, fuelling anger and leading many to question his silence before his post on X.
Eric Nam really made his younger brother spoke on behalf of him, what a coward https://t.co/41X9XccLH2
— None (@regardepasici) October 29, 2023
With the Malaysian date scrapped, Nam’s House on a Hill Asian leg of the tour now includes Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.