Kpop Demon Hunters finish speech backstage as they respond to ‘disrespectful’ Oscars moment

The songwriters of KPop Demon Hunters were rushed off the stage at the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday (15 March), to several boos.

They were played off before finishing their speeches, to the audience's dismay, with there being numerous members of the team behind the success of the animated film, who wanted to speak when accepting their award for Best Original Song for 'Golden'.

It's known that winners at the Oscars can be 'played off' if their speech takes too long, but considering that there were seven people credited with the victory, it was almost impossible for all of them to have time on the microphone.

As they became the first song in Oscars history with more than four writers to win, many called the move 'rude' and 'disrespectful', as they also become the first best song winner where all of the writers would not receive an individual trophy.

Instead, the seven songwriters - EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu-Han Lee (also known as Yuhan), Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park, finished their speeches backstage.

On the main stage though, EJAE, who provides the singing voice of Rumi in the title, accepted the award in tears, saying: “Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop, but now everyone is singing our song and all the Korean lyrics,

“This award is not about success. It’s about resilience.”

But when Yuhan took to the mic, the orchestra started playing and the mic was cut, to many boos from the audience and criticism on social media.

Backstage, he then said: "I would like to thank our families, and 24, and our fellow IDO members, this is an incredible honour."

EJAE also added: "We feel very grateful and very honored. We all worked so hard and this is such a collaborative effort, we just need to thank our directors."

"They created a beautiful film. Everyone was a part of it and we are just so happy that the hard work paid off," she said.

EJAE then praised her fellow Huntrix vocalists Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna, as they didn't get a chance to speak as the Academy 'just cut us off'.

"They killed it with their singing and they’re just incredible people and I love them so much," the singer-songwriter added.

Co-composer Mark Sonnenblick, who was seen jumping onstage and tried to speak before they were ushered off, said backstage: "Everybody [who] worked on this movie, all the animators, it was a real collaboration across the board," also mentioneing that his family and husband were here tonight.

"Part of the movie is about looking at someone that you had been taught to hate and to fear, and starting to trust, maybe love them. A movie is like a village, and we’re lucky to be up here right now, but there’s so many people who have made this what it is."

The Academy limits Best Original Song to no more than four individual statuettes, so for songs with five or more co-writers, winners must sign an agreement to share just one trophy if they were to win.

'Golden' was also performed by EJAE, Ami, and Nuna during the telecast, just one of two original songs performed on the night.

KPop Demon Hunters, Netflix's most-streamed title ever, also won Best Animated Feature at last night's show, as with directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans accepted the award on stage.