BTS’ Jimin is now the proud owner of a six-stringed slice of pop-culture history — Ken’s guitar from the Barbie movie.
Ryan Gosling, who stars as Ken in the Margot Robbie-led hit, had reached out to the K-pop star with the “humble offering” of the instrument, an admission that Jimin had captured the Western Ken look first, and did it “best.”
The Hollywood star has delivered on his promise.
Jimin is now in receipt of the customized guitar, which is emblazoned with Ken’s name and a horse image, and got a workout in the film as Gosling performed a cover of Matchbox Twenty’s “Push”.
In “Hi Ryan and hi Ken, it’s Jimin. Congrats on your big release,” Jimin comments in a new message, from one Ken to another. “My fans are excited to see your video, so thank you so much. I could see that you look great in my outfit. Thank you for this guitar. I really love it and I look forward to watching Barbie. Go, Barbie!”
The video is accompanied with the caption, “Thanks for having my outfit in #BarbieTheMovie! You rocked it, Ken.”
Earlier, in a video message shared prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Gosling explained, “I notice that your ‘Permission to Dance’ outfit is the same as my Ken outfit in the upcoming movie Barbie. I have to give it to you — you wore it first. You definitely wore it best and there’s an unspoken Ken code that if you bite another Ken’s style, you have to give them your most prized possession.” He added, “I hope you’ll accept Ken’s guitar as my humble offering. Besides, Ken doesn’t really play anyway, so…it’ll be much better in your hands.”
Barbie has been a global hit, clocking one of the biggest openings since the pandemic and scoring the top opening of the year to date. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film took $162 million at the North American box office over July 21-23, smashing the opening-weekend record for a female director.
Speaking with the The New York Times, the director admitted she was “at a loss for words” after seeing the film’s success. “It’s been amazing to walk around and see people in pink,” she added. “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine something like this.”
Jimin has more than enough star power of his own. In April, he led the Billboard Artist 100 chart, thanks to the release of his new solo album, FACE (via BigHit Music/Geffen/Interscope Records), and its breakout track, “Like Crazy.”
That single blasted to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Jimin’s first solo No. 1 outside BTS, which has scored six chart leaders.
