BLACKPINK’s Rosé and Lisa Win VMA Awards, Sparking Debate Over Eligibility for K-pop Categories

BLACKPINK’s Rosé and Lisa winning the Song of the Year award and the K-pop award respectively at the 2025 MTV VMA have triggered intense controversy within the K-pop community. On September 7 (U.S. time), when Rosé received the Song of the Year award for “APT.,” a South Korean media outlet named Chosun published an article titled “MTV’s ‘Song of the Year’ Award Missed Even BTS; BLACKPINK’s Rosé Wins with ‘APT.’” In response, online communities criticized the headline, stating that it would have faced severe backlash even if used for a different topic, and questioned why the phrase “even BTS” was included. Greater controversy arose from Lisa winning the K-pop award. After Lisa received the K-pop award alongside Doja Cat and Raye for “Born Again,” some argued that the song was inappropriate for the category since it was entirely in English and none of the featured artists were Korean. Some fans claimed that Jimin, Jennie, Rosé, and Stray Kids were more deserving, pointing out that it made no sense to award the prize to someone who is not a K-pop artist despite having a separate K-pop category. Other fans countered by noting that BTS also won an award with an English song, “Dynamite,” but responded that BTS is fundamentally a completely Korean group. As the controversy intensified, claims circulated online that a police report had been filed against Lisa’s fanbase, “Lillies,” alleging that they had harassed Lisa while defending her against the award controversies. Interestingly, the reporter was reported to be Thai, matching Lisa’s nationality as well. In response, BTS’s fanbase, ARMY, began promoting BTS’s 2019 song “Lights” on charts. Despite the song having been released six years earlier, it suddenly reentered the top 5 on US iTunes. Even though BTS was on hiatus due to military service, fans described their action as a self-deprecating way of dealing with boredom. Lisa’s win for “Born Again” marked her third VMA K-pop award, bringing her to an equal record of three awards alongside BTS, who won the category in 2019, 2020, and 2021. Meanwhile, Doja Cat earned her sixth VMA trophy with this award. This incident demonstrated that the long-standing rivalry between BLINK, BLACKPINK’s fanbase, and ARMY, BTS’s fanbase, within K-pop fan communities has escalated from social media debates to actual legal actions.