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BTS paved the way trends as fans slams Blackpink's Jennie for saying band wants to open door for other artists

Jennie, in an Instagram live session, said that Blackpink would love to make it possible for other South Koren acts to follow in the same footsteps

The admirers of BTS and Blackpink found themselves arguing once again over another self-generated controversy. This time it's Blackpink's Jennie who is at the receiving end of the flak from fans of K-pop stars BTS. It all started when Jennie, in an Instagram live session, said that Blackpink, after its recent international chart success, would love to make it possible for other South Koren acts to follow in the same footsteps. Soon after this, BTS Army started to trend the phrase 'BTS Paved the Way' to remind people that the 'Dynamite' hit-makers have already opened the gates for K-pop acts to make it big in the West.

A Blackpink fan posted the clip of Jennie's Instagram live, the part where she talks about paving way for more K-pop acts, and explaining the situation, wrote, "Idk how many times i have to repeat this but, JENNIE DID NOT INVALIDATE BTS PAVING THE WAY, she said bp as other groups grew up wishing to be a group that could open doors to music." Expanding her point-of-view, the fan further tweeted, "When tf she said 'we are the group who opened the doors'?? when tf did she say 'bts ain’t s**t we are the first and only ones??', stop putting lies in her mouth y’all suck." The fan finally wrote, "Y’all let cut clips that are done to fit someone’s narrative get on your nerves... it’s pathetic that u prefer lies that affect someone’s reputation rather than the truth."

To explain BTS's point-of-view on the issue, a fan of the K-pop superstars tweeted, "Idk who needs to hear this but paving the way doesn’t mean having milestones in your own career... artists work hard, but only one paves the way and they do so with impact. they make it easier for others. bts has been doing that since 2015. bts paved the way and opened the door." Asking people not to negate the achievements of BTS, the fan continued, "Bts ALREADY opened the door. ITS OPEN. if someone enters an open door, they aren’t the ones who opened it?? stop discrediting bts. bts paved the way which means they opened doors. no one can pave a road that’s already paved, no one can open a door that’s already open."

More members of the BTS Army came forward to support their favorite artists. Dismissing claims that it is sexist to call out Blackpink's statement, one fan tweeted, "They way y’all make everything about gender and call us misogynist but yet WOMNEN IN KPOP have said it themselves that BTS paved the way for them and opened the doors for the kpop industry in general. So y’all saying they’re being misogynistic to themselves?" The fan further added, "At this point it’s not even about feminism anymore. overall y’all just hate the fact that it’s BTS accomplishing all these achievements, that it’s BTS breaking all these records, and that it was BTS who broke the barrier for Kpop and Asians in the music industry."

A different BTS fan chose to post fact-based arguments and listed K-pop acts who have said that BTS paved the way for their success with the caption, "I don’t get why everyone’s arguing. It’s been said by other idols themselves that BTS PAVED THE WAY." Another BTS fan gave a more balanced take on the matter and wrote, "So about the trends BTS PAVED THE WAY and BLACKPINK PAVED THEIR OWN WAY... Y’all really out there making stupid fanwars when you could just stream their music + let people enjoy their favs in peace... I’m too old for this s**t."

Others simply repeated the phrase 'BTS paved the way', like this fan who tweeted, "Idk why It's trending but BTS PAVED THE WAY BTS PAVED THE WAY BTS PAVED THE WAY BTS PAVED THE WAY BTS PAVED THE WAY BTS PAVED THE WAY BTS PAVED THE WAY BTS PAVED THE WAY BTS PAVED THE WAY BTS PAVED THE WAY BTS PAVED THE WAY BTS PAVED THE WAY BTS PAVED THE WAY BTS PAVED THE WAY."

The fans of Blackpink, too, were quick to come to the band's defense. One fan, talking about the trolling faced by BTS, tweeted, "Armys always be preaching about mental health of idols but are currently harassing Jennie on her personal Instagram," while another pointed out, "Your idols are preaching about mental health but yall will go ballistic over jennie's harmless statement and harass her on ig... when it's women suddenly you forget your morals."

Many fans of Blackpink seemed really angry with the way the issue played out with one fan expressing her disappointment saying, "Never forget the day armys trended a whole hashtag just because jennie said she hopes blackpink's success opens the door for other korean artists to be recognized," while another, sharing similar sentiments, said, "people need to realize that artists look up to blackpink and what jennie said is literally that she hopes people find inspiration in what they do and that hopes it opens doors for them in the future, she never disrespected anyone, this is crazy, they are crazy."

Admirers of Jennie urged her fans to show support. One fan, defending Jennie, wrote, "Jennie didn't discredit anyone infact she said she saw artists do it before & now she wants BP's success to be an inspiration & help other Kpop artists to spread their music globally. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be an inspiration & help people, bp hate is out of control," while another reiterated, "Go to Jennie's IG and spam love and appreciation comments. Don't engage with the hate comments as you'll just make it to top PLEASE WE'VE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR YEARS. Check ChuLiChaeng's IG too, if they're also there... DO THE SAME! BLACKPINK PAVED THEIR OWN WAY!"

Other users shared screenshots of the comment section of Blackpink's live session. A fan, posting the screenshot, wrote, "ARMY‼‼‼ Please watch the interview. don't spread hatred about jennie cuz she didn't say anything. Stop writing s**t under her posts please!!!!! Please!!!! ARMY STOP BEING DISGUSTING LIKE THIS!!! She doesnt deserve this.. plz stop."

Posting more screenshots of the hate Jennie's been receiving, another user tweeted, "I hope each and every one of you who do this kind of s**t know that bts would be ashamed by what you're doing in jennie's comments."

Some BTS fans, handling the situation wisely, wrote, "On behalf of army we apologise for the immature members of our fandom.... Each group paves their own way and ppl need to stop tearing down each other over harmless statements," while another rhetorically asked, "Am I the only idiot that doesn't understand why people are attacking jennie on ig, yes bts paved the way but she just said that she also wants to inspire and open doors???"

More tweets from BTS fans came criticizing those attacking Jennie. One user wrote, "I just don't get why ppl r mad when jennie said other acts opened the door they just wanna continue she basically said BTS PAVED THE WAY why r yall like this," while another added, "there’s nothing wrong with what jennie said. i know bts paved the way, we all do lol. she wasn’t discrediting bts work or impact. she just said they want to open the doors and draw in new people that would be interested in the music that blackpink creates. nothing more."

On the music front, BTS clinched the top position on Billboard Hot 100 with their single 'Dynamite' becoming the first-ever all South Korean act to achieve the feat. Blackpink's song 'Ice Cream' featuring Selena Gomez debuted at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming their highest-charting single in the US.