PETALING JAYA — Malaysian actress Janna Nick has apologised for mocking Blackpink member Lisa by naming a character in her telefilm Lisa Blackpig.
Janna, whose real name is Nurul Jannah Muner, is the director and producer of Delen which includes an “attention-seeking” antagonist named after the global K-pop singer.
She apologised in a virtual press conference yesterday after backlash erupted on an Instagram post in which the character was first revealed.
“As the director and producer of the telefilm Delen, I take responsibility and apologise to all who were offended and hurt by the (Instagram) caption,” said the 25-year-old.
Janna’s lawyer Ben Syazmin added that his client will be pursuing legal action against those who “slandered” her on social media.
Ben also justified the existence of the Lisa Blackpig character by claiming that she is a “tribute” to Blackpink’s Lisa.
“Lisa Blackpig does not represent Lisa from Blackpink in any way.
“She is a tribute to Lisa from Blackpink as the movie character could never be on the same level as her (Blackpink’s Lisa),” said Ben.
Angry K-pop fans took to social media earlier this week to slam Janna for disrespecting Lisa, causing the hashtag #JannaNickGoingToJailParty and #JannaNickIsGoingToJail to top the Malaysian Twitter trends list on Monday.
An old video of Janna laughing at the death of Shinee singer Jonghyun in 2017 also resurfaced amidst the backlash, which only served to further stoke the fury of K-pop fans.
The Kimchi Untuk Awak actress then lodged a report to the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on Monday against individuals for allegedly defaming her and staining her reputation as an actress.