BLACKPINK’s Jennie Reportedly ‘Robbed’ at Recent Music Awards

Recently, Jennie released her new single “Mantra”and has been actively promoting it through various means, including pre-recorded performances for Korean music programs. However, a controversy erupted after the October 19th episode of MBC’s Music Core aired.

Prior to the broadcast, fans anticipated that Jennie would receive a nomination, sharing the spotlight with aespa’s Karina (with their song “Up”) and QWER (whose track is “My Name Is Malgeum”). A well-regarded social media account specializing in music show analytics even posted a ranking before the show, placing Jennie firmly in the top three, outpacing her peers.

To the audience’s dismay, when the episode aired, Jennie’s name was absent from the nominations. Instead, boy band AB6IX was featured in the lineup, with Karina ultimately taking the win. Speculations among fans suggested that “Mantra”may have faced disqualification due to the “explicit” version of its music video, which includes the term “ass.” This presumably led to a deduction in points from the SNS category, which factors in views from music videos.

Angry fans promptly voiced their frustration on social media, alleging that MBC had unjustly overlooked Jennie. While most supporters did not hold AB6IX responsible for the outcome, they pointed out the perceived double standard when comparing the lyrics of “Mantra”to those in AB6IX’s “NVCKED.”Many criticized the potential misogynistic implications behind this decision, arguing that Jennie’s track was unduly punished.