"It’s quite embarrassing" — Internet reacts to the backlash faced by KPop Demon Hunters director for mentioning BLACKPINK's Jennie 

KPop Demon Hunters director Maggie Kang received backlash from fans for seemingly mentioning BLACKPINK's Jennie while discussing the inspirations behind the character Rumi. The Netflix movie took over social media following its release on June 20, 2025, especially among K-pop fans, as the creators hinted that it was heavily influenced by Korean pop music culture and groups.

On June 27, 2025, @aboutmusic on X posted that the main character, Rumi, a K-pop idol in the group HUNTR/X, was reportedly influenced by BLACKPINK's Jennie. Maggie Kang made a quote retweet on June 28, 2025, clarifying that the Ruby singer was not the only artist who inspired Rumi and that the list of references was too long to pinpoint specific traits or visuals.

She wrote:

“Rumi was inspired by many leading ladies, some not even K-Pop. Names are going around (individual idols + groups) bc we only said “yes” as they were mentioned by interviewer to us but list of inspo for both Huntr/x & Saja Boys is endless. This has been clarified by us to press.”

Maggie Kang's response did not sit well with many Jennie fans, who criticized her and the KPop Demon Hunters team for using the BLACKPINK rapper for “clout.”

However, some netizens reacted to the backlash, pointing out that Kang never said Jennie wasn't an influence and pushed back against the hate directed at the director on X.

"Imagine having a tantrum because the director didn’t say what you wanted them to say. yall act like 12 yo in qrts it’s quite embarrassing," a fan said.

"Everyone saying her design was inspired by one individual has noooooo idea how character design works, im sure theres 10+ references for her at MINIMUM," a user added.

"wym u can’t enjoy any other medias without making it abt ur faves and crashing out whenever reality checks you. Clout this clout that…have you ever stop to think…not everything, every media, every entertainments, are about clout?" a netizen stated.

In particular, Jennie's fans were upset that Kang responded only to the tweet mentioning the BLACKPINK rapper. Some of them criticized the production team of KPop Demon Hunters for reportedly using the singer's songs and references to promote the film.

"Maybe you and your team hinting about rumi being Jennie a week before for marketing purposes?.. sharing stories on how hylt was the reference behind a particular scene? now that the show took off its better to keep everything in fog," a user mentioned.

"So you couldn’t say this under the others? Or the one that had all of them together in one post? But your bitter self had to only reply under Jennie’s post to get that limelight. While keeping Jennie the main focus of your post," a fan wrote.

"Now that the film’s a success, they’re denying everything related to a particular idol and gaslighting the fans who actually remember everyone except BTS. Gotta admit, the clout chase worked out for them in the end. Well played," a netizen wrote.

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Netflix's KPop Demon Hunters takes over international music charts with its soundtrack

KPop Demon Hunters follows the story of girl group HUNTR/X, who are secretly demon hunters. With the help of their music, they protect their fans and audience. The group faces a new threat when the boy group Saja Boys quickly rises to fame with their song Soda Pop. However, they are demons planning to take away the souls of HUNTR/X fans.

KPop Demon Hunters is accompanied by a soundtrack album including songs like Golden, Your Idol, What It Sounds Like, and TAKEDOWN, sung by TWICE's Jongyeon, Jihyo, and Chaeyoung. On June 29, 2025, the soundtrack entered the Billboard 200 chart at No. 8, becoming the first soundtrack released in 2025 to reach the top 10. Additionally, it is the highest-charting Netflix animated film soundtrack released this year.

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Interested fans can watch KPop Demon Hunters on Netflix.