The Blankpink star was seen in a video smoking an e-cigarettes. Her agency has just issued an apology In a now-deleted video shared on social media yesterday, Jennie Kim was seen vaping while getting her hair and makeup done, presumably for the J…
The Blankpink star was seen in a video smoking an e-cigarettes. Her agency has just issued an apology
In a now-deleted video shared on social media yesterday, Jennie Kim was seen vaping while getting her hair and makeup done, presumably for the Jacquemus autumn/winter 2024 show La Casa. In the footage, initially posted for fans on YouTube, Ms Kim was seen holding a compact black device that observers were convinced was an e-cigarette. While her hair and makeup persons were at work simultaneously, she was seen moving the said object to her mouth and then exhaling what was thought to be smoke. The scene was part of a vlog titled Un Momento a Capri (A Moment in Capri), which showed her fitting and rehearsing with Simon Porte Jacquemus at Casa Malaparte, which later, through the Jacquemus YouTube page, showed Ms Kim modelling a black backless sundress on the roof patio of the house.
In that incriminating reel, she took puffs—assuming she was vaping—in close presence of two female beautifiers and a male individual within an enclosed space. Netizens were surprised by her indoor smoking and pointed that out across social media. Smoking or vaping inside a building or enclosure is illegal in both Italy and South Korea. According to South Korea's National Health Promotion Act, smokers who puff indoors in non-designated facilities can be fined up to 100,000 won (or about S$98). As Korean laws do not apply when the action is performed overseas, one netizen has filed a complain to the Korean Embassy in Rome. The Korea Times reported that a complainant had suggested that the embassy "request an investigation from the Italian authorities regarding BLACKPINK's Jennie's indoor smoking incident and take strict action." Seoul's foreign ministry confirmed to news agency AFP that a formal complaint about the incident was received.
Just as quickly as the segment of the video was removed, her agency Odd Atelier issued a statement moments ago on X. It said, in both Korean and English: "We sincerely apologise to everyone who felt uncomfortable with Jennie's actions in the content released on Jul 2." Speaking on behalf of the star, it added ""Jennie acknowledges and deeply regrets her mistake of vaping indoors and causing inconvenience to the staff. Jennie has personally apologised to all the staff on-site who may have been affected. We apologise to her fans who have been disappointed through this incident. We hope to prevent this from reoccurring in the future." It is not clear why Ms Kim did not choose to speak to her fans directly through her socials. One SG fan commented to us: "At least she did not deny that she vapes."
Miss Kim, who has been a Chanel brand ambassador since 2017 and has been able to make even the dowdiest pieces the brand picks for her look good, is partial to ultra-feminine clothes, such as the 'balletcore' style of her 2023 Born Pink tour, which—to her fans—seems the antithesis of her smoking and puffing out, unconcerned with the people around her. In an interview last year with Vogue, the magazine described her as "the blueprint for a new kind of global megastar." For many Korean fans with high artistic and moral expectations of their favourite Blackpink member, Jennie Kim's vaping, even if to show how grown up she really is, cannot exemplify the squeaky clean image that K-pop stars are supposed (or obliged) to project. Perhaps, she was never too concerned with breaking the image ideal. As she told Billboard in 2019, "we always wanted to be out there, to be more true to ourselves and a little more free. Even we can get things wrong sometimes. We want to just show them the real us." Yes, the smoke too—authentic.
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