ILLIT Iroha’s Cover Of aespa’s “Rich Man” Triggers Heated Debate Amid Poor Performance Controversy

aespa‘s performance for Good Morning America earlier in the month sparked scathing reviews from fans.

aespa Receive Scathing Reviews For “Mess” Performance On “Good Morning America”

Yet, amid the discourse on the performance and how the members did better with improved camera work and backing dancers, ILLIT Iroha‘s cover of “Rich Man” has triggered a heated debate online.

ILLIT’s Iroha | ILLIT/Weverse

On September 25, Iroha did a live broadcast where she did dance covers to a lot of iconic songs.

Songs that #IROHA covered on LIVE today:

CORTIS "GO!"
NCT WISH "Color"
CORTIS "FaSHioN"
BTS "Butter"
ME:I "Click"
BTS JungKook "Seven"
CRUSH "Click Like"
BTS "Run BTS"
aespa "Rich Man"
JENNIE "like JENNIE" pic.twitter.com/qmX5DD5c0P

— zack ❤︎ (@sakaiscat) September 25, 2025

One of the covers was aespa’s “Rich Man.”

IROHA danced to “Rich Man" by aespa during her recent live ❤️‍🔥#IROHA #이로하 #ILLIT #아일릿pic.twitter.com/1T9SZqvN6j

— ILLIT UNIVERSE (@ILLIT_UNIVERSE) September 25, 2025

It sparked a heated debate as netizens pointed out that the choreography and lack of backing dancers weren’t the issue, pointing out that if Iroha could do it powerfully in just a dance studio, then aespa should have. They added that aespa shouldn’t have needed backing dancers, good lighting, and different choreography to shine on the stage.

so the problem isn’t the choreography.. https://t.co/zwyqtIxtA9

— rim ✦ (@bratzlibra) September 25, 2025

The conclusion is that there was nothing wrong with the choreography. https://t.co/IkXRZPOG9B pic.twitter.com/GkKJPqxIx1

— Aespann_jeans (@a1071364) September 26, 2025

.@aespa_official take notes https://t.co/jBbnamIH8Y

— lulu ୨ৎ (@minjupiie) September 25, 2025

Mind you mys made fun of irohas dancing just for her to outdance their favs in their own song https://t.co/sxvG0sJysI

— kitty (@str4w_ch5rry) September 25, 2025

see the prblm was never the choreo it was the girls who cant dance https://t.co/d9MTUy3jRD

— JYP ENTERTAINMENT (@ryujisuengmin) September 25, 2025

Iroha be like : This is how you do it (WITHOUT ANY BACKUP DANCERS AND CAMERA WORK) and mys will point out “Iroha is not singing” did aespa sing? ohh just lip sync. https://t.co/m4t7OnBd28

— ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ (@notsokindforu) September 25, 2025

You can read about aespa’s “improved” performance after the criticism below.

Tables Turn With aespa’s Latest Live Performance In The US