Golden: K-pop artists’ speech halted at Oscars 2026; social media reacts, ‘Absolutely shameful by the Academy’

The 98th Academy Awards made history when Golden from the animated film KPop Demon Hunters won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It became the first K-pop song ever to win an Oscar.

The win set multiple records. It is the first Oscar-winning song with more than four credited writers. It is also the first where not all writers received individual trophies.

Golden has seven credited writers: EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu-Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park. Only one of these writers was born in the US. Everyone else was born in South Korea; that’s also a first-time thing at the Oscars.

The song was performed at the ceremony by the film's fictional girl group, HUNTR/X, EJAE, AUDREY NUNA, and REI AMI, before the award was presented.

While accepting the award, EJAE delivered an emotional speech centred on resilience. She said that while she was growing up, people made fun of her for liking K-pop.

“But, now, everyone's singing our song and all the Korean lyrics," she said.

She dedicated the win not to success, but to resilience. However, the heartfelt moment was cut short.

One of her collaborators, Yu-Han Lee (Yuhan), took out his note and started reading out his speech. He was immediately played off by the orchestra. The loud music prevented anyone from hearing what he was saying.

The camera zoomed out as a commercial break halted the celebration for the fans watching the Oscars 2026. It was a bittersweet end to a landmark win for K-pop on the global stage.

K-pop fans took to social media to express their frustration. Many of them felt the interruption prevented EJAE from finishing her speech.

“Still can’t believe SHE WAS THE ONLY ONE THEY CUT OFF,” wrote one of them.

“I wasn’t a Golden fan, and her speeches definitely needed to be a bit more polished but they’re definitely cutting people off too early, and the Golden writing team did not deserve that. People are getting no time at all; it’s very awkward and sad,” commented another user.

Another social media user wrote, “Lo and behold, the Academy Award organisers first cut the performance of Golden, and just now, they cut the acceptance speech-making by the talent making this K-Pop Demon Hunters megahit happen. Bummer on top of bummer!”

“That's evil to cut him off during his speech.... Wtf #oscars wow nasty work. Golden dominated the charts and he was just getting to speak,” came from another.

“This was absolutely shameful by the Academy to not stop the music even after they asked for more time. Especially after they just did a live performance for Golden, they deserved to have their moment to talk,” came from another.

Rules for speech at Oscars

Oscar winners are officially given just 45 seconds for their acceptance speeches. While the organisers are quite strict about this rule, many celebrities ignore that guideline.

The tradition of long speeches goes back to 1943. Actress Greer Garson delivered a record-breaking speech lasting 5 minutes and 30 seconds.

That record stood for decades until Adrien Brody broke it at the Oscars 2025. The actor spoke for 5 minutes and 36 seconds after winning for his role in The Brutalist. He earned himself a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

When the orchestra started playing to nudge him off stage, Brody was unfazed.

"I'm wrapping up. Turn the music off. I've done this before," he said while referring to his first Oscar win in 2003 for The Pianist. He performed an overtime speech that time as well.