5 Minutes
A seismic night at the Dolby: Kpop Demon Hunters completes its sweep
Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation's Kpop Demon Hunters capped an extraordinary awards run at the 98th Academy Awards, leaving the Dolby Theatre with two of the night's most headline-making prizes: Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for the K-pop smash 'Golden.' The double victory turned a commercial juggernaut into a moment of cultural validation — and a few controversial exchanges along the way ensured it wasn't just another red-carpet fairytale.
A live snippet of 'Golden' electrified the audience when performers EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami took the stage. In a lovely touch that echoed K-pop stadium shows, the crowd waved glowing wands supplied by the production, painting the auditorium in soft, pulsing light. The performance was concise — notably shorter than many Oscar musical spots — but it landed with the same high-energy precision that helped the song conquer global charts.
The acceptance moments were more complicated. After the group and collaborators celebrated, they were hurried off stage by the orchestra's cut music, cutting short a potentially historic speech. Witnesses reported co-writer Mark Sonnenblick trying to return and speak, underscoring tensions that sometimes arise when live TV timing collides with milestone moments.
Historic firsts and international milestones
The wins registered as multiple firsts: Maggie Kang and Michelle L.M. Wong, producers on the animated feature (credited alongside director Chris Appelhans), became the first people of South Korean descent to win the Best Animated Feature statuette. The Original Song award for collaborators Ejae (EJAE), 24, Ido and Teddy Park marked the first time South Korean songwriters claimed an Oscar in the category. 'Golden' itself is the first K-pop song to earn an Academy Award — a capstone on a tear that began last summer.
The song's trophy case was already crowded: earlier this year 'Golden' made history at the Grammys as the first K-pop song to win a Grammy, and it had also secured Original Song honors at both the Golden Globes and the Critics’ Choice Awards. On the charts, the tune reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — the first K-pop single led by female vocalists to top the chart — and helped Huntr/x become the first all-women collective of three or more members in the U.S. to hit No. 1 since Destiny's Child in 2001.
Box office-equivalent streaming success
Kpop Demon Hunters' popularity extended well beyond awards season. Across a six-month window last year, the film became Netflix's most-watched title with 482 million views between July and December, not counting the 36.7 million streams it racked up in the first 10 days after its June 20, 2025 debut. By December the title had amassed 518.2 million Netflix views and remained a weekly Top 10 staple as awards buzz grew.
Context, comparisons and cultural impact
This moment feels different from previous animated Oscar winners like Coco or Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. While those films were celebrated for storytelling and craft, Kpop Demon Hunters ties blockbuster streaming performance to an export phenomenon: global K-pop fandom. The film's win signals how pop music, animation, and fandom now converge to create cross-platform cultural events that can dominate charts, streaming and awards simultaneously.
There are also growing pains. The onstage cutoff offered a reminder that broadcasting logistics and ceremony protocols can clash with genuine emotional milestones — and that representation breakthroughs still require better institutional choreography.
'Kpop Demon Hunters is a case study in 21st-century cultural crossover,' says cinema historian Marko Jensen. 'It shows how franchise-level marketing, streaming metrics, and global music culture can combine to reshape awards outcomes. The Oscar wins feel less like surprises and more like the culmination of a well-executed cultural movement.'
Trivia: fans noticed the glowing wands handed out in the Dolby — a small production choice that mirrored K-pop concert aesthetics and amplified the communal feeling in the room.
Whether you're here for the animation, the music, or the larger cultural story, Kpop Demon Hunters' Oscar night will be remembered as a turning point: a streaming-era blockbuster that closed the loop between fandom, charts and the Academy. The film and its music didn't just win trophies — they rewrote expectations about what an animated feature tied to a global pop phenomenon can achieve.
Source: deadline
Comments
atomwave
wow that Dolby moment sounded electric! K-pop in full force, glowing wands and all. but cutting the speech? so harsh, felt rushed
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