On March 15, GQ magazine released an article about the global K-pop group TXT. MOA, TXT's fandom, were initially ecstatic to see an article solely covering their beloved idol group.

Their initial excitement was quickly replaced with disappointment and outrage as they read through the article, finding it offensive and distasteful. The use of a derogatory term to describe one of the members, along with the lack of proper research, failed to accurately portray the group for who they really are.

In the wake of the article's release, outraged fans took to social media to express their displeasure. The hashtag #GQ_apologize_to_TXT quickly began trending worldwide on Twitter as fans demanded an apology from the magazine.

Fans have been particularly angry with the author's description of each member - which was edited later. The author began the article with his impression of the members and wrote, "In person, the TXT boys are all beautiful (yup) and reticent like shy teenagers (a little disarming), with pores so small you’d need an electron microscope to find them. The group consists of Soobin (the tall sexy one), Yeonjun (the other sexy one; also the consensus best dancer among the guys), Taehyun (the enthusiastic one who dominates the group chat), Huening Kai (the multiracial one who makes everyone laugh), and Beomgyu (a gentle angel from heaven)."

Some MOAs who read the article prior to its editing revealed that the author had referred to Hueningkai as "the hapa who makes everyone laugh." However, some fans pointed out that "hapa" is a derogatory term for people of mixed heritage.

Additionally, the author referred to the fans' fandom activity as "dark art," as if referring to the subculture of fandoms as some sort of witchery or devil worship. While there may be a few fans who cross the line, such as Sasaeng fans, akgae fans, or extreme enthusiasts, it is unfair to label K-pop fandoms as "dark art." On the contrary, the genre has brought together fans worldwide, creating a global community of people who share a passion for music and performance while bridging cultural divides and promoting unity.

Fans were disappointed to find that, even after the revisions, the article continued to emphasize Hueningkai's background by referring to him as the "multiracial" one.

In addition to the offensive content of the article itself, the accompanying Twitter caption was insensitive and unnecessary, insinuating that the expectation for TXT was to be "the next BTS" rather than a unique group in their own right. Fans are very well aware of the hard work that TXT has put to put aside that label as "the next BTS" or  "The second boy group from BTS's company." In fact, TXT might have had more pressure compared to other idol groups in that they had the expectation of being the successor of the biggest K-pop boy group in this generation. So fans didn't take kindly to the caption, "Their label wants them to be the next BTS. But the five young members of TXT are really looking forward to having a cheeseburger."

Due to all these things, fans are filling various social media platforms such as Twitter with hashtags such as #GQ_apologize_to_TXT and  #GQ_RESPECT_TXT. They're saying that revising the article isn't enough, and they want a formal apology.