Did Aespa Intentionally Ignore G-DRAGON During The 2025 MAMA Awards? Fans Called Them Rude

The 2025 MAMA Awards, which took place recently at the Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong, have been generating a lot of buzz for the list of winners and performances. The event, which took place over two days from November 28, 2025, to November 29, 2025, featured some of our favourite K-pop acts, including aespa. However, now, a short video has surfaced online showing how the aespa members acted 'rudely' when their senior in the industry, G-DRAGON, passed by them. Here's what we know.  

The viral interaction between aespa and G-Dragon from the MAMA Awards 

Artist interactions have always been a serious topic of conversation among users on Korean social media platforms. While some interactions are praised by fans, others are often scrutinised. One such incident, which had Korean netizens raging, occurred during the 2025 MAMA Awards between K-pop girl group, aespa and G-DRAGON.  

The clip of their interaction, which has gone viral since the incident, shows aespa's member, Karina, standing up promptly when she spotted G-DRAGON walking towards her group. However, the same swiftness in reaction was not seen among the other members, Winter, Giselle, and Ningning.

While some members turned their faces in the opposite direction, others only stood up when G-DRAGON took the initiative to greet them first. Even during the greetings, a few of them looked unenthusiastic and only nodded to G-DRAGON. K-netizens saw this lack of initiative and the delay in welcoming a K-pop icon of G-DRAGON's stature as the group lacking basic etiquette. 

In another controversial video, the seemingly casual demeanour of aespa members Winter and Ningning as G-DRAGON tried to find his seat right in front of them has left many viewers unimpressed. They were quick to call out the girls' behaviour, arguing that this only highlights their lack of respect for a senior artist in the music industry. Furthermore, while such a misstep could have been overlooked if they had just debuted, it was not the case, as aespa had been active for over five years and should definitely know better than this.  

Aespa's previously close relationship with G-DRAGON was put on the scale 

Although most of the reactions to the artists' interaction were negative, this was not the case for all of them. Aespa stans have particularly come to the group's defence, saying that the incident is being blown out of proportion. Additionally, the close-up clips can easily mislead viewers because the camera angle does not fully capture the context. Defending aespa, many fans also emphasised that both G-DRAGON and aespa have always had a good relationship. This is even more true when one considers Karina's previous interactions and collaborations with G-DRAGON.  

For those unversed, Karina once appeared in G-DRAGON'S Too Bad music video. While her appearance lasted only a few seconds, the incredible pairing of these two global artists, from different generations of K-pop, deeply resonated with music lovers.  

Watch the viral video here! 

What are your thoughts on aespa's interaction with G-DRAGON? Don't forget to let us know.  

Also read: Aamir Khan Announces 'Happy Patel' With A Chaotic Interaction With Vir Das, Fans Say, 'I'm Seated..'

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