'K-pop Demon Hunters' Ejae's emotional Oscar speech cut off, draws boos from audience
🔥🚨BREAKING: The Oscars audience erupted in anger and boos when EJAE got emotional as she made history as the first Oscar win for a K-pop song and the academy played music over her as she attempted to speak.
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) March 16, 2026
Viewers are currently pissed online, no way to put it lightly. pic.twitter.com/PvTnCoHswN
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The K-pop track 'Golden' from 'KPop Demon Hunters' took home the Oscar for Best Original Song at the 2026 ceremony. However, the celebration quickly turned tense. Singer-songwriter Ejae, joined by five fellow writers, began an emotional acceptance speech, but it was cut short.
The interruption occurred when the broadcast switched to a commercial break while a team member was still speaking. Mark Sonnenblick was also on stage with the group. The abrupt cut prompted audible boos from the audience, drawing widespread attention to the awkward moment.
Ejae’s emotional speech cut short after historic K-pop win
Kim Eun-jae, aka Ejae, led her team – Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, and Teddy Park – onstage to accept the Oscar for Best Original Song for 'Golden' from K-pop Demon Hunters (Netflix). "Thank you so much to the Academy for this insane award," she said, blinking back tears. "Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop, but now, everyone's singing our song.. I'm so proud."
"And I realize the song, this award, is not about success, it's about resilience," she added. She also thanked her family, manager, the cast of 'K-pop Demon Hunters', Netflix, and Sony Animation. The speech was cut short when one of her co-writers, holding a paper, stepped up to the microphone and the orchestra began playing. ABC went to a commercial break, ending their time onstage.
Sonnenblick tried to get attention and signal the interruption, but nothing happened. Even with the abrupt ending, the win was a historic moment for K-pop at the Oscars.
'Golden' becomes first K-pop song to win Oscar and Grammy
Ejae, 24, along with Ido and Teddy Park, won the Oscar for Best Original Song, becoming the first South Koreans to ever win. 'Golden' is also the first K-pop song to win an Academy Award. Earlier this year, the song became the first K-pop track to win a Grammy. It also won the Original Song awards at the Golden Globes and the Critics’ Choice Awards.
K-pop Demon Hunters was a huge hit on Netflix, getting 482 million views between July and December 2025, making it the platform’s most-watched show over six months. In the ten days after its June 20, 2025 release, it had 36.7 million streams.
