Blackpink's Jennie gets death threats, YG Entertainment slammed for silence as Blinks demand legal action
Blackpink is still riding on a high following their highly successful comeback with the song 'How You Like That'. The track's music video has already shattered records, including beating BTS' 'Boy With Luv' to claim the record of fastest 100M views on YouTube and hitting the milestone in just over 32 hours. They also achieved the biggest YouTube premiere with views peaking at 1.66M during the stream in addition to having the biggest 24-hour music debut of all time with 86.3M views. There should be nothing but celebrations happening at the group's base and among its fandom, Blinks, but unfortunately, that isn't quite the case.
Blinks have begun a campaign demanding protection for Blackpink's Jennie, who has been on the receiving end of hate over the years. A Blink on Twitter shed some light on what has been happening, stating, "The reason for the tag is that Jennie has suffered a lot of hate, at Weibo she has even received death threats and nothing from the company to take action." They added, "Score a lot @ygent_official and make noise, they need to take legal action on all of this." The rallying call from fans has been heard, as many have taken to tweeting at Blackpink's label, YG Entertainment, demanding better protection for Jennie in addition to taking legal action against those making overt threats against her.
"WTF YGE! You were doing so well this comeback and then this??? Deny protection for one of your main artists???? YOU BETTER MAKE SOMETHING! We won't stop!" declared one Blink. "Please do something about malicious comments. Please protect your artists. They won't stop until you do something about it. They need to be punished," stated another and one fan said, "@ygent_official Protect Jennie and the girls! Protect Blackpink and take legal action against antis, they became braver lately because all you do is silent!!"
Many Blinks were visibly upset about the situation, tweeting, "how could they hate this baby", "please protect our baby, she deserves so much better", and, "PROTECT THIS ANGEL AT ALL COST!" One fan shared a lengthy statement on the situation that read, "Jennie has been receiving all types of hatred in many sources for years, even in her predebut time. That one time you responded, you said that you cannot do anything because your company's reputation is in a compromising situation. But a year after and more death threats come, malicious edited videos and many more ridiculous rumors have sprung up."
While these are not uncommon forms of hatred that idols receive, a few like Jennie have certainly had to deal with a much higher volume of such attacks. And despite YG Entertainment's earlier statements, many labels have, in fact, taken legal action against those that have made threats against their artists, indicating that the possibility of taking a legal route does exist in such cases. The statement continued, "We've seen you respond quickly with situations that involved your company's name but why does it seem like Jennie is not under your wing? Almost half of her life has been with you and yet it looks like our concern for her safety and growth as an artist, no matter how much we send you emails and shout online, is blatantly ignored. So when you are exactly going to protect Jennie?"
YG Entertainment was yet to respond and it appears the Blinks have no intention of backing down anytime soon. One Twitter user shared, "I do not understand why they criticize her so much for every little thing she does, I am not a Blink but I took the time to get to know her well and clearly I see that Jennie is an angel... who does not deserve all the hatred they give her," further admonishing the label for not protecting her from threats or empathizing with her struggle.
And as YG Entertainment has continued to respond with radio silence over the years, the burden of protecting Blackpink from hatred has fallen largely on the Blinks themselves. One Blink shared, "It's your responsibility to ensure your artists are always safe and being taken care of. Please do not fail to reassure fans you're fulfilling your task and stop blatantly neglecting your idol. We can't do your job for you forever." Another said, "I hope for once you do something for Jennie. We just want you to protect her as it is your responsibility to your artists and reassure us that everything is now under control. Pls give a statement."
Interestingly, while the push is for legal action, many Blinks are simply demanding acknowledgment at the very least from the label that they are working towards providing a safer space for their idols. One fan shared, "Please give us updates on what kind of actions you're going take or have taken regarding certain issues fans have brought up to the company @ygent_official," while another demanded, "Stop ignoring this situation YG!" And yet, YG Entertainment remains silent.