M'sian Actress Receives Backlash For Name-Calling & Laughing At K-Pop Artistes
In a telemovie she directed, she named a character 'Lisa Blackpig'.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 23 Feb 2021, 05:42 PM
Malaysian actress Janna Nick has yet again been embroiled in controversy after an old video of her resurfaced, which showed her allegedly laughing at a K-pop artiste who died by suicide in 2017
In the short video uploaded by actress Sharifah Sakinah, she and Janna — whose real name is Nurul Jannah Muner — are in a hair salon. Sharifah remarks that Janna's hair looks like 'si mati' (the deceased) and Janna responds by bursting into laughter.
It is believed that the duo was referring to SHINee group member Jonghyun, who died by suicide on 18 December 2017.
The video was shared on Sharifah's Instagram Story in early January 2018. She later apologised for her action and expressed her regret for involving Janna in the issue.
With the old video resurfaced, Janna felt that the slander against her was uncalled for and she responded by uploading an 11-minute long video.
In it, she reprimands netizens for stirring up the old controversy and explains that she did not hear what Sharifah was saying in the salon, claiming that the environment was filled with hairdryers buzzing loudly.
Despite that, she apologised to K-pop fans by taking a holy oath. She swore that did not know about the K-pop artiste's death nor did she hear what Sharifah was saying in the video.
The apology did not sit well with many K-pop fans, because towards the end of the video, Janna spent the last two minutes promoting a movie she acted in it
"Janna Nick's 'apology' wasn't sincere tho?" said a Twitter user.
"Like, she called Jonghyun 'si mati' and she promoted her movie in her apology caption? She really took the time and promoted her movie like somebody is gonna watch it? No, I just know nobody would watch the movie."
While another netizen added, "Calling us 'K-pop fanatic' and 'peminat si mati'. Wtf, Janna Nick? What the actual f--k is wrong with you?"
Prior to the controversy, Janna had a separate incident where she ruffled the feathers of K-pop fans around the world.
In a telemovie she directed, she named a character 'Lisa Blackpig'.
K-pop fans were quick to notice that the name was a jab at BLACKPINK member Lisa.
"Lisa Blackpig. In every school, there is definitely a girl within a group who is extremely annoying. So this is their representative," Janna Nick Studios wrote on its Instagram page.
The post introduced Annie Mosha as Lisa Blackpig's actress in the telemovie, Delen, which premiered on 13 February.
To add fuel to the fire, Janna was also caught mocking the character's name with an 'oink oink' comment followed by a pig emoji while responding to fellow actor Nazim Othman who questioned the absurdity of the name.
Janna's latest controversy is not an isolated incident. The actress had in January likened the attack on the US Capitol building in Washington DC to the movie franchise The Purge.
"The trending The Purge shows the impact that film [has] on the public. This is the reason why certain guidelines are needed in the film industry, just as Malaysia has done for the past many years," Janna tweeted while attaching photos of the US Capitol police officers pointing their guns at a door.
She called a netizen a 'loser' when they tried to educate her that the US has a long history of systemic racism against Black and Native Americans and that the movie franchise has very little to do with the riot.
Perhaps it was the string of controversies that fuelled netizens to criticise Janna for almost a week.
Since last week, #jannanick and #jannanickisgoingtojailparty have been trending on Twitter, and today, 23 February, #sorryfrommalaysia is trending for reasons connected to the controversy.
According to mStar, the 26-year-old actress has lodged a police report over the incident.
"May the process of finding the accounts who have provoked and slandered me go smoothly," Janna tweeted yesterday, 22 February, adding, "All relevant screenshots have been taken by the authorities and legal action will be taken against cybercrimes on against those involved."
At the time of writing, her Twitter is no longer accessible. SAYS could not verify if she deactivated it or it has been taken down.
