Real or fake? Weibo post on Jennie terminating YG contract and Blackpink disbanding goes viral

Is Blackpink going to be history soon? Or is it just fake news to gain 15 minutes of fame?

In a post on Weibo yesterday (July 10) morning, a netizen claimed that Jennie will be leaving their management company soon.

They wrote: "Based on the latest reliable source, Jennie will terminate her contract with YG Entertainment after the Encore concerts."

Blackpink announced the Encore concerts as an extension to their Born Pink World Tour in North America. They are expected to perform their final show in Los Angeles on Aug 26.

The post sparked off a discussion on Weibo, which went viral yesterday. The hashtag "Jennie will be terminating her contract with YG" shot up to the top of the Hot Search list, trending in the top three close to noon.

Many netizens made posts under the topic, mostly criticising Jennie's performances in Blackpink's Born Pink World Tour recently.

One netizen wrote: "This reminds me of a comment that I saw earlier that her attitude looks like someone who is about to resign from their job."

"It can be seen from her recently slacking off during concert performances that she doesn't really care about her group," another netizen wrote.

These comments came after a series of videos —  about Jennie not giving her all during dances and leaving the stage in the middle of performances during the group's Born Pink World Tour —  went viral recently on Chinese social media platforms Weibo and Douyin.

On July 2, Jennie was spotted to be in tears as she sang a line from their song Tally during the BST Hyde Park concert in London which goes: "That's my choice and there's no one I'm hurting."

While she was lauded by netizens for displaying her vulnerability and candidness on stage, there were others who were concerned about her well-being.

Another Weibo post on July 8 also seemed to hint at the future of the girl group.

The post read: "Blackpink Jennie will not be renewing her exclusive contract with YG Entertainment. The company is still in discussions with Lisa, but Lisa has intentions to leave.

"Rose is confirmed to sign on with Black Label. Jisoo will continue with YG Entertainment or sign with Black Label."

The Black Label is an associate company of YG Entertainment founded in 2015 by music producers and rappers Teddy Park and Kush. It manages celebrities such as BigBang's Taeyang, singer-rapper Jeon Somi and actor Park Bo-gum.

The discussion also sparked off other topics on Weibo, including "Will Blackpink disband?" and "Who is the Blackpink member that is most unlikely to leave?"

While there is no conclusion about whether Blackpink will disband or who is most likely to stay in the group, the netizen who made the original post took to Weibo again yesterday to reveal they had no proof to their previous claims.

They wrote: "I made the Weibo post purely for self-entertainment. Whether Jennie will renew her contract is not confirmed. I am very sorry for causing controversy."

Netizens flooded the user's comments section, criticising them for their actions.

One wrote: "I've got to hand it to you, but could you not make a post without confirming whether it is accurate?"

"Stop making jokes like this, it makes others believe them easily," another netizen wrote.

Blackpink debuted in August 2016 and broke multiple international records over the years. As their seven-year contract with YG Entertainment draws to an end next month, their fans Blinks worldwide are concerned about whether the four members — Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo and Rose — will continue with the label or set off to pursue their successes individually.

While YG Entertainment is keeping mum about whether Blackpink, labelled by Rolling Stone to be "one of the greatest girl groups of all time", will continue with all four members, Blinks have speculated as early as October last year that all members have possibly already renewed their contracts with YG Entertainment.

On April 14, during the Born Pink World Tour concert at the Singapore National Stadium, Blinks were even more convinced that they would continue to see more of Blackpink in the future when Rose addressed the audience and said: "Blackpink isn't going anywhere".

ALSO READ: 'Lazy is not swag': Former hardcore Blackpink fan gives painfully critical review of girl group's concert in Singapore

yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com

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