A Texas news anchor is facing intense backlash after a lighthearted FOX 34 segment about BTS-themed hotteok-flavored Oreos took a sudden, bizarre turn when anchor James Eppler claimed the cookie designs spelled out “death to America.” Eppler, a professor at Te
A Texas television segment about BTS-themed Oreos should’ve ended the way it started: sweet, casual, and fun.
Instead, it took a sharp left when FOX 34 anchor James Eppler—who is also a professor at Texas Tech—made a twisted remark about the cookie designs during a discussion of BTS’ new limited-edition hotteok-flavored Oreo collab.
On the FOX 34 segment. the crew was talking about the BTS-themed Oreos when Eppler suddenly claimed the designs somehow spelled out “death to America.” The comment didn’t match the tone of the broadcast. It landed as something wildly out of place—especially because the segment itself was lighthearted and centered around cookies and K-pop.
Even Eppler’s co-anchors sounded stunned in real time, visibly confused by the leap from a BTS-themed snack to a harsh anti-American message. The moment reportedly threw the flow of the discussion off almost immediately, turning a throwaway conversation into a firestorm.
Eppler later tried to walk the comment back and brushed it off as nothing. But BTS fans weren’t willing to treat the remark like a harmless slip. Many are now demanding an apology, with some calling for him to be fired.
MISRYOUM reached out to Eppler’s station and Texas Tech for comments. As of now, there’s been no response.
BTS Oreo hotteok-flavored Oreo collab James Eppler FOX 34 Texas Tech death to America news anchor backlash social media controversy
That’s insane, why would he even say that.
I didn’t even watch it but the headline makes it sound like he’s blaming BTS for “death to America” which is like… come on. Oreos are literally cookies lol. If he meant something else then just explain it instead of walking it back later.
Wait so he looked at the cookie design and somehow got “death to America”?? That feels like one of those conspiracy decoder ring things. Like maybe he was talking about something else and the audio got weird or they cut stuff out. Still though, saying it on TV is gonna get you fired if people don’t buy the “nothing” excuse.
They should def fire him. I’m sorry but a Texas Tech professor going on FOX 34 and saying “death to America” over a BTS Oreo collab is not a “slip.” And the fact they didn’t respond yet says a lot. Also why do they keep letting anchors double as professors like that’s relevant, seems unhinged.