aespa’s New Music Video Hit With Scathing Backlash

Girl group aespa’s latest release has left a majority of their fans utterly disappointed.

aespa | SM Entertainment

On September 19, KST, aespa released a music video for a remix version of their latest single, “Rich Man.” The three-minute-twenty-five seconds long video appeared to be completely made with AI-generated visuals.

As soon as the video was dropped, fans didn’t hold back in expressing how much they disliked it, questioning why the label even felt it was necessary to put out a video like this.

this could´ve been a compilation of stock footage but you decided to burn the entire forests of poland for this. aespa deserves better https://t.co/WgU3XBboTl

— ֗ (currently shadowrealmed) 🏳️‍⚧️ (@D0ru__) September 19, 2025

is this deadass just a whole ai mv…not a single person asked for this https://t.co/nLBlIJQYtq

— 🥚 (@karwinfan) September 19, 2025

when your goat is washed 💔💔💔💔 https://t.co/a63Zjxf0kF

— raina 🧪🫟🎵 (@raintthunder) September 19, 2025

shit from a butt is now released😍 https://t.co/iJANoWKkpc

— YVES MI AMOR (@paradisio1111) September 19, 2025

Fans’ distaste for the music video was not restricted to social media posts alone. While the X post announcing the release has garnered over 1.3 million views at the time of writing, the YouTube video itself has only managed to attract less than 62,000 views in over sixteen hours. These numbers are clearly reflective of an active resistance among aespa fans against AI-generated music videos. The comments also show a similar sentiment among viewers.

With the recent controversy over their “Rich Man” performance on Good Morning America already affecting aespa’s comeback, this music video has delivered another blow to the trust between fans and SM Entertainment’s artist management.

Should AI-generated content be this normalized in K-Pop?