Is Aespa Fading? Recent Performances Spark Intense Discussion
aespa is facing backlash over a recent “embarrassing” live performance on Good Morning America. Karina, the group’s leader, is getting the most heat for her sloppy stage presence and attitude.
The controversy began with a viral post on Nate Pann, where an anonymous user criticized Karina’s recent performances. The OP pointed to several mistakes, including messing up lyrics and choreography, and said Karina’s careless laughter during serious moments was disappointing. They also mentioned Karina’s awkward speech at a recent awards show and tension caused by past political controversy.
“I’m hesitant to bring this up because I don’t want it to come off as unnecessary hate, but I’ve been feeling a bit concerned about Karina lately.
At the last awards show, aespa won the grand prize, but her speech ended with just laughter, and it felt a bit careless. Ningning and Giselle had to step in to manage the situation, especially since it was during a time when public opinion around Karina was already shaky due to her political controversy. The mood was really tense, and the moment felt poorly handled.
Then during the ‘Dirty Work’ encore stage, she made a mistake with the lyrics and just laughed it off again. And most recently, during their GMA performance, she messed up the choreography but reacted with a smile. That moment, too, felt disappointing.
aespa’s group dynamic is fun — a lot of fans enjoy their playful, high-school-girl energy. But sometimes, it feels like the more central members get a bit too relaxed. As the leader and the oldest member, Karina should be the one to set the tone when things need to be taken seriously. That’s something people have been pointing out for a while now, but it still doesn’t seem to be improving.
Skills can always be improved with practice — if the performance quality goes up, public opinion usually follows. But in situations like these, attitude really matters, and I think she needs to be more mindful of that going forward.”
— OP on Nate Pann
The post gained more than 32,000 views quickly. Fans are split. Some agree Karina needs to step up, others call the criticism unfair and overblown.
“It’s not like Karina mocked students or took someone’s life or anything.”
“Just counting the times Karina’s been unfairly hated by you guys, it’s to the point where Pann community users should be the ones apologizing to her.”
“The encore criticism is definitely baseless hate, though.”
— Comments on Nate Pann
Still, other viewers pointed out similar issues among members.
“Winter also couldn’t stop laughing by herself on stage — she kept laughing and couldn’t even dance properly. I don’t get it…If someone kept laughing like that at work, they’d probably be kicked out right away.”
“It got to this point because everyone kept babying them. When people were saying ‘lip-syncing is just a genre’ and making excuses, and when there was attitude controversy, it was all ‘our girl can make mistakes.’ If that hadn’t happened, none of this would’ve.”
“Honestly, none of the members seem to show any real drive or desperation…and I’m not just talking about this incident, it’s in general. The same goes for their concert. A ton of people dropped out of the fandom after going to the concert lol.”
— More comments on Nate Pann
Fans are watching closely as aespa deals with this messy backlash.
