5 days ago
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Shotaro, a member of K-pop boy group Riize, has personally refuted ongoing dating rumours between him and Giselle, a member of K-pop girl group Aespa. The rumours between the two first started after fans claimed to have seen Giselle in a video call with a young man resembling Shotaro.
On Wednesday (Jan 28) night, Shotaro held a livestream on fan platform Weverse. During the session, a few fans began bombarding the comments section, demanding that the 25-year-old clarify his relationship with Giselle, also 25.
After trying to ignore the comments at first, Shotaro eventually addressed the rumours.
"Since just now, strange things have been popping up in the comments section," he said.
"People are saying stuff like 'Did you date Giselle?' We are absolutely not in that kind of relationship. She is a senior at the company [SM Entertainment] and someone I've known for a long time. However, we were never in that sort of relationship, so don't misunderstand and say things like that. I really don't want to talk about this kind of stuff."
Shotaro also added that he would "report anyone who says anything weird".
In the past, members of both Riize and Aespa have faced backlash from fans after being revealed to be in relationships or even becoming embroiled in dating rumours.
Former Riize member Seunghan was put on hiatus in November 2023 after photos of him kissing a woman in bed and smoking – taken before his debut as an idol – were leaked online. He eventually left the group in October 2024.
In March 2024, Aespa member Karina penned a handwritten apology to fans after it was reported that she was dating actor Lee Jae-wook. The two eventually broke up.
More recently, Aespa member Winter was involved in dating rumours with BTS member Jungkook, following claims of the two sporting matching tattoos and accessories. Both idols then experienced online harassment, with Winter’s official Instagram page seeing hostile comments.
