aespa’s Giselle found herself in the middle of online controversy after the 2025 Melon Music Awards, held on December 20, 2025, at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea. While aespa attended as both performers and nominees and won three awards, attention unexpectedly focused on Giselle’s reaction during BLACKPINK’s Jennie performance. Some fans accused her of being rude for resting her chin on her hand while watching the performance.
Critics claimed the gesture could be seen as disrespectful, especially given cultural expectations when younger artists are seated near senior acts. The chatter quickly snowballed online, with users assuming Giselle had been rude during the ceremony. Many decided to analyze her pose and body language, using it to slander her online.
Giselle said MMA was fun but it was a little disappointing bcs aespa’s seats were in the corner so they couldn’t see the stage, the monitor in front or even the big screen.
Now kpop stans can stop nitpicking every aespa action and pushing the mean girls allegations pic.twitter.com/qP3tfcs5id
— Karina♡ (@ujiminphoria) December 21, 2025
But on December 21, 2025, Giselle seemingly addressed the situation during a livestream with fans. She explained that aespa’s assigned seats were positioned at an extreme angle, making the stage almost impossible to see. From her spot, she could not properly view the LED screen or teleprompter and said she basically could not see anything at all. The aespa member didn’t address the online controversy explicitly, but her words brought clarity to the issue. Following her live stream, fans jumped to her defense, expressing that she should not have been the target of hate.
