SM Entertainment has released a statement via KWANGYA 119 regarding aespa WINTER and has confirmed that they have taken legal action against those who have posted malicious content on various platforms targeting WINTER.
“Hello, this is SM Entertainment.
We would like to inform you of the progress of our legal action to protect the rights of our artist, WINTER of aespa.
We are deeply aware of the severity of the malicious posts and comments (sexual harassment, defamation, personal attacks, insults, invasion of privacy, deepfakes, etc.) that have been continuously occurring in relation to our artist, based on valuable reports from fans submitted to ‘KWANGYA 119’ and our own monitoring.
In particular, we have confirmed numerous acts of defamation of WINTER’s character and reputation, malicious posts intended to publicly slander the artist, and sexually harassing posts targeting WINTER on platforms such as DC Inside, Women’s Generation, Natepan, Instiz, Theqoo, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube. After reviewing these posts, we plan to gradually expand the legal action process.
In addition, we are currently filing criminal and civil lawsuits against those who have posted malicious content related to aespa on the platforms mentioned above. We will also secure a large amount of evidence and respond strongly without leniency to the creation of malicious rumors, repeated dissemination of false information, writing sexually harassing posts, and producing and distributing mocking and distorted content on personal SNS, online communities, and anonymous bulletin boards. We ask that you be careful not to become involved in any unpleasant incidents. We will continue to do our best in all aspects to protect the rights and interests of our artists.
Thank you.”