EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, and Teddy Park just became Oscar-winning songwriters with Golden, grabbing Best Original Song win at this year’s Academy Awards. It’s the first time any K-pop track has been able to achieve the accolade and is a massive win for the writers who went hard at work. For their contribution to KPop Demon Hunters, the team appeared on stage to give an acceptance speech and were abruptly cut off, with only Ejae getting the chance to speak. As the rest of the songwriters stared in disbelief and the audience booed, the stars said their notes backstage.
KPop Demon Hunters’ Golden team finishes speeches after being cut off
As reported by DEADLINE, Ejae said the following, reacting to the “We feel very grateful and very honored. We all worked so hard, and this is such a collaborative effort; we just need to thank our directors. They created a beautiful film. Everyone was a part of it, and we are just so happy that the hard work paid off.” She went on to thank fellow singers of Golden, Rei Ami, and Audrey Nuna.
Yu Han Lee, who was the one speaking when the Oscars decided to move to commercials, said, “I would like to thank all our families, my fellow Idol members, and Teddy Park. This is an incredible honor.” Meanwhile, Sonnenblick, who did not have the chance at all to express his gratitude, went on to thank all the contributors to the film. He quoted the song with the words, “[The song lyrics are not] ‘I’m going up, up, up.’ It’s ‘We’re going up, up, up.’ And that’s part of the reason that we’re [here] right now. So, thanks to the fans, too, who have loved this movie and made it into what it is and the soundtrack.”
Kpop Demon Hunters also grabbed the Best Animated Feature award, wherein director Maggie Kang thanked all those ‘who look like’ her, dedicating the win to Korea and Koreans everywhere, going on to apologize for how long it took.
The Netflix production recently confirmed its second film, set for a 2029 release.
