Going up, up, up, it was the “Golden” songwriting team’s moment, but as the KPop Demon Hunters songwriters were in the middle of accepting the Oscar for best original song, that moment was cut short.
On Sunday (March 15), EJAE, Park Hong Jun, Yu-Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, 24 and Mark Sonnenblick made history as the Billboard Hot 100-topping soundtrack hit became the first K-pop song to ever win an Oscar, something they had only a short period of time to celebrate on stage at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood before the group was abruptly ushered off the stage. In response, countless fans have criticized the award show for interrupting the historic victory and allowing only EJAE — who also provided the singing voice for HUNTR/X’s Rumi — to make her speech before the orchestra played everyone off.
“the oscar’s are rude af for this i’m sorry,” one person wrote on X, while another viewer added, “This was so disrespectful.”
“the oscars cut off the kpop demon hunters songwriters SO QUICK during their thank you speech that it honestly felt pointed, I was shocked,” wrote one.
Others specifically defended Yu-Han Lee, as he’d been the person speaking — making it through just a few words of his remarks — when the Oscars orchestra started playing over him. “This was probably the biggest moment of his life as an international artist & the oscars cut off his speech just as he started…,” another person wrote.
Billboard has reached out to the Oscars for comment.
Though their time on stage was limited, the “Golden” group did get to finish accepting the best original song prize backstage. Yu-Han Lee called the win “an incredible honor,” while Sonnenblick got to shout out his family and husband. “Part of the movie is about looking at someone that you had been taught to hate and to fear, and starting to trust, maybe love them,” Sonnenblick added. “A movie is like a village, and we’re lucky to be up here right now, but there’s so many people who have made this what it is.”
And despite their time on stage being cut short, EJAE’s speech was one of the night’s most moving. “Thank you so much to the academy for this insane award,” she said while holding the golden statuette. “Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop, but now everyone’s singing our song and all the Korean lyrics. I’m so proud. And I realized, the song, this award is not about success. It’s about resilience.”
Since premiering last summer, KPop Demon Hunters has had an unprecedented dominance over pop culture. In a matter of a couple of months, it became Netflix’s most watched film of all time, and “Golden” previously won best original song at the Critic’s Choice Awards and Golden Globes before snagging the same prize at the Oscars.
Other big winners at Sunday’s ceremony were Michael B. Jordan, who took home best actor for his performance in Sinners, and Hamnet‘s Jessie Buckley, who won best actress. Best picture went to One Battle After Another.
Watch EJAE’s acceptance speech for “Golden” below:
