aespa’s Winter is exposing how close she came to not debuting under SM Entertainment — and fans are outraged.
Winter revealed on the YouTube talk show Saloon Drip 2 that she auditioned for SM three separate times and was rejected each time. The company reportedly showed little interest until she started looking at other agencies.
She shared how her first audition had a bizarre moment where an SM staffer tried to recruit her brother instead.
Winter:
“I auditioned for SM three times! When I first went to audition, the SM employee who evaluated me saw my brother and tried to take him! So I was just like… ‘Didn’t you come for me? It was that easy?’ I couldn’t help but to think that way.”
Her brother auditioned too, but she admitted she was the stronger singer. Despite this, she still didn’t pass her first round.
Winter continued to face rejection at SM’s global audition in Busan. She started trying other companies, many of which wanted her back right away. Yet SM kept trying to pull her back for one final audition.
Winter:
“After that, they go to Busan for a global audition which I went to and got rejected again. So I assumed I wasn’t fit for SM. So I auditioned for different companies too and they all wanted to see me again. But I was still talking to the SM casting team, so I told them ‘I think I’ll be going somewhere else.’ And they wanted to have me come in and audition one last time.”“So I was like, ‘They said they didn’t like me… Are they just trying to stop me from going to a different company?’ But since I wanted to go to SM I auditioned one last time and I got in then.”
The story quickly went viral, sparking backlash against SM for nearly letting a top K-pop talent slip away.
Fans slammed the company on Twitter:
“she almost not debuting under that company… they think they can just play with someone’s dreams like that? imagine how discouraged she must’ve felt with the way she was rejected for 3 times, sm is really the worse. this company are lucky they gain a treasure and ace”
“"Now they want me because I’m leaving" This is one of my major red flags and I can’t believe SM did it to her I-”
“sm is actually so dumb. like she’s one of the greatest all-rounder in kpop that is also a visual”
“Wow imagine rejecting THE kim minjeong… sm you’re so lucky she kept trying bc look at who you could’ve missed out on AND who you almost made us miss out on ”
With contract renewals approaching in a few years, fans are already worried about whether Winter will stay with SM after this.
“There’s a high chance that she won’t renew her contract with that fuckass company if they won’t get their shit together”
Winter’s story shines a harsh light on the trainee struggle and SM’s questionable scouting decisions. Fans are watching closely as the situation develops.
