aespa Winter Faces Heavy Criticism Over Unedited Visuals in Now-Deleted Dispatch Photo

aespa’s Winter faces backlash over airport photos and deleted images

aespa member Winter is facing harsh criticism over her visuals after photos from her recent airport appearance sparked controversy.

On June 26, aespa arrived at Gimpo Airport heading to Japan for their performance at the TV Tokyo Music Festival 2026 Summer on June 28. Unlike usual airport looks, the members wore casual, comfortable outfits for their flight.

Media outlets, including Dispatch, covered the group’s departure and shared photos on Instagram featuring all members. However, photos of Winter were deleted from Dispatch’s Instagram following negative comments about her appearance. Her photos remain on Dispatch’s Facebook page, showing her with a cap pulled down.

The controversy began when fans and netizens noticed the photo removal and assumed either fans or SM Entertainment requested it. Comments quickly turned malicious, accusing Winter and other aespa members of plastic surgery and criticizing her visuals harshly.

“so dispatch deleted aespa winter ugly picture on insta post after her fans harassed them” — @minislawyer

“#BREAKING SM urges Dispatch to delete this vgly WINTER picture and they did.” — @KpopInside4rdi

” Aespa’s Winter receives criticism from netizens after Dispatch removed an unedited photo of her following harassment from some fans toward the page. — Some netizens were surprised by Aespa’s changing appearance over the years, pointing to a plastic surgery and facial changes.” — @KFloopNet

This incident highlights a growing trend where idols face intense scrutiny over “un-edited” images, similar to recent backlash against BTS’s Jimin for his unfiltered photos at Paris Fashion Week.

Fans continue to debate the situation online as Winter deals with the wave of negative attention following the deleted Dispatch photo.