KJ Apa In Trouble With Fans

KJ Apa, the 22-year-old Riverdale heartthrob, recently made headlines with his response to a Twitter user who asked him why he's been silent during the Black Lives Matter movement.

KJ starred in the film The Hate U Give, which co-starred Amandla Stenberg and Euphoria's Algee Smith in the film about police brutality. Because of the nature of the film, comedian Elijah Daniel asked KJ why he's chosen to remain silent on social media.

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I will kiss anything

A post shared by KJ Apa (@kjapa) on Nov 8, 2019 at 4:37pm PST

KJ responded to Elijah by saying that he doesn't feel like it's necessary to post his attendance at protests for it to be valid to him. His response was met with mixed feelings from fans.

I don’t need to post about my opinions and beliefs in order for them to be real to me. I support black lives - but I don’t feel it’s necessary to prove to people I do by posting my attendance at these protests.
— KJ Apa (@kj_apa) June 15, 2020

Many of KJ's Riverdale co-stars have been very outspoken about the movement, and Cole Sprouse was even arrested at a protest. Fans began to criticize KJ for not using his platform to post petition links or information on protests.

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A group of peaceful protesters, myself included, were arrested yesterday in Santa Monica. So before the voracious horde of media sensationalism decides to somehow turn it about me, there’s a clear need to speak about the circumstances: Black Lives Matter. Peace, riots, looting, are an absolutely legitimate form of protest. the media is by nature only going to show the most sensational, which only proves a long standing racist agenda. I was detained when standing in solidarity, as were many of the final vanguard within Santa Monica. We were given the option to leave, and were informed that if we did not retreat, we would be arrested. When many did turn to leave, we found another line of police officers blocking our route, at which point, they started zip tying us. It needs to be stated that as a straight white man, and a public figure, the institutional consequences of my detainment are nothing in comparison to others within the movement. This is ABSOLUTELY not a narrative about me, and I hope the media doesn’t make it such. This is, and will be, a time about standing ground near others as a situation escalates, providing educated support, demonstrating and doing the right thing. This is precisely the time to contemplate what it means to stand as an ally. I hope others in my position do as well. I noticed that there are cameras that roll within the police cruisers during the entirety of our detainment, hope it helps. I’ll speak no more on the subject, as I’m (1) not well versed enough to do so, (2) not the subject of the movement, and (3) uninterested in drawing attention away from the leaders of the #BLM movement. I will be, again, posting the link in my story to a comprehensive document for donations and support.

A post shared by Cole Sprouse (@colesprouse) on Jun 1, 2020 at 1:14pm PDT

KJ Apa Gets Called Out For Not Speaking Up About BLM Movement