BLACKPINK recently had the distinct honor of being recognized by England’s King Charles III for their global impact, earning the royal privilege of holding honorary titles as Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
(From left:) BLACKPINK’s Lisa, Rosé, Jisoo, and Jennie
BLACKPINK attended the South Korean-UK state banquet at Buckingham Palace on November 21, with 170 people in attendance, including the King of England, members of the royal family, and South Korea’s President and First Lady.
In King Charles III‘s speech before the dinner began, he heralded prominent figures in Korean entertainment, including BTS, Parasite director Bong Joon Ho, acknowledged the popularity of Squid Game, and gave each BLACKPINK member a special shout-out for their “role in bringing the message of environmental sustainability to a global audience as Ambassadors for the U.K.’s Presidency of COP 26, and later as advocates for the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.”
The BLACKPINK members made history, becoming the first K-Pop idols and non-British musicians to receive the honorary titles.
K-pop royalty @BLACKPINK reacts to to being honoured in King Charles speech during the Korean State banquet.#BLACKPINK #KoreanStateVisit
— Prince & Princess of Wales 𝕏 (@TribesBritannia) November 21, 2023
Each member has expressed their heartfelt gratitude for receiving the honorary title in posts made on their personal Instagram accounts.
Netizens have also celebrated the historic achievement, and today, many are coming to the BLACKPINK members’ defense after the British tabloid newspaper, Daily Mail, posted an article covering the achievement with what many consider an offensive and disrespectful headline.
You’d probably never heard of Korean K-Pop sensations Blackpink before the King honoured them. But here we reveal how starvation diets, daily weigh-ins and huge pressure to have plastic surgery have left a dark spectre behind the world’s biggest girl band https://t.co/LgpeP2rjFa pic.twitter.com/8HRiH2umps
— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) November 25, 2023
The article, which features BLACKPINK at the forefront, begins by telling readers they have “probably never heard of BLACKPINK before [King Charles III] honored them” before stating that “starvation diets, daily weigh-ins” and a “huge pressure to have plastic surgery” left a “dark spectre” behind the global girl group.
Many netizens felt the headline wrongly implied that those were issues specifically relating to BLACKPINK when they were instead referencing other K-Pop idols’ stories from their trainee days and recollections from a former K-Pop trainee that were included within the article.
Netizens came to BLACKPINK’s defense, feeling it was unnecessary to shroud the group’s historic achievement with what many felt was a “misogynistic,” “slanderous,” “xenophobic,” and “offensive” headline with a misleading article.
Bringing women down… THE MISOGYNY
— mother. (@Wonhoballsack) November 27, 2023
Just disgusting, misogynistic and full on xenophobic…but are we shocked daily mail wrote this ?? https://t.co/AXLszizoR9
— Nicolas is happy (@niggaolas) November 27, 2023
so weird and disgusting. this screams misogyny like y’all can’t let women being successful in the music industry without trying to bring them down in the process?? bitter and clout chasing, pick a struggle! https://t.co/8ZSIxXqUHf
— (@lalisasproperty) November 27, 2023
put your kpop beef aside… this is actually so disgusting to anyone in kpop why must you accompany their success with ‘starvation diets’ and ‘plastic surgery’ like this cannot be real absolutely disgusting! pic.twitter.com/Uo2h3czuEJ
— HERVÉッ (@imhrve) November 27, 2023
