Lisa Addresses BLACKPINK’s Use of N-Word as Trainees in New Documentary Always Lalisa

Lisa is addressing BLACKPINK’s use of the n-word while the group’s members were young trainees at South Korean record label YG Entertainment.

The controversial video, in which members of the K-pop supergroup are heard using the racial slur while rapping, is discussed in the new documentary Always Lalisa. The film, which chronicles Lisa’s meteoric rise to fame as YG’s first non-Korean trainee, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Monday, Sept. 14, before hitting theaters Oct. 12.

“I really have to apologize,” Lisa, 29, told Variety of the use of the n-word. “To be honest, I’m Thai and I grew up in Thailand. There isn’t any education for that, so at the time, I didn’t know. Now I’ve learned and got educated about that, and I would never [do it again]. This is not OK. Seriously.”

The video of the group using the word while performing, which dates back to over a decade ago, was leaked ahead of Lisa’s solo performance at Coachella in 2025, Billboard reported.

“Everything is real. It’s all there,” Lisa told Variety of the leaks. “I was just sad because I really wanted to focus on my performance, but things happened, and you can’t control stuff. But I fought through it.”

In the documentary, Lisa also shares that she was unable to make a statement about the leaks at the time that they surfaced, according to the outlets.

The film features interviews with Lisa’s family members, The White Lotus creator Mike White, and more. Lisa starred in The White Lotus‘s third season, which was set in her native Thailand.

Amid her burgeoning solo music career and acting aspirations, she told Variety she still looks forward to working with BLACKPINK as a group.

“If I’m 50, I still want to do BLACKPINK,” she said, per the outlet. “We just finished our tour earlier this year, but we talk a lot about this and have discussions about doing a little break — like I did almost two years ago — but we’re always going to be together.”

BLACKPINK wrapped their Deadline World Tour in January.