Jennie indoor smoking incident: Staff who defended BLACKPINK member revealed to be impersonator, report suggests

BLACKPINK’s Jennie defender of her indoor smoking scandal turns out to be fake, causing more backlash from netizens.

By Hrishita Das

Updated on Jul 11, 2024 | 04:15 PM IST | 168.8K

BLACKPINK's Jennie: YG Entertainment

BLACKPINK’s Jennie has been recently embroiled in controversy over smoking indoors and has caused much online discourse among fans. With new information coming out every day, an anonymous blogger identified themselves as one of the staff members and defended her from the incident. However, it turns out that the person was lying and impersonating a member of the staff.

BLACKPINK's Jennie's online defender turns out to be fake

On July 11, 2024, an anonymous online user made a post online defending BLACKPINK’s Jennie from the recent smoking incident. The elaborate explanation said that the incident happened in the waiting room of the fashion show and Jennie inquired if it was acceptable for her to smoke. She did so only after opening the window next to her.

While a staff member was searching for a lip product, Jennie smoked the e-cigarette, which coincidentally produced smoke, and mistakenly blew it on the staff member’s face. Jennie apologized for it and continued to do so even after the show ended. The post added that the staff member, who was also a smoker, accepted her apology and was not bothered by it.

However, upon closely looking at the post, netizens found out that the person who made the post was not an actual staff member and was just pretending to be one. Although initially, the post led people to support Jennie and understand her situation, after the truth was revealed, it triggered backlash instead.

More about BLACKPINK's Jennie's indoor smoking controversy

On July 8, 2024, BLACKPINK’s Jennie was seen smoking a Jule, which is an electronic cigarette, in one of her vlogs. However, the major problem with the short clip is that she was smoking indoors. While her team was doing her hair and makeup, she could be seen using the e-cigarette and blowing up smoke inside the room. The footage from the vlog has now been deleted, but the clip has already gone viral online.

The situation took a serious turn when a netizen filed a complaint about Jennie to the Korean embassy in Italy and asked for a thorough investigation. Promptly after that, the artist’s agency released a statement regretting the incident and added that Jennie personally apologized to the staff members for the inconvenience.

ALSO READ: NewJeans receives plaque in recognition of Korean Tourism Honorary Ambassadorship