BLACKPINK’s Lisa is indeed cover story material. However, her recent inclusion as part of an audacious dozen of Hollywood’s “brightest lights” on Variety Fair’s 31st annual Hollywood Issue, among the likes of Nicole Kidman, Zendaya, Dev Patel, Jonathan Bailey and others, became the cause for social media disharmony. While K-pop loyalists instantly came to the “Rockstar” diva’s defence, others lit a contentious fire online. The war of words launched against the Thailand-born K-pop sensation questioned why someone who had yet to make her acting debut in the industry was seen beside acting greats who had established their repertoire as Hollywood giants.

How Vanity Fair describes Lisa Manobal

The official Vanity Fair announcement of the multi-faceted star-studded lineup for the 2025 Hollywood Issue Cover led the popular magazine’s digital portfolio to list her qualifications as “Lisa, from the K-pop sensation Blackpink and soon to be seen in The White Lotus, built a talent management company.” None of those mentions barked up the wrong tree. Lisa Manobal may not boast credentials similar to the ones already achieved by veteran icons like Kidman and Zoe Saldana. However, VF’s editor-in-chief Radhika Jones eventually divulged a “backstage look” at the issue, revealing why the Blackpink singer was a worthy catch despite her “newcomer” status.

Vanity Fair editor-in-chief reveals why K-pop star Lisa made the cut

On November 13 (US time), Jones indirectly took a swing at the hateful rhetoric about Lisa’s inclusion among Hollywood icons in an exclusive interview on CBS Morning Plus. When asked by CBS morning segment’s co-hosts Adriana Diaz and Tony Dokoupil how these meticulous decisions to strike a balance between “well-known household names” and other “up-and-comers” for the new issue’s cover were made, Jones immediately relied on Lisa as an exemplary feature.

Diaz noted, “I read that you wanted to look for people who were taking risks, who weren’t trying to just be typecast.”

The Indian-origin Vanity Fair EIC added, “Yeah, that’s always interesting to us. So take someone like Lisa, who's a huge star in K-pop world… less well known in Hollywood or with a Hollywood audience, but she’s going to be on The White Lotus in the new season.”

Jones emphasised how the HBO hit series has a huge fan following. Manobal’s addition to the Hollywood Issue roster was the magazine’s way of acknowledging “Lisa’s incredibly famous, but we’re going to introduce her in a new context, and it’s nice to be able to create that mix.”

The VF chief went on, “There’s no bigger star right now than Nicole Kidman. She’s everywhere. Her work is incredible, and she, even at her level of success, is also driven by taking risks. She wants to do projects that feel new and exciting, and her new film Baby Girl is amazing… So, we love to put those kinds of people together.”

Popular magazine stands by Hollywood Issue cover choice

A separate Instagram post on the Vanity Fair social media feed dedicated to Lisa (like the other stars on the Hollywood Issue cover) echoed Jones’ sentiment. “Allow Lisa to reintroduce herself,” the caption began the BLACKPINK star’s introduction.

The description continued, “America met the 27-year-old as @blackpinkofficial’s unstoppable rapper when the girl group captivated pop music in 2019. But when HBO’s ‘The White Lotus’ returns for its third season this winter, you’ll be introduced to Lalisa Manobal, which is how the K-pop phenom will be credited in her first acting role.”

Regardless of her current footing in Hollywood, it’s hard to deny Lisa’s influence on the entertainment biz zeitgeist of the 21st century. Not only does she hold multiple Guinness World Record titles, but the “Money” hit-maker is now in her groundbreaking “CEO era”, too, having launched her solo label, LLOUD, earlier this year.

BLACKPINK Lisa wholeheartedly honours her Thai roots + never fits the caged stereotype

Despite shattering the roof on the K-pop side of affairs, she hasn’t forgotten her roots. In 2021, the rapper stressed the importance of spotlighting her Thai heritage in the solo single Lalisa. That sentiment crossed over to her “Rockstar” comeback in 2024, celebrating her first official release from her own record label. This continued embracement of her Thai roots will now also be carried over to her first acting role in the upcoming third season of HBO’s The White Lotus, for which she “was the perfect fit for a season that would be set in her birth country, Thailand,” per Vanity Fair.

“I can’t wait for people to see how beautiful Thailand is,” she told the outlet.

The Blackpink maverick even made shocking headlines as the first K-pop artist to break out of a restrictive box and take the stage at the renowned Crazy Horse Paris cabaret. Along those history-making lines, Lisa also became the first K-pop icon to grace the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show stage in October 2024.

The jury is still out on how well Manobal will fit into this chapter of her artistic exploration and expansion. Nevertheless, there’s no denying that she already epitomises Radhika Jones’ painstaking attention to curating a balanced mix on the Vanity Fair cover as a risk-taker who never intended to be boxed up as a one-dimensional performer.

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