Members of TikTok 'idol' group Sorb3t claim they were doxxed following Japanese call-and-response controversy: 'For our safety, we need some time away'

A new “idol” group made up of three 15-year-old girls has stepped back from their growing popularity after they were allegedly doxxed by angry internet users.

The California-based group, known as Sorb3t, started in late January and is made up of members Ashe, Berry and Alice. The group identifies as overseas idols, or kaigai idols, which are idol music groups based outside of Japan. Sorb3t’s J-pop influence is undeniable in their TikTok videos with their video song choices and hashtags, although two of the girls involved are not AAPI.

Sorb3t appeared to only start booking performances starting in April but really blew up in May when viewers were unhappy with the group’s call and response video. In it, Berry, who is white, spoke in Japanese and used loanwords like “sutoroberī.”

While the original call-and-response video has been taken down from Sorb3t’s account, other users screen-recorded the video and uploaded it again.

Berry immediately apologized in a follow-up TikTok, saying that she “did not have ill intent.”

“But I also understand that I have hurt a lot of people,” she continued. “I, as a white person, have an insane amount of privilege and I will never truly understand the struggles that people of color go through.”

“The reason why my call and response was in Japanese, despite Sorb3t releasing music in English, is because when I eventually have my own tracks, I plan to release solo music almost exclusively in Japanese,” Berry explained. “I thought that since my call and response is in Japanese, that if I pronounce the words strawberry and blueberry the way that the katakana would be read out loud, that it would be OK.”

Katakana is a Japanese syllabary that’s often used for early learners of the language and is mainly used for loanwords from Western countries. Berry also credited her boyfriend, who is Japanese, with helping her come up with the script.

According to some Twitter users who identified as Japanese or claimed to know Japanese, how Berry pronounced the loanwords was technically correct.

Berry is not the first kaigai idol to get hate from viewers for using Japanese. J-pop artist PAiDA, who has released several songs in English mixed with Japanese, has defended her love of J-pop in several TikTok videos.

“Just a reminder that ANYONE can be an idol regardless of race/gender/weight/etc.,” PAiDA wrote in one video. “F*** ignorant people who make fun of others for trying.”

Sorb3t and PAiDA’s controversies contribute to the ongoing online debate over what is cultural appropriation versus appreciation.

An article in the April 2023 edition of the Journal of Consumer Research tried to determine where the line between appropriation and appreciation is by looking at non-Korean K-pop stans.

“On the one hand, consumers are encouraged to appreciate the consumption of difference as a valorized act of cultural adaptation,” the study wrote. “On the other hand, consumers are increasingly reminded that the consumption of difference risks distorting, decontextualizing and dominating other cultures.”

While K-pop has exploded globally and intentionally targets young fans, there’s the question of whether non-Korean fans are “allowed” to “consume Korean culture.” The researchers found that a lot of what constitutes as appropriation has to do with fans taking over a culture or performing a culture in a way that takes away from that culture’s identity.

Singer Gwen Stefani, for example, rebranded herself as a “Harajuku girl” throughout the 2000s despite being a white woman born and raised in California. Her past appropriation resurfaced recently in a January Allure interview when she doubled down and told the interviewer, “My God, I’m Japanese.”

When it comes to Berry and Sorb3t, the internet seemed divided over whether they were appropriating Japanese culture.

“I agree this can come off as mocking, intended or not, as well as appropriative,” one Reddit user said in response to Berry’s call and response. “People do foolish things; she’s not the worst person in the world or anything, but eeek don’t do this.”

“As an ‘AAPI’ I can say that I don’t think it’s racist but rather just simply ridiculous and cringe,” another person wrote.

But some people who were upset with Berry’s Japanese and Sorb3t took it beyond just leaving mean comments on the group’s TikTok account or calling them cringe on Reddit. On May 28, Sorb3t posted a video explaining that the members had been doxxed — a tactic of releasing someone’s private and personal information online.

“We were just three girls innocently chasing our dreams and did not want it to come to this,” they wrote. “For our safety, we need some time away to heal, but we’ll see you again soon.”

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