On Thursday, December 25, aespa attended and performed at the annual year-end music festival, 2025 SBS Gayo Daejeon. As the four members made their way to the red carpet of the event, they were grandly greeted by the fans and the audience gathered at the venue. However, when each of the members introduced themselves at the red carpet, a specific alleged coldness was directed towards the member, Winter.
While fans cheered during all the members’ introductions, the audience was reportedly silent and showcased no enthusiasm during Winter’s introduction, which eventually led people to believe the reaction was due to the current hate train around the idol. Previously, the aespa member was speculated to be dating BTS’s Jungkook, and this rumour was spread by Korean media outlets and fan discussions that loosely connected dots between the two K-pop idols.
Some of the alleged proof brought forward for the dating speculation included groundless pieces of evidence, such as similar Instagram usernames, matching nail paints, and more. Though HYBE has not taken any official action regarding the rumors, at the beginning of December 2025, SM Entertainment denied the idol’s relationship with BTS’s Jungkook and also warned against legal action for those who continued to spread malicious rumors against the idol.
Regardless, these rumors have also led to fan wars, where BTS’s fandom and aespa’s fandom have been showcasing hate to aespa’s Winter and BTS’s Jungkook, respectively. Naturally, the recent incident at the 2025 SBS Gayo Daejeon was another instance of hate towards the idol, which many netizens criticized.
People pointed out that the rumors were not based on baseless connections, but were also later denied. Therefore, they called out fans’ and Knetizens’ actions as unnecessary and distasteful. They urged them to refrain from showcasing malicious and harmful behavior towards the idols, since they artist stand as a victim and not a propagator of the current tensions. Here are a few fan reactions regarding the same:
Others also shared their thoughts and opinions regarding the same.
All you need to know about aespa and their recent activities
aespa is a South Korean K-pop girl group that debuted under SM Entertainment in 2020. The members of the group include NingNing, Karina, Giselle, and Winter. They debuted with their first single in November 2020, Black Mamba, and followed up with several viral tracks such as Savage, Girls, Armageddon, Supernova, and more. In September 2024, the group rolled out their fifth EP, Whiplash, which consisted of six tracks, including a title track under the same name as the album.
Around June 2025, they put forth their second single album, Dirty Work, which was followed up with their sixth EP, Rich Man, in September 2025. The album held its title track under the same name as the album. This EP also stood as the group’s first release in collaboration with Capitol Music Group, a new partnership with their agency, SM Entertainment. Additionally, aespa also performed their latest track, Rich Man, at The Jennifer Hudson Show in September.
Following the same, fans and netizens have been looking forward to more promotional content and new releases from the K-pop girl group.
Edited by Aishwarya Sai
