Oscars Slammed 'Racist and Disrespectful' for Cutting KPop Demon Hunters Acceptance Speech

Critics are calling the Oscars out for ushering the KPop Demon Hunters creative team off the stage during their acceptance speech.

Netizens are crying foul over a now-viral clip showing how a KPop Demon Hunters' acceptance speech was abruptly cut short at the Oscars. Netflix's animated film won Best Original Song for 'Golden,' and the songwriting team led by EJAE accepted the award.

Winners' Acceptance Speech Abruptly Halted

EJAE took to the stage with an emotional message, explaining what the song was really about. 'Thank you so much to the Academy for this insane award,' she said. 'Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop, but now everyone's singing our song and all the Korean lyrics. I'm so proud.'

'And I realised, the song, this award is not about success; it's about resilience,' she continued. 'And I'm just so grateful to our team, and just want to thank my mom, my dad, my brother, my fiance, my manager, of course, for always staying with me.'

After thanking the film's creative and production leads, EJAE motioned to her fellow winners to speak. Songwriter Yu Han Lee stepped up with a prepared speech, but was immediately cut short when the orchestra started playing transition music. EJAE appealed for more time, but the microphone audio was also turned off.

Previous Oscar ceremonies have struggled with lengthy acceptance speeches. The longest Oscar speech in history belongs to Adrien Brody, who in 2025 spoke for five minutes and 40 seconds while accepting the Best Actor award for 'The Brutalist'. In contrast, the KPop Demon Hunters team were played off the stage after approximately 55 seconds.

Oscars Fumble Sparks Backlash

The incident drew backlash on social media, with some netizens calling the fumble 'rude,' 'disrespectful,' and 'racist.' 'Wow...who wants to talk about the @TheAcademy being super racist cutting #golden speeches in like 10 seconds!' One user wrote on X. 'That was beyond disrespectful and freaking rude and racist!!! #academyawards #oscars'

The clip also garnered heated comments on YouTube, with some pointing out how some winners get significantly more time with their speeches, compared to others.

'This has to be a record for cutting off speeches, some of the most disrespectful speech cutting I've seen,' said one user.

'Honestly can't help but to feel like it's on purpose of course :( very disrespectful to the team after all the work they've done, all the love they've gotten, Hollywood can't be bothered to be decent for 3 minutes. And yes, I feel that way for all winners because if we can make time for all the lame as comedy bits we can for them instead. It's their night,' the user added.

EJAE and the Team Get Their Winning Moment

EJAE took the moment in stride, half-joking about their halted speech. Per IndieWire, Lee and co-writer Mark Sonnenblick also delivered their prepared speeches to the press backstage. 'I would like to thank our families, and 24, my fellow IDO members, and Teddy Park,' Lee stated. 'This is an incredible honour.'

'Everybody who worked on this movie, all the animators, it was a real collaboration across the board,' Sonnenblick added. 'The fans, too, who have loved this movie and made it what it is, and then this soundtrack, everyone else who worked on the soundtrack, everyone else who sang on the soundtrack, across the board. A movie is like a village, and we're lucky to be up here right now. But there are so many people who have made this what it is.'

KPop Demon Hunters also won the Oscar for 'Best Animated Feature' later that night.