Netflix animated film "K-pop: Demon Hunters" won two awards at the U.S. Academy Awards, but the organizers commented after controversy arose when music played during acceptance remarks and cut them short.
On the 15th (local time), the 98th Academy Awards were held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, where the Netflix animated film "K-pop: Demon Hunters" won best animated feature and best original song, achieving two wins.
However, the OST "Golden" from "K-pop: Demon Hunters" won best original song and the songwriters came on stage; after Lee Jae spoke first, another composer was about to give remarks, but a signal music immediately played and the remarks were cut off.
This prompted criticism that it might have been racial discrimination against Asian winners. Rob Mills, vice president of Walt Disney Television, which oversaw the Oscar broadcast, explained the position in an interview with U.S. outlet Variety on the 16th.
He said, "As part of a post-mortem for next year we will look at how we handle acceptance remarks," and added, "When someone wins an Oscar and goes on stage, there may be one winner or four or five. You'll immediately know roughly how much time is allocated to them."
He continued, "We may need to see the situation and say, 'designate only one person to speak.' Or we could have others continue their remarks backstage and livestream that on social media," adding, "We're leaving every possibility open to find the most polished solution. Cutting someone's remarks, especially when it's their one moment, is a really difficult thing."
He also said, "At awards dinners we discuss allotted speaking time in advance, but it's not easy. I don't know what the most polished solution is, but clearly it's something we need to think about very deeply and for a long time."
Regarding one verse being shortened during the "Golden" celebratory performance, he responded, "That was intentional. Those performances are rehearsed very thoroughly, so they are not the sort of thing you can change on the fly at the venue."
He said, "It is true that a verse was cut. But I think the intro and the overall staging conveyed the feeling well enough. Perhaps the highest achievement a celebratory performance can accomplish is making the audience want to see the film again," adding, "I think both celebratory performances captured the films' emotions really well, beyond just the music."
Meanwhile, "K-pop: Demon Hunters" was released on Netflix last June and surpassed 500 million cumulative global views to become Netflix's all-time No. 1, and "Golden" sparked a global sensation, reaching No. 1 on Billboard's main chart, the Hot 100.
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