When BTS ended Justin Bieber’s reign by winning the Billboard Awards’ Top Social Artist in 2017, a year that also marked “the first big moment for K-pop on American television,” K-pop fans dared to hope. Wonder Girls had become the first Korean act to break into the American Hot 100 almost a decade earlier.

Since then, American award shows have been catching up. The AMAs created the first K-pop category in a significant U.S. awards show in 2022. However, as talented as the artists are, American producers have never been able to fully showcase K-pop with the extravagance and creative camerawork their Korean counterparts are known for. And face it: What makes music awards shows (or any awards show, for that matter) worth watching are exciting performances and unscripted moments.

So when the MAMA Awards, Korea’s biggest music awards show in scale and influence, came to the Dolby Theater in Hollywood Thursday night, it was a big deal for fans of K-pop. The massive show, which has taken place in recent years in cities across Asia, would be hosted in the U.S. for the first time in its 25-year history and spread across three days. L.A. hosted the first event in a more intimate theater setting; on Nov. 22 and 23, it’s in Osaka, Japan’s Kyocera Dome.

“It was the early 2000s when I tried to have K-pop crossover to the States,” said Park Jin-Young, or J.Y.P., as the charismatic music executive and performing legend is known, at a press conference held the morning of the show.

J.Y.P., with Grammy winner Anderson .Paak, as a special guest, was announced as one of the show’s inaugural performers. “I thought it was possible but not probable,” he says. “Back then, I always ran into someone trying to do the same thing, who made CJ ENM what it is today, Miky Lee.” CJ ENM is one of Korea’s most influential entertainment companies and producers on both KCON and the MAMA Awards.

“She has a genuine dream,” Park continues. “Not because it’s lucrative, she wants Korean culture to be disseminated throughout the world. We used to share a glass of wine at night and talk about what she wants to do and what I was doing, and 20 years later, she’s winning Academy Awards and our artists are being No. 1 on Billboard.”

When asked about his upcoming performance with Anderson .Paak, J.Y.P. alluded to a deeper reason why increased representation in America is important: It goes both ways. .Paak’s mother, a biracial Korean adoptee, was brought to the States and raised by a black American family.

He was not exposed to Korean culture until he married a Korean woman. Later on, his son Soul Rasheed’s obsession with BTS led to .Paak’s collaboration with the group, and this year, he wrote, directed and starred with Soul in “K-Pops!,” about an American musician trying to revive his career in Korea.

That said, bringing a massive multiday Korean awards show to the U.S. is a tall order. Park Chan Uk, head of CJ ENM Convention Business, was careful not to commit to a return visit, but the expansion to the U.S., particularly Los Angeles, fits in many ways.

CJ ENM, which also puts on KCON, has emphasized global expansion. This makes sense as K-pop is big worldwide, almost every group has at least one international member, and all the major labels are launching groups explicitly aimed at global audiences (J.Y.P. used the press conference to officially announce the relaunch of his American-based girl group, Vcha, in 2025). They acknowledge and make efforts to localize experiences for American fans.

J.Y.P. also emphasized tailoring experiences for local fans. This effort on the MAMA Awards launch in L.A. worked very well in some ways but was perplexing in others.

For one, the American press is used to having more access to stars. CJ ENM’s livestreaming of the show included a red-carpet interview segment hosted by American musician and media mogul Eric Nam. While beloved K-drama star Park Bo-Gum was the official show host, the bilingual Nam did the heavy lifting; his popular L.A.-based “Daebak Show” podcast has prepared him well to alternate fluidly between Korean and English.

Although rookie superstars RIIZE were included in the day’s earlier media event, questions were limited to the show itself. Aside from a couple of on-camera moments with Billboard’s Tetris Kelly, American journalists who cover K-pop regularly could not interview artists or guests on a separate red carpet, which is crucial for generating excitement, buzz and candid moments.

And while Korean producers are experts at delivering clean, high-level production value, they are much more protective of their artists’ image. This is understandable, given that fans hold Korean pop stars to higher standards of conduct. American fans love to tear down their artists, but the threshold for acceptable screw-ups is culturally different.

These differences were on display as a group of American fans of RIIZE held a banner outside the Dolby in protest of SM’s Entertainment’s handling of a predebut photo leak of member Seunghan. (Press was explicitly asked not to ask the group about the situation, the leak and its subsequent fallout.)

Dustin Hoffman was among presenters at the MAMA Awards on Thursday at the Dolby Theater.

(CJ ENM)

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Although surprises are fun, it would have been not only good publicity to announce award presenters Dustin Hoffman, NSYNC member Lance Bass and Da’Vine Joy Randolph ahead of time but also a chance to ask about their interest in and connection with Korean culture and K-pop.

Screen legend Hoffman, who was heckled by an audience member, did say he attended KCON this year with his wife.

But still, it was the performances that mattered most. New male artist winner TWS opened with a tribute to BTS, wowing later with a buoyant school theme featuring dancers from diverse backgrounds and an endearing appearance by honors band members from Los Angeles suburb Cerritos’ Tetzlaff Junior High.

Girl group Young Posse brought the throwback hip-hop vibes, while Illit brought a fantasy stage to life with unicorn themes and intricate expanded choreography to their hypnotic hit “Magnetic.” They were later sweetly and emotionally taken aback when announced as new female artist winners.

In another poignant moment, Lee Isaac Chung, director of “Minari” and “Twisters,” presented the dance performance male group award to TWS after talking about the significance of seeing his culture represented as a second-generation kid.

RIIZE, unfazed by controversy, flanked by local dancers, performed powerhouse choreography to their hit “Get a Guitar” (Co-written by American songwriter Ben Samama), whose music video was shot in L.A., to the night’s loudest screams.

K-pop group Katseye perform at the MAMA Awards at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.

(CJ ENM)

The stand-out performance was global girl group sensation Katseye, co-managed by Geffen Records. Along with the Los Angeles Rams cheerleaders, they blew everyone away with their commanding stage presence and on-point, intricate and athletic prowess.

Finally, the best was saved for last: J.Y.P. received the Inspiring Achievement Award. Known for his sometimes campy escapades (he’s in on the joke), he showed why he’s considered a legend. The 52-year-old runs one of the most successful entertainment companies in the world, but you can tell his first love is performing.

With a full band, he danced, sang his butt off and tickled the ivories while performing a medley of his solo hits, including the retro “Easy Lover,” finally bringing out .Paak for a funky drum solo. It was a back-and-forth musical conversation that recalled how entwined our two countries have been since the 1950s, when the Kim Sisters absorbed black American R&B to entertain U.S. soldiers, then delighted American audiences on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

The launch of MAMA U.S. wasn’t perfect, but it was a good start. Still, both cultures crave a continuing musical conversation, and American K-pop fans deserve a night of celebration with the performance standards Korean production is known for, not just a one-off on American shows that don’t understand them. With its deep ties to Korean culture, Los Angeles is the perfect place for a permanent MAMA Awards show that better combines Korean know-how with American flair.

The documentary “The Last Republican” follows the final months in office of Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who represented two districts in Illinois over the span of 12 years. Kinzinger was one of a handful of Republicans who stood against President Donald Trump, refusing to support him in 2016, then going after him more straightforwardly after Trump lost the election of 2020 and tried to overturn the results by inciting a mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, causing multiple deaths. Unlike other Republicans, including then-Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell and then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, Kinzinger never walked back or even softened his position on Trump’s role in Jan. 6 in order to help position Trump for re-election and stay close to the party’s power center. Kinzinger instead made his opposition to Trump the defining part of his identity.

He started a podcast titled “Country First Conversations”” and a political action committee to fund anti-Trump candidates and later supported President Joe Biden and then Vice President Kamala Harris for president and spoke at the Democratic convention. After voting against Trump’s first impeachment, Kinzinger voted for his second impeachment and later said he regretted not voting for the first one.

He also became one of 35 Republicans to support the formation of a committee to investigate the attacks on the Capitol and served on the committee himself. There’s grimly funny segment showing House speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, announcing that Kinzinger was going to serve on the Jan. 6 committee before actually asking him, and a snippet of McCarthy casually referring to Kinzinger and another Trump critic, Wyoming Republican senator Liz Cheney, as “Pelosi Republicans.” When Cheney lost her primary in Wyoming to her former advisor Harriet Hageman—who briefly opposed Trump, then supported him again—Kinzinger accused conservative pastors of “failing their congregations” by encouraging support for Trump. He is now a CNN commentator.

The title telegraphs the point-of-view of the movie’s director, Steve Pink (“Gross Pointe Blank”). Pink is progressive who disagrees with most of what Kinzinger stands for politically (the movie opens with Kinzinger baiting Pink by calling him a “communist”). Pink positions Kinzinger as one of the last true or real Republicans, primarily because Kinzinger consistently advocated for the rule of law where Trump was concerned and, in Kinzinger’s words, put “country over party.”

This is, of course, a questionable framing, good for branding and sparking arguments on podcasts but not much else. There are plenty other examples of Republicans positioning themselves above the law at various points in the last 50 years, and it’s not as if Democrats have a spotless record in that regard either. In any given era of American history, the “true” Republicans are whichever ones define the identity of the party, and at this particular juncture, it’s not people like Kinzinger.

“The Last Republican” also mostly elides Kinzinger’s positions on various issues, seemingly to make him more palatable here as a Capra-esque hero who is exclusively defined by standing up to corruption, and against a politician that the filmmaker also opposes. (Kinzinger had a much more progressive record on anti-discrimination legislation than most Republicans, but still voted with Trump 90% of the time, blamed China for spreading COVID, and voted in 2017 to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act.)

This is not to say that Kinzinger’s opposition to Trump isn’t evidence of integrity and a willingness to sacrifice power for principle. That’s plainly the case, and it’s driven home in a scene where Kinzinger and his wife Sofia Boza-Holman sit on a couch in their house cradling their newborn son while watching the House vote to censure Kinzinger and Cheney for serving on the Jan. 6 committee. But there’s a more nuanced movie that could’ve been made covering the same period in Kinzinger’s life, one that took fuller measure of the ancient proverb “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”—though, to be fair, the very end of the movie humorously acknowledges what strange allies Pink and Kinzinger are, at least as far as this project is concerned.

The movie also gives a strong sense of Kinzinger as a person walking against the winds of change and dealing with tendencies in the American character that elude party definitions. “Everybody’s self-centered,” he tells Pink. “That’s the fight now of my next part of life, fighting against that cynicism.”

Jonathan Majors and ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari are moving forward from yet another legal battle, nearly a year after the former Marvel star’s high-profile assault and harassment criminal trial last winter.

“Creed III” actor Majors and movement coach Jabbari mutually agreed Thursday to dismiss the latter’s civil lawsuit that accuses her ex-boyfriend of battery, assault and defamation. According to court documents reviewed by The Times, the two parties entered a “stipulation of voluntary dismissal” that did away with Jabbari’s suit with prejudice — meaning that she cannot refile the same complaint in New York federal court.

Jabbari filed her lawsuit in March. The complaint had also accused Majors of intentional infliction of emotional distress and malicious prosecution. Jabbari’s lawsuit was a result of Majors’ alleged “pattern of pervasive domestic abuse that began in 2021 and extended through 2023,” legal documents said. The lawsuit echoed allegations that were central to the “Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania” star’s domestic violence criminal case.

Majors was convicted last December of assault and harassment but also acquitted of an additional assault charge and aggravated harassment. Moments after the verdict, Marvel swiftly fired the “Last Black Man in San Francisco” breakout — another major blow to his professional career.

Majors’ then-attorney Priya Chaudhry, in response to Jabbari’s civil suit, told The Times in March that the complaint came as “no surprise.” In April, a New York judge decided that Majors would not serve jail time and ordered the actor to complete a 52-week in-person batterer’s intervention program and continue with his mental health therapy.

Jabbari’s attorney Brittany Howard on Friday praised her client for her “tremendous courage,” adding in a statement to The Times that the case “has been favorably settled.”

“We hope that [Jabbari] can finally put this chapter behind her and move forward with her head held high,” Howard added.

A legal representative for Majors did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

Since his sentencing, Majors has kept a relatively low public profile — weighing in on Marvel’s newest chapter in brief paparazzi exchanges and occasionally appearing alongside actor Meagan Good at Hollywood events.

Days before agreeing with Jabbari to dismiss her civil case, Majors and Good revealed they are engaged. They announced their betrothal Sunday at Ebony’s Power 100 Gala. “We met here two years ago,” Majors told E! News.

Good, the “Divorce in the Black” star who accompanied Majors during his New York trial last year, said he made two proposals and she was “very shocked and it was wonderful.”