Blackpink and Lady Gaga were invited to perform in the White House in 2023, but the performance never took place. Although no reasons have not been mentioned, recent statements suggested that it was due to the discomfort of the First Lady Keon Keon Hee of South Korea with “young women”.
The proposed performance was to take place during the then president of the Yoon Suk-Yeol state visit to the United States in April 2023. According to reports, the First Lady US Jill Biden had suggested the collaborative performance, which would have been held at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
The controversy rekindled when Park Ji Won and Park Sun won, the legislators of the democratic party of Korea and former members of the National Intelligence Service, said Kim Keon Hee personally erased the event because he didn’t like being with more women young. The accusations quickly spread on social media, leading to criticism to the former First Lady.
Here, this man talks about how in 2023, before the State visit of Yoon Suk-Yeol, Jill Biden suggested a performance by Lady Gaga X Blackpink several times, but Kim Keon-Hee (First Lady of Korea) would have rejected it because I didn’t like being around younger womenpic.twitter.com/nsdx3gpv57
– ☘︎ (@lalisasproperty) February 14, 2025
“Sometimes women are the biggest deos of women,” reads the comment.
“If it’s true, then it’s so disturbing,” he read another comment.
How did the officials respond to the statements?
After the videos and comments have become viral, more ex and current presidential officials rejected the accusations as false. They explained that the performance of the White House was canceled due to financial issues, not no alleged opposition from Kim.
The officials also added that Blackpink had already agreed to perform without a separate guarantee commission. However, the costs for taking staff members for the event, the preparation of the concert and the invitation of Lady Gaga were still too onerous to be covered by American and South Korean governments.
The controversy also illuminated the internal tensions within the South Korean government at the time. According to reports, President Yoon Suk-Yeol replied the officials of the National Security Office for not having reported the United States proposal, leading to the resignation of some foreign affairs officials, including Kim Sung Han, a former director for the national security.
The opposition party is also suspected that there is a political intention to attack Kim by raising Blackpink’s performance from two years ago.
