Fans are now questioning whether YG's problematic handling of BLACKPINK is the reason that they are being criticized by the public amid the recent allegations that the group made David Beckham wait for 20 minutes at an Adidas event in Seoul.
According to a report by All Kpop, BLACKPINK was scheduled to arrive at the event from 11:55 AM to 12:05 PM. However, Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa, and Rose did not reach the venue until 12:15 PM. This has caused many netizens to express their disappointment at the YG artists for being unprofessional on social media.
Manchester United star David Beckham, reportedly, passed the time by taking selfies with the fans and smiling to the crowd until BLACKPINK arrived. YG Entertainment has yet to issue an official statement on the matter but they initially maintained that Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo, and Rose arrived at the time they were supposed to.
Representatives from YG claimed that BLACKPINK was booked for the second part of the Adidas event and had a call time that was later than the football star. Both David Beckham and BLACKPINK are celebrity endorsers of the sportswear brand, which celebrated its 70th anniversary at Times Square in Yeongdeungpo.
The Adidas event, which was also attended by YG artists and brand ambassadors CL and Song Mino, was intended to celebrate the launch of Adidas Ultraboost, allowing fans a chance to avail of a signed pair of kicks.
An editorial from Business Times recently called attention to YG Entertainment's handling of BLACKPINK amid their growing popularity abroad. The article recalled an account of comedian Jung Young-guk at his restaurant where a van containing two coordinators and two managers parked their vehicle in front of his restaurant even though it was a prohibited spot, saying it was okay for them to get a fine. The team also reserved a spot and ordered the food to be pre-cooked. The comedian said it turned out to be BLACKPINK Jennie's team.
There was also an account of overprotectiveness from BLACKPINK's security team. In one instance, a BLACKPINK manager reportedly pushed a senior pedestrian who was crossing the road because the group was in the rush to get to the departure site.
The article further criticized YG's manner of handling negative publicity surrounding its artists by simply waiting for the issue to die down without doing anything.
The article recommended that, rather than make excuses for being late, the agency should simply apologize and promise that a similar incident will not happen again to ensure that BLACKPINK will not be tagged as diva idols.
