From racism to dishonest managers, Lisa from Blackpink has faced plenty of problems over the years, but should her agency YG Entertainment be looking out for her more?
Rarely does a day go by in K-pop fandom without some sort of drama brewing. This month’s scandal? YG Entertainment’s alleged mistreatment of Blackpink’s Lisa, full name Lalisa Manoban.
Although fans have held long-time concerns about the hot-button issue, it most recently came into the limelight in 2019, when she became the target of hateful online comments after the girl group’s red carpet appearance at the 33rd Golden Disc Awards. Many of the criticisms focused on her appearance and her ethnic background (she’s the only non-Korean member of the band, hailing from Thailand). Her fans responded with an outpouring of support under the hashtag #RespectLisa on Twitter.
  
 

In May 2020, many Blinks – or Blackpink fans – were worried when Lisa received multiple death threats. On May 7, 2020, the Thai Embassy in Seoul posted on its official Twitter account, saying: “We received a lot of emails and Twitter messages regarding a personal threat posed to Lisa.”

 
According to KpopStarz, netizens posted chilling comments like, “Once Blackpink has there [sic] comeback stage, I’m going to shoot Lisa.” Another user posted an image edit of Lisa in a grave with the caption, “I will kill Lisa. I have my gun already.” 
 
But who alerted the embassy to the situation in the first place? Not Lisa’s agency, YG Entertainment, but her fans. Many of them reported the death threats to the Thai Embassy in Seoul. After the embassy got in touch with YG Entertainment, the agency made an official statement reassuring everyone that that they were prioritising the safety and protection of their artists, saying: “We will collect and review evidence through regular monitoring data, as well as tip-offs from fans, and take a hard-line response without leniency.”
 

 
The agency’s reaction might have been too little, too late, however – even its strongly worded statement wasn’t enough to shake off fans’ criticisms that YG wasn’t doing enough for Lisa.
She got scammed by her manager – and YG Entertainment wasn’t aware of it
 
Blackpink’s Lisa is reportedly the member with the highest net worth – but she was once the target of a scam. 
Last year was a harsh year for many of us, but it was particularly hard on Lisa, apparently. Right after getting death threats in May, she got scammed out of one billion won (around US$833,000) by her manager in June. He gambled her money away when he was supposed to be helping her with a real estate investment.
 
Blackpink’s Lisa before her debut. 
During an interview between Lisa’s team and Chosun newspaper, it was revealed that the manager had been employed at YG for a long time, and that he worked very closely with Blackpink even before their debut in 2016. The interviewees also suggested that Lisa might have been targeted as she was the only member of Blackpink who didn’t have family nearby to help her. In fact, she left her home country to pursue her career when she was just 14, which left her in an even more vulnerable position.