Before recent controversies broke out, expectations for Jennie’s solo career were high as she left YG Entertainment and set up her personal label OA (ODD ATELIER). BLACKPINK still signed a contract with YG for their group promotions while doing individual activities under their own labels.
After having OA, Jennie has accelerated her broadcasting activities in Korea, starting with appearing on “Lee Hyo-ri’s Red Carpet” as a guest and becoming a fixed member of “Apartment 404” cast. Through this, Jennie showed her willingness to communicate with the public more closely, not as a world star of a ‘global girl group’ member.
Aside from TV broadcasts, Jennie also did well in terms of music. Her collaboration song with Zico – “SPOT!” topped various music charts, proving “Jennie’s Effect” and increasing anticipation for her solo promotion.
Ironically, as Jennie was trying to become more friendly with the public, controversies arose. A video capturing Jennie smoking indoors spread widely on the Internet. What’s worse was that the female singer blew the e-cigarette smoke in front of the face of a staff who was doing the makeup for her, sparking criticism over her personality.
A few days later, Jennie apologized for the controversies surrounding her. She admitted to vaping indoors, directly apologized to the staff as well as fans, who were disappointed by her mistake, and promised to be more mature and careful in the future. It was a clean and good way to end controversies, however, the backlash against Jennie continued as someone impersonated her staff and triggered the public by releasing a post defending Jennie.
Some pointed out that current controversies surrounding Jennie stem from the unprofessional and unstructured system of her individual management. However, looking back on previous issues handled by a large agency like YG, they would dismiss the controversies by considering them as ‘personal matters’ or remain silent without an explanation, and this would make the public feel even more frustrated.
Nevertheless, it is true that being under a big company, rather than a personal label, can provide Jennie with a sense of security. The fact that Jennie used to be “YG’s Princess” because of her presence as a leading artist in the company and the extraordinary care she received from YG makes netizens understand the current crisis even more.
Of course, Jennie will be affected the most by the indoor smoking controversy, but this issue will help her become stronger as the head of her own label. Attention is focused on what step Jennie, who is promoting herself better than anyone else after leaving YG, will take to turn the crisis into an opportunity and make a leap forward.