aespa member Ningning is drawing attention for directly addressing racist comments made against her.
Back in May 2024, a fan commented on Ningning's Instagram account "It's okay, Lingling." To the surprise of many, Ningning responded to the fan. She replied, "Hey," alongside an emoji of an angry cat.
Later on, Ningning made a comment that read, "I'm not xingxingdingdinglinglinglingringring."
Many fans criticized the user who called Ningning "Lingling," as well as slamming others who called her "Ringring" or other variations of her name. Many believe that these are slur words used against East Asians to make fun of their accents.
While Ningning addressed the racist comments on her social media, it appears she wanted to speak on it again. The female idol addressed the issue in a recent video uploaded to aespa's official YouTube channel.
During behind-the-scenes footage from the group's "Supernova" promotions, Ningning mentioned the comments she received again. She told the camera, "I saw this comment yesterday. A fan commented, 'It's okay, Lingling.'"
she’s NINGNING pic.twitter.com/g8UZolVd5y
— aespa pics (@aespapic) June 16, 2024
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Ningning quickly shut her down, correcting the user. She shook her head and appeared disappointed for a moment, before stating, "Hey. I'm not Lingling. I'm Ningning."
Many believe this must be an issue that bothers Ningning immensely, leading SM Entertainment to make sure this clip was included in the video despite it being released a month after the initial issue.
Though Ningning tried to smile while addressing the situation, MYs (aespa's fan base) were quick to share the clip online and asked others to stop calling her the wrong name as a joke.
yall are too comfortable running around w the ningning lingling joke that shit is just straight up sinophobia
— người băng phẫn ngoại 🔻 (@heechwang) June 18, 2024
im sorry but calling a chinese woman lingling as a “joke” is genuinely batshit crazy https://t.co/376jOtuhHC
— parma jawn 🫒2NE25‼️‼️ (@MlNGKKIS) June 17, 2024
On the other hand, many praised Ningning for directly addressing the issue in a way that is both firm and respectful.
this is a really nice way of her saying stop being fucking racist https://t.co/NLzmtmXE6Z
— َ (@BYULHARANCIAGA) June 17, 2024
man she is very kindly telling y’all to stop being racist i wish she was allowed to be much meaner than this https://t.co/oa5sqhe0Qt
— 🐰 (@pIanetflop) June 17, 2024
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What do you think of the situation? Tell us in the comments below!
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In other news, aespa will release their first Japanese single "Hot Mess" on July 3. They will also release two Japanese songs, "Sun and Moon" and "Zoom Zoom."
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The latter was initially released on October 6, 2023, as the ending theme song for the anime "Beyblade X."
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Written by Alexa Lopez