We've known that Paulo Coelho, the Brazilian best-selling author of The Alchemist (1988) and The Witch of Portobello (2006), is an ARMY since he tweeted about BTS during their sold-out concert in Brazil in March 2019.
The 72-year-old novelist displayed another fanboying moment when he defended BTS against haters in a tweet on February 29.
"Haters are confused admirers who want to be like you," he said.
Although the official account of the K-pop group was not mentioned, he followed the tweet with a string of purple hearts—a symbol that means trust and love among the fandom.
The message received positive replies from fellow BTS fans, who got the message right away.
Paulo confirmed that it was indeed for the boy group when he explained the tweet to CNN journalist Christopher Cuomo, who, at first, seemed to be in disagreement with the cryptic tweet.
Paulo replied, "Thank you [for] being so direct [but] I was referring to a Korean group - @BTS_twt, that [is] constantly under attack by detractors, only because they are the most successful band on this planet. That’s why I posted their symbol, a pink heart as part of the thread." [He appropriately used purple hearts, not pink, in the said tweet.]
BTS, with members Jungkook, Jimin, Suga, Jin, V, RM, and J-Hope, released their new album Map Of The Soul: 7 on February 21. The album has consistently topped the charts globally since its launch.
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