Margaret Qualley is facing severe backlash for the remarks she made about BLACKPINK member Jennie's blonde hair. Internet users have labelled as "racially insensitive". On October 1, Jennie attended Chanel's 2025 Spring/Summer fashion show at Paris Fashion Week, where she represented the brand as an official ambassador. The K-pop idol shared a series of pictures from the event on her Instagram with the caption, "She's blonde." In an interview with WWD, she described her new look, saying, "The blonde hair and pop of colour I chose are meant to show a different side of me. I can't share too much yet, but this look might just be a teaser for my new album."
Recently, a video surfaced showing Margaret Qualley greeting Jennie and asking while touching her hair, "Is this your real hair?" Jennie replied, "No," and Qualley responded, "It looks real." Many interpreted Qualley's comments as "racially insensitive", noting that asking a non-white person about their hair can be a form of "microaggression". Some Internet users also pointed out that touching Jennie's hair without consent was inappropriate.
A X user wrote, "It might seem like she was asking about a wig, but given her behaviour with others, it feels like a racist remark." Another one wrote, "When white people ask that, it's like saying, 'Why are you an Asian with blonde hair?'" A comment read, "Asking a non-white person about their hair is a form of microaggression."
For the unversed, Margaret Qualley, the daughter of actress Andie MacDowell, began her career in 2011 and has appeared in films such as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) and Poor Things (2023). Meanwhile, Jennie became the first Korean female solo artist to receive a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for her collaboration "One Of The Girls" with The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp. In April, her solo track SOLO reached over 1 billion views, making her the first K-pop female artist to reach this milestone.