In response to public criticism of her use of e-cigarettes, Jennie (Blackpink) has spoken out and apologized through her own company.

Jennie Blackpink apologizes for vaping indoors. Photo: Naver

On the afternoon of July 9, a representative of OA Entertainment officially spoke out about Jennie (Blackpink) using an electronic cigarette at home and in front of employees, causing recent controversy.

“We sincerely apologize to everyone who felt uncomfortable with Jennie’s actions in the video released on July 2,” the company said.

Jennie admitted and deeply regretted her mistake of vaping indoors and causing inconvenience to the staff. Jennie personally apologized to all the staff on site who may have been affected.

We apologize to fans for the disappointment caused by this incident. We hope to prevent this situation from recurring in the future.”

The incident broke out on July 8, when a Twitter account shared a video of Jennie smoking an e-cigarette while putting on makeup to prepare for the Jacquemus show in Capri, Italy.

Jennie “exhales smoke” right in front of the makeup artist. Photo: Naver

What made Jennie heavily criticized was because she “exhaled smoke” right in front of her makeup artist. The audience thought that Jennie had a rude attitude and was disrespectful to the staff.

The post re-sharing this video has attracted 169,000 views on online community theqoo with more than 2,000 comments.

A netizen claimed to have reported the incident of Jennie smoking indoors to the Korean embassy in Italy.

“I have requested an investigation through the e-People portal to the Korean embassy in Italy. I strongly urge a thorough investigation and severe punishment for Jennie’s smoking incident in her home,” the person said.

This netizen also posted a screenshot confirming the completion of the complaint to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Italy has had a smoking ban in place since January 2005. If you are caught smoking in a public place indoors, you can be fined up to 250 euros per cigarette. If you smoke in front of pregnant women or children, the fine doubles.