A resurfaced clip from the "ABOVE the Influence Show" podcast has triggered widespread outrage after hosts Michelle Kira Lee and Wootak Kim made explosive and unverified claims about IU and BLACKPINK's Jennie.
The podcast episode, originally behind a paywall, went viral on social media in late May 2025, sparking intense backlash from fans and calls for legal action against the podcasters. In the episode, host Kira Lee alleged that wealthy individuals were paying entertainment companies for an opportunity to spend a night with high-profile entertainers, explicitly naming IU and quoting a supposed price of $500,000 per night.
"All the K-pop stars in Korea are wh*res, all the Korean actresses are wh*res. Apparently, every Korean celebrity/actress there's a price tag on their head. And if you're rich enough, like a Chinese businessman, you can go to these entertainment companies and request to spend a night even with the top K-Pop stars. Even IU, 500 thousand dollars a night," she said.
Co-host Kim later added that a friend of his, who she alleged was the son of a BMW heir, had allegedly paid to have sex with BLACKPINK's Jennie. He also initially claimed to have seen a video of the supposed interaction before backtracking and claiming he had never viewed the footage and was only repeating a story told to him by an unnamed girl.
y’all on this podcast better get sued by IU and Jennie’s company pic.twitter.com/TNV98UYkk5
— #14 🩵 (@kimchaena14) May 27, 2025
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The allegations were immediately denounced by fans of both IU and Jennie, who described the claims as defamatory, baseless, and deeply damaging to the artists' reputations. Fans flooded social media with demands for accountability and urged the agencies of both stars—YG Entertainment for BLACKPINK and EDAM Entertainment for IU—to pursue legal action against the podcast hosts for defamation.
Following the backlash, both hosts issued public statements. Kira Lee claimed the clip was "edited out of context" and that it did not reflect their beliefs or intentions while Kim clarified that he was only repeating what he had heard and was not specifically attacking Jennie.
As of the latest reports, neither IU, Jennie, nor their respective agencies have issued official statements regarding the podcast allegations.
