Blackpink star Jennie has apologized after a video showing her smoking an e-cigarette indoors sparked an outcry in South Korea.
The K-pop star exhaled a puff of smoke and sparked a flurry of criticism as the smoke hit her makeup artist’s face.
“Do you need to be educated on all the basic etiquette?” reads one popular comment on YouTube.
Her record label OA Entertainment apologized to “anyone who felt uncomfortable with Jennie’s behavior” and to her “disappointed” fans. The star also apologized to employees “who may have been affected,” the company said.
The statement added: “Jenny admits she made the mistake of vaping indoors and deeply regrets the inconvenience caused to staff.”
Korean celebrities are no stranger to this kind of intense scrutiny. The country has strict moral and behavioral standards for them, and any lapses will be ignored.
The now-deleted moment was part of a video posted on Jennie’s official YouTube channel. It quickly went viral among more than 10 million subscribers.
“This has nothing to do with smoking. Blowing smoke in a staff member’s face indoors – that’s so rude,” reads a popular YouTube comment on a media channel.
Another said: “Even smokers know you wouldn’t smoke in your friend’s face. You would only do that if you really didn’t care about the people around you.”
South Korea bans smoking and vaping indoors, with fines of up to 100,000 won ($72; £56).
However, in this case, Jenny (full name is Jenny Kim) may not have been vaping in South Korea. Some reports said the film was filmed in Italy, which bans vaping in enclosed public places. But Jennie’s agency has yet to clarify where she was at the time.
However, one angry South Korean called for an investigation by the Korean Embassy in Italy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul.
Jenny isn’t the first Korean celebrity to face backlash for smoking.
Doh Kyung-soo, the lead singer of the popular K-pop boy band EXO, and Haechan, the singer of the band NCT, received a lot of criticism when they were caught smoking indoors. They were fined and apologized to the public.
Jenny’s international fans were more forgiving: “Please don’t listen [to] anyone. You are the queen and we will always support you,” read a popular comment on her recent Instagram post.
Another fan wrote: “I still love you. We learn from the mistakes we make.”
Founded in 2016, Blackpink is the largest K-pop girl group in the world. The four members – Jisoo, Lisa, Jennie and Rosé – have all become celebrities in their own right.
