K-POP Demon Hunters fans shared their reactions to watching HUNTR/X’s history-making Oscars performance and win.
The trio of voices behind the band from the popular Netflix film – Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami – took the stage at the 98th annual Academy Awards on Sunday, moving audiences worldwide with tears of joy.
They performed their iconic track, Golden, celebrating the folklore and cultural inspiration brought from the 2025 animated film.
Shortly after hitting the stage, K-Pop Demon Hunters, which became Netflix’s most-watched film ever, won the award for Best Original Song for Golden, after dominating awards season.
HUNTR/X, who nabbed two awards – Best Song Written for Visual Media for the famed track and Best Original Song – at the Golden Globes in January, incorporated instrumentals and dance into their performance at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles.
“Let’s go K-POP Demon Hunters!” one excited fan wrote on X.
“I love me some K-pop demon hunters! Those girls were singing down in that movie lol,” said another.
“K-Pop Demon Hunters made HISTORY,” reacted a third.
“The only thing I care about at the Oscars is K Pop Demon Hunters. If it were up to me, I’d give them all the possible awards,” added a fourth.
However, many were disappointed upon seeing that their acceptance speech was abruptly cut short, as were many others throughout the night, despite them pleading for more time.
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“Absolutely disrespectful of the #oscars for cutting off kpop demon hunters in their acceptance speech. They were given less time than every other winner and the Oscar’s owes them an apology,” one fan raged.
“I don’t like how they cut off the Kpop Demon Hunters Cast. That was nasty #Oscars,” someone else complained.
“Congrats to Michael B Jordan, but why did he get 3x the amount of time for his speech than the KPop Demon Hunters crew?” said another, referencing Sinners star Michael B. Jordan’s Best Actor win afterwards.
HUNTR/X is the first all-Asian musical act to take the Oscars stage, following Blackpink K-pop band member Lisa, who was the first K-pop artist to perform at the show last year.
In August 2025, Netflix revealed that K-Pop Demon Hunters was the platform’s most popular movie of all time, overtaking the previous record-holder, Red Notice, starring Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot.
“KPop Demon Hunters has gone up, up, up, and it’s their Golden moment,” the streaming service said in a statement.
Who won on Hollywood’s biggest night?
One Battle After Another ran away with the night with six Oscars, while Sinners, which was nominated for a record-breaking 16 awards, came away with four. See the full winners list below:
Best Picture: One Battle After Another
Best Actress: Jessie Buckley, Hamnet
Best Actor: Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan, Weapons
Supporting Actor: Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
Directing: One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson
Adapted Screenplay: One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson
Original Screenplay: Sinners, Ryan Coogler
Documentary Feature: Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Documentary Short: All the Empty Rooms
Animated Feature: KPop Demon Hunters
Animated Short: The Girl Who Cried Pearls
Cinematography: Sinners, Autumn Durald Arkapaw
Costume Design: Frankenstein, Kate Hawley
Film Editing: One Battle After Another, Andy Jurgensen
International Feature: Sentimental Value – Norway
Life Action Short:
The Singers (TIED)
Two People Exchanging Saliva (TIED)
Makeup and Hairstyling: Frankenstein, Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey
Original Score: Sinners, Ludwig Goransson
Original Song: Golden, KPop Demon Hunters
Production Design: Frankenstein, Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau
Sound: F1, Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta
Visual Effects: Avatar: Fire and Ash, Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett
Casting: One Battle After Another, Cassandra Kulukundis
“The animated musical officially became Netflix’s most popular film of all time on the Most Popular English Films list with 236 million total views.“
In response to the film’s massive success, Netflix released a sing-along “party at home” version, K-Pop Hunters Sing-Along, that’s currently streaming on the app.
The movie was produced by Sony Pictures Animation and helmed by Maggie Kang, a Canadian film director born in Seoul, South Korea.
Maggie described the film as a “love letter to K-pop,” also known as “Korean pop music.”
On March 12, Netflix announced that the beloved animation will be getting a sequel, with directors Maggie and Chris Appelhans returning behind the scenes.
A release date has yet to be revealed, but fans can expect it may be a while, given the first film went into production in 2021 and wasn’t released until 2025.
“I feel immense pride as a Korean filmmaker that the audience wants more from this Korean story and our Korean characters,” Maggie said in a statement about the sequel.
“There’s so much more to this world we have built, and I’m excited to show you. This is only the beginning.”
