BLACKPINK Jennie’s Collaboration With Diplo Sparks Heated Debate

BLACKPINK‘s Jennie might be enjoying the growing success of her solo album, Ruby, but it has also come with its share of controversies.

The latest debate surrounding the album is Jennie’s collaboration with the American producer, Diplo, who co-produced “Like Jennie.”

A recent post on Nate Pann has gone viral after questioning why Jennie worked with a problematic person like Diplo, given his extensive history of alleged sexual misconduct. The OP (original poster) pointed out that the producer was accused of distributing revenge p*rn, and was entangled in a lawsuit regarding the same as recently as in 2024.

Diplo, born Thomas Wesley Pentz, has been accused of distributing revenge porn in a new federal lawsuit.

The suit, filed in California on Thursday by a woman identified as Jane Doe, is the second claim brought against the DJ and producer in recent years for disseminating sexual… pic.twitter.com/aTJLQm7PN5

— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) June 27, 2024

Additionally, his ex-girlfriend, Shelly Auguste, has also sued him, accusing him of sexual assault, battery, defamation, and fraud. According to leaked legal documents, Diplo first contacted her when she was 17 and he was 42, asking her for nude photos. Their online correspondence continued in that manner until they first met in 2018 when she was 21.

TODAY on The Let’s Get Into It Podcast : Shelly Auguste Give UPDATE On Legal Battle With DIPLO…#shellyauguste #diplo pic.twitter.com/5s31v2Ji1o

— SLOAN (@sloanhooks) October 4, 2023

Auguste claimed that after moving to Los Angeles, Diplo coerced her into sexual acts. When these accusations went public, rapper Azealia Banks spoke up against him, admitting that she had a sexual relationship with Diplo when she was 17 and he was in his 30s. She was quoted saying that the producer always went after “young ethnic girls.”

Azealia Banks describes being abused by Diplo when she was 17, via Instagram Stories pic.twitter.com/vSy0HYmhMf

— Azealia Banks News (@AzealiaNews) November 14, 2023

OP’s post has garnered significant attention with over 45,000 views at the time of writing. But the comments argued that Jennie was being specifically targeted by the post, even though Diplo has worked with other K-Pop artists in the past. Some even argued that the criticism should be solely directed at Diplo and not Jennie.

• “You guys don’t criticize the sex criminal men, but instead swear at the women standing next to them.”
• “Diplo worked with Jungkook on ‘Closer to You’ and even has a few songs with G-Dragon. But you’re gonna be like this only at a female idol, only at Jennie, right? Please listen to ‘Like Jennie’ a lot.”

• “Whoa. He’s a sex offender. And Jennie also worked with Zico and is close friends with him.”
• “He’s an insanely popular DJ and going by this standard, are there any musicians abroad who are not problematic? You’re just targeting innocent female idols.”
• “So you’re not going to bash the male idols who worked with a man like him first?”