HYBE Star Hit With Massive Backlash After Addressing “BLACKPINK Controversy”

KATSEYE’s Sophia has found herself in hot water once again after opening up about the wave of hate she received from BLACKPINK fans earlier this year. What was meant to be a casual livestream chat quickly reignited heated debate, with many criticizing her response.

| @sophia_laforteza/Instagram

During her recent live broadcast with group member Yoonchae, Sophia reflected on a brief encounter she had with BLACKPINK’s Rosé at the VMAs.

We got to say hi to each other, and then Rosé left. She probably doesn’t remember me. She doesn’t have to. It’s okay. She was the sweetest person to me, and she didn’t have to be. She was just amazing. I told her congratulations on winning Song of the Year, and how she’s inspired KATSEYE so much, and how I love her album and everything.

— KATSEYE’s Sophia

The story, however, led Sophia to mention the backlash she had previously faced — when she was accused of being disrespectful toward BLACKPINK after liking a video that lightly criticized the group’s lack of recent activity.

Popular Female Idol Hit With Malicious Hate Comments For Liking A Video “Shading” BLACKPINK

At the time, many fans claimed Sophia’s “like” was an intentional dig at the group, despite her explaining during the livestream that she hadn’t even watched the full video and that the situation had been blown out of proportion. She emphasized that she’s always been a BLACKPINK fan herself and chose not to respond to the hate because she didn’t want to add more fuel to the situation.

BLACKPINK fans were coming for me at one point… I didn’t even watch that full video… that’s the crazy part. But I just let it happen, because what people were saying wasn’t true. There was no point in fighting it. I’m such a huge BLACKPINK fan myself, so it was just like… when it was all going down, I thought, ‘Well, they believe what they want to believe.’

— KATSEYE’s Sophia

sophia talked about how kind rosé was when she met her backstage at the vma’s & talks about how she felt when blackpink fans started attacking her over an instagram like.

you can tell all the hate affected her. she didn’t even do anything wrong oh sophia i love you so much. pic.twitter.com/KV1EJUCF40

— 🐈 (@a2kcami) October 3, 2025

However, her attempt to clarify things doesn’t seem to have gone over well.

Why doesn’t she talk about how her fandom attacks Blackpink all the time? I mean https://t.co/M2rG3a4AnX pic.twitter.com/lL742iYMdI

— ‏ً (@ibratzlly) October 3, 2025

Funny how she's too blind to see her own fandom also did worse things to BP members. This is you and your fandom btw https://t.co/SqKW1CQ0eg pic.twitter.com/sMwVI2RIv8

— moonie (@itsmooniiieee) October 3, 2025

Girl fuck her and fuck you too https://t.co/NK2oTBD6ba pic.twitter.com/PF3DlTLVqv

— ،. Opal (@PlnkOpaIism) October 3, 2025

Despite the backlash, many fans have continued to defend Sophia, insisting that her comments were harmless and that she’s been unfairly targeted since the incident first began.