A heated fan war has erupted on social media after Alia Bhatt's fans accused BLACKPINK’s Jennie of plagiarism. According to allegations, the background music (BGM) in Jennie’s upcoming album, Like Jenniee, bears a striking resemblance to Rani’s intro theme from Alia Bhatt’s film Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani. The controversy escalated when Jennie’s fans took offense to the plagiarism claims, leading to a wave of backlash. Many fans of the K-pop star made racist remarks and derogatory comments about Alia Bhatt and India as a whole, sharing their criticism across Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).
One fan on X (formerly Twitter) listed Alia's achievements, such as the Oscar nomination and Golden Globe win for the movie 'RRR', and her ambassadorship with Gucci. This fan contrasted these achievements with those of Jennie, a member of the K-pop group BLACKPINK. Another fan argued that Alia has more acting experience than Jennie has music experience, and emphasized that Alia was only acting in the music video and that the song was written by Pritam. A Reddit user criticized K-pop fanbases for often making baseless accusations and showing prejudice, including racism and sexism.
Other fans questioned why Alia was being attacked, as she wasn't the song's producer or singer. They argued that Jennie could be supported without resorting to disrespect and racism towards Alia. They also pointed out that Alia Bhatt is a major star in the large Indian entertainment industry.
Jennie's full song will be released on March 7th, at which point listeners can judge for themselves how similar the two songs are. Alia Bhatt, who recently starred in 'Jigra', will also appear in 'Alpha' and 'Love & War'. Jennie, who has been a rapper in BLACKPINK since 2016 and debuted as a solo artist in 2018, also began her acting career in 2023 in the TV show 'The Idol'.