Korean Media Under Fire For Cutting & Blurring Aespa’s Giselle Out Of Photos & Shows

Fans are understandably fed up of the “disrespect.”

While it can be hard to take group shots of particularly large K-Pop acts, the South Korean media should have little trouble capturing Aespa‘s four members together in one shot. However, fans say the press seems to be repeatedly omitting Giselle from the group—and they’re not happy.

All four aespa members are becoming more popular with every comeback. This month, Giselle ranked no.5 out of all female idols on the brand reputation ranking, while Karina, Winter, and Ningning ranked 1st, 4th, and 7th respectively. However, while fans and the general public alike have been showing love for each member’s charms, one seems to be continually forgotten when it comes to press pictures.

Aespa | SM Entertainment

The recent 2021 Dream Concert was the final straw for many frustrated MYs—the name of aespa’s fanbase. All the members looked stunning in their red-carpet outfits, and many media outlets did capture the quartet’s beauty well.

However, when the camera zoomed in to give the girls a closeup, Giselle was cut out of the frame.

While this could have been forgiven as an accidental error if it was an isolated incident, fans say this isn’t the first time this has happened. In fact, Giselle has repeatedly been left out of press photos of the group.

Aespa’s Giselle | SM Entertainment

In the worst incidence so far, the main rapper’s face was actually blurred out of a picture entirely.

Photographers from several outlets presumably mistook her for an employee or a member of the public. At last year’s SBS Gayo Daejeon, the network also chose to upload solo photos of all the members to their Instagram account—except Giselle.

The omissions even continued at the recent Dream Concert, with some news outlets choosing to post photos of Karina, Winter, and Ningning only.

And sadly, the problem doesn’t only affect press photos—it also extends to aespa’s television appearances. Not only was Giselle’s individual talent segment cut from Weekly Idol in May, her singing cover was also cut from Knowing Bros this month despite being used as a promotional clip in a teaser for the episode.

Unsurprisingly, numerous fans are upset and angry at just how many times Giselle has been othered by the media for no clear reason.

Across Twitter, MYs are tagging #RESPECTGISELLE and #aespa_is_FOUR to make a statement.

Fans have been attempting to get through to media outlets about the issue since December to no avail. Now, many are hoping this will be a final wake-up call to include Giselle along with the other members.

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