K-Pop Star Eric Nam Cancels KL Concert Over “Threats” After Liking Post About Israel-Palestine War

Korean-American singer-songwriter Eric Nam has cancelled his concert in Malaysia after receiving “threats” for liking an Instagram post about the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Eric, 34, received backlash from Malaysian netizens for endorsing a post that he “believed expressed a position of anti-violence, anti-hate and was against intolerance”.

He was scheduled to perform at Zepp Kuala Lumpur on February 20 as part of the Asian leg of his House On A Hill world tour.

In a statement on Instagram Stories and X, formerly Twitter, on Monday (Oct 30), Eric explained that his “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,” he wrote.

He added that his “heart is broken for the Palestinian and Israeli families that have been ripped apart by violence and are facing unimaginable loss”.

In the original post by political strategist Jordan C Brown-Underwood on Oct 9, it was suggested that it’s possible for one to oppose Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians while simultaneously showing support for the protection of Israeli citizens.

However, Malaysian netizens saw Eric’s “like” as a show of support for Israel and called for the boycott of his concert.

Following the backlash, Eric quietly removed the Malaysia concert from his tour schedule on his website but did not make an official statement about the cancellation until Monday’s announcement.

With the Malaysia show scrapped, the Asian leg now includes Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, where he will be performing at the Theatre at Mediacorp on Feb 18.

Photos: Eric Nam/Instagram