A now-deleted video exhibiting Ok-pop megastar Jennie of Blackpink apparently smoking a vape indoors has sparked on-line outcry, with Seoul’s overseas ministry telling AFP on Tuesday (Jul 9) it had acquired a proper criticism.
Within the footage, uploaded as a part of a stay weblog on YouTube for followers however subsequently eliminated at the same time as copies of it unfold throughout the web, Jennie seems to exhale vape smoke whereas a bevy of hair and make-up artists work intently on her face.
Smoking cigarettes or vapes indoors is unlawful in South Korea and the footage triggered headlines and on-line outrage, with “indoor smoking” and “BLACKPINK Jennie” turning into prime trending subjects on X within the South.
“Controversy over Jennie’s indoor smoking… exhaling smoke within the face of her employees,” was the headline of the Yonhap information company’s report on the incident, typical of the widespread reporting in Korean-language media.
One web consumer claimed the incident doubtless occurred in Italy’s Capri, the place Jennie had been filming, and mentioned that they had requested that the South Korean Embassy in Italy and the Ministry of Overseas Affairs probe the Blackpink star, the Korea Occasions reported.
The consumer urged Seoul to request “an investigation from the Italian authorities concerning BLACKPINK’s Jennie’s indoor smoking incident and take strict motion”, the report mentioned.
South Korea’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs advised AFP on Tuesday that that they had acquired a petition associated to the incident.
Blackpink is certainly one of South Korea’s most profitable Ok-pop lady teams, with their songs topping charts each regionally and internationally.
The group’s different achievements embody being the primary Ok-pop lady group to succeed in the highest of the US Billboard 200 chart, and the primary Asian artists to headline prestigious music occasions similar to Coachella.
“Posting such a video on her personal SNS channel raises severe questions on her frequent sense… It’s deeply disappointing,” mentioned one commentator on South Korean portal Naver.
Smoking charges are comparatively excessive in South Korea, however in response to official information, as of 2022, solely 5 per cent of South Korean girls smoke, in comparison with 30 per cent of males.
South Korean pop stars bear rigorous coaching for years earlier than their debut and are held to excessive behavioural requirements, with smoking, courting and swearing largely forbidden, particularly within the first years following their debut.
Jennie has beforehand confessed to scuffling with these expectations.
“It is actually harsh,” Jennie, who debuted with Blackpink in 2016, mentioned in a Netflix documentary.
“We weren’t allowed to drink, smoke or get a tattoo,” she recalled of her coaching interval, including that she needed to endure “being advised that I am not good at stuff”.