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Rosé Breaks Down After BLACKPINK's 10th Anniversary Disaster, and Lisa's Response Made It Worse

BLACKPINK's 10th debut anniversary fan meeting drew criticism for its tiny scale and last-minute announcement, and the fallout didn't stop there. Jisoo cried on a live broadcast, Rosé followed with a lengthy written apology, and Lisa posted travel photos from the US on the same day Rosé's message went up. The contrasting responses have kept the discourse alive well past August 8.

By Jae KimAugust 14, 20264 min read
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Rosé Breaks Down After BLACKPINK's 10th Anniversary Disaster, and Lisa's Response Made It Worse
OMONAR

BLACKPINK's 10th anniversary landed on August 8, and it did not go smoothly. The fan meeting held at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan was announced just two days before the event, capped at 40 attendees, and sent fans home with two flowers and a piece of tteok (Korean rice cake) as gifts. For a milestone a decade in the making, the math did not add up.

The complaints started before the event even happened. Rumors circulated that Rosé and Lisa might not attend, which only amplified frustration. In the end, all four members showed up and took part in roughly 11 minutes of live broadcast footage plus a meet-and-greet. That helped, but not enough. The gift situation became its own separate news cycle.

Afterward, a video of Jisoo crying on her way out spread across fan communities. During the live broadcast, Jisoo had addressed the backlash directly. "We wanted to meet more of you, and we knew the 10th anniversary was an important day," she said. "There seemed to be a communication problem. I'm truly sorry to the fans who were hurt." The tears weren't staged for effect; she looked genuinely worn down.

Rosé followed three days later, on August 11, with a long message posted to a fan communication platform. She'd been quiet in the immediate aftermath, and she explained why: "I had so many thoughts over the past few days that I couldn't write quickly. It took me time to figure out what to say first because I genuinely understood how everyone felt." She said she'd been looking forward to the 10th anniversary as much as Blinks had, that the day hadn't unfolded the way she'd hoped, and that she was sorry for leaving fans feeling more alone during that stretch of silence. "I wanted August 8th to be a day where we could all smile and be happy together," she wrote. "I'm full of regret that it didn't work out that way."

Rosé Breaks Down After BLACKPINK's 10th Anniversary Disaster, and Lisa's Response Made It Worse

On August 12, Rosé posted a set of photos to her social accounts with no caption. The outfit matched what she wore to the fan meeting on the 8th. One photo showed flowers in a vase. Another showed her wiping tears with a tissue. No explanation was offered; the images did the talking.

Rosé Breaks Down After BLACKPINK's 10th Anniversary Disaster, and Lisa's Response Made It Worse

Lisa's response followed a different logic entirely. On the same day Rosé published her apology, Lisa posted travel photos to her social accounts tagged "Red rock therapy," showing her at what appears to be Antelope Canyon in the US, with a yacht and red rock formations in the background. Antelope Canyon sits within Navajo Nation territory and requires a pre-booked guided tour to enter, which suggests the trip was planned in advance rather than spontaneous. The exact dates the photos were taken haven't been confirmed; Lisa posted them on the 11th, but that doesn't prove she visited right after the fan meeting or that she skipped it in favor of the trip.

Rosé Breaks Down After BLACKPINK's 10th Anniversary Disaster, and Lisa's Response Made It WorseRosé Breaks Down After BLACKPINK's 10th Anniversary Disaster, and Lisa's Response Made It Worse

The timing is suspicious enough, though, that fans noticed. Jisoo had cried on camera. Rosé had spent three days drafting an apology. Lisa, who did post a thank-you message to fans on the actual anniversary, offered no additional comment on the fallout. The contrast between the three public responses became its own story, running parallel to the original complaints about the fan meeting's scale and organization.

Rosé Breaks Down After BLACKPINK's 10th Anniversary Disaster, and Lisa's Response Made It Worse

YG Entertainment, which manages BLACKPINK, has not addressed the criticism around the anniversary event.

What started as frustration at an under-scaled fan meeting has expanded into a broader conversation about how each member communicates with Blinks when things go wrong. For a group ten years in, that's a messy place to be.

End of story. The omonar! Desk.

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