Many came to his defense.
Many of the idols under SM Entertainment recently traveled to London, England, to continue the SM Town Live 2025 tour. Groups and solo artists like Red Velvet, NCT, and TVXQ performed for European fans for the first time in many years.
While fans love seeing the artists from different groups interact, an interaction between aespa and a male idol has sparked debate.
At the end of SM Town concerts, all performers usually retake the stage to sing the group song together. This also happened during the London show, with all present idols returning to sing “Hope From Kwangya.”
SMTOWN FAMILY PHOTO📸
in SMTOWN LIVE 2025 [THE CULTURE, THE FUTURE] in LONDONThank you, LONDON!💞 #SMTOWN #SM_30thAnniversary#SMTOWN2025 #SMTOWN_LIVE #SMCU pic.twitter.com/Q8hm1X1qGq
— SMTOWN (@SMTOWNGLOBAL) June 28, 2025
SM’s newest boy group, dearALICE, were also present, performing in their hometown. dearALICE was formed through a collaboration between Moon&Back Media and SM to debut a British boy band within the K-Pop system.
In a clip circulating on social media, dearALICE’s Reese can be seen dancing on stage and moving in front of aespa, which caused the group to move aside.
@nicerice07dearalice lacking spatial awareness💀💀💀💀💀 edit: guys aespa didn’t care, it wasn’t on purpose and it was funny lol #dearalice #aespa #giselle #giselleaespa #aeri #ningning #ningningaespa #winter #winteraespa #karina #karinaaespa #smtown #smtown_live #sm #smentertaiment #blaise #dexter #reese #idktheothernames ♬ original sound – nicerice
Some viewed the interaction negatively, claiming that dearALICE were “targeting” the group and the interaction on purpose rather than an accident, using other moments from the final stage as “proof.”
On the other hand, many came to dearALICE’s defense, remarking that the group are fans of aespa and were just having fun onstage. Some even felt that the negative reactions were part of the reason why interactions between male and female idols were so limited.
