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The Academy issued an official statement after acceptance remarks for “Golden,” a song from Netflix’s animated feature K-Pop Demon Hunters, were abruptly cut off following the song’s Best Original Song win at the 98th Academy Awards.
On March 16, Variety published an interview with Rob Mills, senior vice president at Disney Television, which produced the Oscars broadcast. Mills was asked about the orchestra’s decision to cut off the songwriters’ acceptance remarks for “Golden.”
Mills said the action was driven by time constraints but acknowledged the need to do better going forward. “The first thing we’ll review as we prepare next year’s ceremony is how we handle acceptance speeches,” he told Variety.
Explaining the ceremony’s limits, Mills noted, “Winners go onstage — it could be one person or four or five — but the time allotted to winners is fixed.”
As possible fixes, he floated options such as designating a single spokesperson to speak on behalf of a group or allowing additional remarks to continue backstage and be streamed on social media. “We need to explore all options and find the most efficient solution,” he said.
“It’s especially difficult when you have to interrupt someone’s precious moment,” Mills added, noting that speakers are reminded at the pre-ceremony luncheon that speaking times are set. “I don’t know the perfect solution, but it’s something we need to approach very carefully.”
Reporters also asked why the performance of “Golden” by HuntRix vocalists Ijae, Audrey and Rey Ami ran for just one verse. Mills said that was intentional — the number was tightly scripted and not something that could be changed on the fly.
He acknowledged that one verse was cut but argued the intro and overall staging still captured the song’s mood. “One of the biggest things a musical number can do is make people want to see the movie again,” he said, adding that the performance reflected the film’s overall tone beyond the music itself.
At the ceremony on March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, K-Pop Demon Hunters won Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, taking home two Oscars. But controversy erupted after co-writers of “Golden” were cut off during their acceptance remarks, sparking accusations of racism.
International social media users and foreign outlets criticized the move as racially insensitive. Rolling Stone labeled the moment the “Golden” speech was cut off as one of the worst of this year’s Oscars, calling it “shockingly rude to those who just made history.”
The winners later spoke to reporters backstage and were able to finish the remarks they couldn’t deliver onstage. Ijae said, “We are truly grateful and honored. We all worked hard, and this project is the result of everyone’s collaboration. I want to sincerely thank the directors.”
Ijae expressed regret that he couldn’t thank Rey Ami and Audrey onstage because the speech was cut short, saying, “I really admire them both.” Lee Yuhan also thanked his family, fellow members and Teddy, calling the win a tremendous honor and using the backstage moment to complete his remarks.
Mark Sonnenblick, who didn’t get a chance to speak onstage, told reporters he wanted to thank everyone involved in the film, especially the animators. He described the film as a story about looking at people we were taught to fear and hate, beginning to trust them, and ultimately possibly learning to love them — which he said is the heart of the movie.
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