KPop’s Golden Night
– 4 min read
KPop Demon Hunters was a big winner last night, taking home both Oscars for which it was nominated: Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for “Golden”. This caps off EJAE’s story of resilience and perseverance, as she accepted the Oscar along with the songwriting team for “Golden”, which includes Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon, and Teddy Park.
That’s a lot of people, and they weren’t all going to get to speak at the mic, but still, it was rude and awkward when the group’s acceptance was cut off.
It’s not like they were even talking that long! EJAE spoke for less than a minute! But as soon as songwriter Yu Han Lee, who is not famous, stepped up, cue the music and cut away! Big yikes to production on that one.
I understand the show was running long, but that was not handled well. There is a rule that acceptance speeches aren’t supposed to be longer than 45 seconds, but speeches go longer all the time. Adrien Brody did a bit when presenting Best Actor about how long his speech was last year. But more importantly, the “Golden” team hadn’t used up all their time! EJAE spoke for just under one minute, which left about 15-20 seconds for someone else to speak. It would be rushed for sure, but they could have at least let him talk a LITTLE! Or, hear me out, just let winners talk, whether they’re famous or not. (Seriously, that first YouTube Oscars is going to be five hours long due to speeches.)
On a brighter note, not only did “Golden” win Best Original Song, the ladies of Huntr/x also performed it live, one of only two live song performances during the show (I have some feelings about not letting all the nominees perform, and I resent that this forces me into agreement with Diane Warren). The performance came mid-show, directly after cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw made history by becoming the first woman and first woman of color to win Best Cinematography. We were already riding the high of Arkapaw’s win—which was another win for Sinners—and then came the “Golden” performance which was celebratory and inclusive and uplifting, definitely one of the highlights of the night, enhanced by the lightsticks that were handed out to the audience, Kpop style.
Another highlight: Huntr/x fashion. EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami wore coordinated golden looks to the Oscars. EJAE wore a Dior gown with a Deco influence, Audrey Nuna wore a stunning custom Thom Browne ballgown, and Rei Ami donned a custom Rahul Mishra minidress with an opera coat.
I wish the incident cutting off the acceptance speech didn’t happen, because otherwise it was a golden night for the KDPH team, which made history as “Golden” is the first K-pop song to win an Oscar. Still, they went home winners, and they provided one of the best moments of the 2026 Oscars.
Rei Ami, EJAE, and Audrey Nuna perform onstage and EJAE poses for photos at the 98th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, California
Yu Han Lee, Park Hong Jun, Ejae, Mark Sonnenblick, Hee Dong Nam and Jeong Hoon Seo at 98th Annual Oscars and EJAE (with fiancé Sam Kim and Michelle Wong) at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California
Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna at the 98th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre and at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, California
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