Recently, aespa officially introduced the special film “aespa: MY First Page” marks the 4th year of operation. From here, a series of controversies about discrimination broke out, especially with fans of member Winter. As a visual duo, Winter and Karina are the two members most favored by SM since debut. Winter is also one of the factors that attracts fans and has the most personal resources in the second group. Playing the role of main vocalist, the “winter” girl is often called the SM princess by the public thanks to her top benefits. However, recently fans pointed out that SM seemed to be neglecting Winter, sparking a wave of fierce protests.
aespa at the special movie premiere
Recently, fans pointed out that SM seemed to be neglecting Winter, sparking a wave of fierce protests.
The controversy started when Winter was cut from the poster signed to give fans a Signature Art Card. This is a promotional item for the movie “aespa: MY First Page”. In the photo, only 3 members Karina, NingNing and Giselle appear. Winter does not appear in the photo because she is in a hidden corner. After being petitioned by fans, the publisher said: “The production process is carried out under the advice of management company SM Entertainment. It is difficult to change the image.”
Winter was cut out of the poster signed to give fans the Signature Art Card because of a hidden corner
Winter’s message on the noisy poster was copied from the message on an old polaroid, causing the content to not match the context.
It was this image that caused Korean social media to stir up questions about Winter leaving the group. But it’s all just negligence on the part of the SM team. Winter still participated in the promotion and left her signature on the poster. Not stopping there, Winter’s message on the noisy poster was copied from the message on an old polaroid, causing the content to not match the context, creating an ironic situation. Winter herself wondered why the message in her poster was: “English… is really difficult… Sorry…?”
The group account managed by SM has just updated Winter’s Dazed cover photo
In addition, many fans pointed out that the group’s joint account managed by SM also rarely updates Winter’s personal schedules and work. With many frustrations accumulating, fans of member Winter are working together to push the hashtag demanding justice for idols to the Twitter trend. Most paradoxically, the member known as the “SM princess” was neglected by the company. SM’s move was criticized by fans for being both unfair to the artists and causing turmoil within the fandom.
SM’s move was criticized by fans for being both unfair to the artists and causing turmoil within the fandom