Fans Outraged As KPop Demon Hunters’ Oscar-Winning Speech Gets Cut Short, Call It “Disrespectful”

Netflix's animated film KPop Demon Hunters made history at the 98th Academy Awards.

Netflix’s animated film KPop Demon Hunters made history at the 98th Academy Awards as they took home the Best Original Song award for Golden, which marked the first K-pop track to ever win in that category. But things took a sad turn when their heartfelt acceptance speech was suddenly cut off midway during the live show. The abrupt end sparked huge outrage and heated debates across social media platforms. Here’s what really happened!

KPop Demon Hunters Songwriting Team’s Winning Speech Abruptly Cut

On March 15, 2026, the 98th Oscars turned into a special night for fans of Korean music and animation. The Netflix movie KPop Demon Hunters walked away with two huge awards: Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for the song ‘Golden’. This was the very first time a K-pop track ever won in the Best Original Song category. Fans became super happy for the recognition and flooded social media with congratulatory messages.

Cutting off a historic moment like this is pure disrespect. The Academy needs to do better. EJAE deserved her moment.

— ismailyasar (@bayirliogluismo) March 16, 2026

When it was time to accept the Best Original Song award, EJAE stepped up and spoke from the heart. She thanked the Academy and shared how people used to laugh at her for being a big K-pop fan. Now, she said, the whole world is singing their song, even the Korean lyrics. She talked about never giving up and feeling proud of her team and thanked her family, her fiancé, her manager, the movie’s actors, directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, producer Michelle Wang, Netflix, and Sony Animation. Right as she passed the mic to Lee Yu-han, the time’s up music began and the moment was cut short.

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Fans watching at home were enraged. They flooded social media platforms saying that the interruption was rude and not at all fair. Some even called it disrespectful to Asians and pointed out that a historic win like this deserved more time. Many others pointed out that other winners had the opportunity to speak for a longer time. Later, the team got to express their thoughts in the press room. Even though the speech was cut off, all of them were smiling in the press room.

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First Published: March 16, 2026 4:00 PM