EJAE Says She’s ‘Haunted’ by BAFTAs Performance After Leonardo DiCaprio Made Her ‘Nervous’ in the Crowd: ‘He Was Not Smiling’

Rachel DeSantisThu, August 13, 2026 at 6:35 PM UTC

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EJAE in Paris in July 2026; Leonardo DiCaprio at the Oscars in March 2026.Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; Swan Gallet/WWD via Getty -

EJAE says locking eyes with Leonardo DiCaprio during her BAFTAs performance caused her to crack on high notes

Her song “Golden” made history as the first K-pop track to win an Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy

“The BAFTAs haunt me,” she told The Times

KPop Demon Hunters star EJAE had an extremely successful time on the awards show circuit earlier this year — save for one sour note.

The Korean-American star, 34, told The Times that while she’s been enjoying her rise to fame on the back of the hit song “Golden,” she remains troubled by her performance at the BAFTA Awards in February, as a stoic Leonardo DiCaprio sat front and center.

“The BAFTAs haunt me. I made mistakes,” she told the outlet. “I cracked a little bit on the high notes. Leonardo DiCaprio was right in front of me and he was not smiling.”

EJAE said she looked right at the actor as she prepared to sing the song’s big high note, and doing so ultimately messed her up.

EJAE performing at the BAFTA Awards in London in February 2026.Credit: Stuart Wilson/BAFTA/Getty

“That’s what put me off. He made me so nervous,” she said. “It was already so nerve-racking to be in front of all these celebrities, and then I look up and lock eyes with Leonardo DiCaprio? Come on.”

She enjoyed the BRIT Awards the next week a bit more, as she found the crowd more encouraging.

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“Because it was performing to fans, kids being like ‘Rumi, you got this!’” she told the Times. “I never knew that sentence would be so heartwarming and helpful.”

DiCaprio, 51, was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the BAFTAs for his role in One Battle After Another. His costar Chase Infiniti was seen on the show’s broadcast singing along in the audience to “Golden” as EJAE performed with Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami.

KPop Demon Hunters was a global phenomenon upon its release last year, and remains Netflix’s most-watched original movie of all time. EJAE stars as the singing voice of Rumi, a member of the fictional group HUNTR/X. “Golden,” which she co-wrote, became the first K-pop song to win an Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy Award.

The star was featured in PEOPLE’s World’s Most Beautiful Issue in April, and said she’s hard at work on a solo album.

“I’ll be doing a lot of writing and a lot of finding myself as an artist. Finding my sound,” she said. “I’m just excited to write with people and collaborate with different people because one of the biggest, most fun things about writing is learning from other writers. I love hearing other people’s melodies and lyrical ideas, so I’m very excited about that.”

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”