KPop Demon Hunters won big at the 98th Academy Awards on Monday. However, the celebratory mood quickly turned sour after one of the film’s award acceptance speeches was abruptly cut short, with fans calling the moment ‘disrespectful’ to the cast and crew.
The film’s original song, Golden, won the Best Song title at the awards ceremony. EJAE, one of the singers, was accompanied by the crew of KPop Demon Hunters on stage to receive the award.
However, the much-awaited moment faded when the play-off music — typically used to signal speakers to wrap up — abruptly interrupted the speech.
“Thank you so much to the Academy,” EJAE said. “Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop. Now everyone is singing our song — in Korean lyrics. I’m so proud.”
Producer Lee Yu-han then stepped up to continue the remarks, but the orchestra music began playing before he could speak, cutting him off.
This moment was slammed by fans on social media, with many criticising the organisers of the Academy Awards for being ‘disrespectful’ and ‘ignorant’.
“Adrian Brody gets 5 minutes and 40 seconds for his Oscar speech last year while KPop Demon Hunters songwriters get their mic cut off, music playing, and spotlight shut off during theirs,” One X user wrote.
Another post reads, “Just saw that clip from #OSCARS where they cut off the segment of the KPop demon hunters' guy who was about to deliver a speech on stage. Out of all people, OSCARS had a 'mismanagement' right when these Koreans were on stage. I don't believe this is an accident. It was intentional.”
“This felt sad and disrespectful! When all other category winners were given time for their acceptance speech, why was it cut when Kpop Demon Hunters Original Song Winners were still giving speeches,” another fan wrote.
“Joking about not being able to appeal to younger audiences and then cutting the acceptance speech from KPop Demon Hunters is the perfect example of how the #Oscars keep shooting themselves in the foot,” a fan wrote on X.
Several fans even demanded that the Oscars issue an official apology to the crew of KPop Demon Hunters. “Absolutely disrespectful of the #Oscars for cutting off kpop demon hunters in their acceptance speech. They were given less time than every other winner, and the Oscars owes them an apology,” an X user wrote.
KPop Demon Hunters won Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards, beating Arco, Elio, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, Zootopia 2.
Golden has crossed one billion views on YouTube, becoming the first track from the movie to achieve the milestone.
KPop Demon Hunters is the biggest-selling soundtrack of 2025. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Soundtrack chart and is certified Double Platinum.
Golden also received five Grammy Award nominations, including Song of the Year.
