Netflix's mega successful animated film KPop Demon Hunters made history at this year's Oscars ceremony by winning two awards: Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Song for 'Golden' with the latter becoming the first K-pop song ever to get the recognition, but the moment meant for cheer turned sour when the team's speech was cut midway.
"Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop, but now everyone’s singing our song in all the Korean lyrics. I’m so proud. And I realized this award is not about success it’s about resilience, and I’m just so grateful to our team," singer-songwriter Ejae said, expressing her gratitude. Along with her, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park were with her.
When Yu-Han Lee took the mic, the music from the orchestra overlapped his speech which followed by muting of his microphone and turning off the spotlight. The team was visibly disappointed as Ejae's calls to let him speak was also denied.
The incident has come under massive backlash from fans of K-pop and Oscars, who criticised the awards committee for "disrespecting" the winners and being "rude". Many called the team behind the Academy "racist" for indulging in the act.
'Golden' beat 'I Lied to You' from Sinners, Diane Warren’s 'Dear Me' from the documentary Diane Warren: Relentless, the title track from Train Dreams composed by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner, and 'Sweet Dreams of Joy' by Nicholas Pike from Viva Verdi!.
Developed and backed by Sony Pictures Animation, KPop Demon Hunters released directly on Netflix in June last year. Since then, it has amassed over 500 million views on the streamer with the music quickly reaching the number 1 position on Billboard’s Hot 100. It is the most popular movie of all time on the streamer. A sing-along version was released in theatres later last year which turned out to become a massive box office blockbuster.
The film follows a K-pop girl group, Huntrix, who lead double lives as demon hunters; they face off against a rival boy band, the Saja Boys, whose members are secretly demons. It features the voices of Arden Cho, Ahn Hyo-seop, May Hong, Ji-young Yoo, Yunjin Kim, Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Jeong, and Lee Byung-hun.
It was also recently announced that a sequel for the film is in the works with Kang and Appelhans returning to direct. It is aiming for a release in 2029.