Broadway icon Lea Salonga has explained her decision to unfollow BTS members RM and J-Hope on Instagram following controversy over their attendance at a Chris Brown concert.

During an #AskMissLea session on Threads, Salonga was asked by a fan whether her position on the issue had changed.

“Your statement on the CB & RM/Jhope issue was firm & appreciated. Has your point of view changed since then?” the fan asked.

Salonga began by acknowledging that her individual actions as a fan would have little impact on the global K-pop superstars.

“Thank you for asking so kindly. First off, my being a fan can be equated to a single grain of sand on a massive beach. Whatever my actions are won’t affect anyone, except maybe cause consternation in the minds of other fans, which I do expect and accept responsibility for,” she said.

The Tony Award-winning performer then confirmed that she had indeed unfollowed RM and J-Hope.

“Yes I did unfollow, but I did it for my own sake. It’s not meant to be punitive to either of them, at all,” Salonga explained.

According to her, she decided to distance herself after realizing that the situation had begun affecting her emotionally.

“But I recognized that I was waking up sad and/or upset, or find myself way too affected. This was unhealthy so I took a step back, for me,” she said.

The controversy began after RM and J-Hope were spotted attending a Chris Brown concert. Their appearance generated mixed reactions among fans because of Brown’s history of controversies, including his 2009 assault of then-girlfriend Rihanna.

Before confirming that she had unfollowed the two BTS members, Salonga had posted a brief Instagram Story saying, “Disappointed. So disappointed.” While she did not identify anyone in the post, some fans connected it to the controversy.

Salonga acknowledged that BTS members are free to make their own choices and that fans are not entitled to control the artists they support.

“As many fans have rightly pointed out, we are owed nothing really. They are autonomous human beings, but so am I, and whatever decisions I make are mine alone,” she said.

She also apologized to anyone who may have been hurt by her response to the issue.

“If I hurt anyone in the aftermath, that isn’t my intention but I’m sorry if I hurt you nonetheless,” she added.

Despite unfollowing RM and J-Hope, Salonga emphasized that she remains deeply grateful for the role BTS played in her life, particularly after she became a fan in 2020.

“I am still so grateful for the typhoon they created in my life when they arrived in 2020,” she shared.

Salonga revealed that she discovered the group while dealing with several personal challenges.

“I was navigating my marriage ending, raising a teenager, and a global pandemic (not to mention the occasional death threat due to politics). They saved my sanity when I needed saving. I’ll never forget that,” she said.

Salonga has been an outspoken BTS fan for years, publicly sharing her appreciation for the group and attending their performances.

In a separate Threads post, Salonga also addressed photos of herself with individuals whom some netizens have described as “problematic.”

Rather than dismissing the criticism, the theater veteran said she had reflected on some of her own past decisions.

“I’ve seen photos of myself taken with some problematic people over the course of my life. At the time the decision didn’t seem like anything important, but later on, were enough to keep me from sleeping. Further research, thought and reflection cemented my own discomfort. I knew I needed to sit and stew in that. I need to hold myself to account for that,” she wrote.

Salonga acknowledged that she could not change those past actions but said she could learn from them.

“I know that I can’t turn back the clock and undo what I’ve done. All I can do is learn from it and do better moving forward. That’s it. That’s all,” she said.

Her explanation makes clear that unfollowing RM and J-Hope was a personal decision to protect her own emotional well-being rather than an attempt to punish the BTS members.

For Salonga, being a fan does not mean surrendering the freedom to step away when something no longer feels healthy—just as the artists themselves remain free to make their own decisions.