Blackpink N-word allegations: YG Leaker ‘exposes’ K-pop industry – Entertainment News

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Girl group sensation BLACKPINK has been dragged into a boiling scandal as clips of the quartet seemingly using a racial slur- the N-word – in their pre-debut era have emerged on social media. Over the weekend, the K-pop industry appears to have taken a major hit as an alleged former YG Entertainment employee threatened to leak sensitive information for leading agencies.

A user named “YG Leaker” started a new channel on the SNS platform Discord. “Doing all this because I got fired. I hate the whole company. It’s full of mobbing, racism and sexism,” they added context while beginning the chatroom. The so-called “YG Leaker” then claimed to have data worth terabytes supposedly supporting their severe allegations against several K-pop companies. In addition to name-dropping YG Entertainment, they listed other big shots like SM Entertainment, HYBE Labels, Cube Entertainment, RBW and its subsidiaries, Blockberry Creative, JYP Entertainment, WM Entertainment and Starship Entertainment.

Alleged former YG Entertainment employee linked to a major ‘exposé’ unloads terabytes worth of K-pop leaks

The purported ex-YG Ent employee claimed that they are Gurumi, an infamous “leaker” who previously “exposed” BLACKPINK’s Jennie and BTS’ V relationship. The “YG Leaker” in question alleged that they consequently received a cease and desist. Although not everyone from the expansive K-pop fan community believes their threats, saying “it sounds like K-pop stan Twitter,” a particular BLACKPINK allegation has especially crawled to the top of posts going viral on social media.

Alleged videos of pre-debut BLACKPINK members Jennie, Lisa and Rose were part of the debatable ex-YG employee’s leaks. Visual evidence against three members of the group (except Jisoo) has surfaced online. The videos in question expose the trio of singing the N-word. ‘Stan Twitter’ continues to remain divided on the issue as questions of the supposed leak’s credibility are at focus.

BLACKPINK N-word allegations brings back years-old debate on cultural appropriation

Nonetheless, some users notably flipped the discussion back to how the K-pop industry continues to borrow artistic themes from Black creatives without acknowledging the weight of their contributions. Others also reiterated the whole conversation around Black appropriation in K-pop, especially since a considerable faction of K-pop creatives, including BTS’ V, has worn durags, a piece of cloth used by Black people to main hairstyles.

BLACKPINK allegedly saying the N-word during a performance is also not the first instance of K-pop idols using the racial slur. “As a Black woman I feel very insulted,” an X user commented online in light of the surfaced allegations against the girl group. The issue became even more problematic as the popular K-pop girl group’s members have previously collaborated with artists who share African heritage.

BLACKPINK members have notably collaborated with Black creatives

Releasing earlier in March, Jennie’s debut solo studio album “Ruby” features tracks with Childish Gambino and Doechii. Meanwhile, her bandmate Lisa joined forces with Tyla on her own debut solo studio album “Alter Ego” Doja Cat, Future, Megan Thee Stallion and Tyla — all artists with links to African culture.

Some K-pop fans even came to the girls’ rescue, claiming that they never used the word intentionally but only because it was included in the songs they were covering at the time. The years-old timeline of the videos was also highlighted, saying that it should all be left in the past. Another group of BLACKPINK supporters even suggested that the videos were possibly AI-generated. However, the unforgiving side of the platform pointed out that Rose and Jennie “literally grew up in an English speaking environment,” and therefore, their ignorance was unwarranted.




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