(By Esther Jung, MHN Sports) Starship Entertainment, the agency representing K-pop group IVE, has issued an apology after AI-generated composite images of the group’s members were shared on one of its official social media accounts.

Recently, controversy erupted within online communities after images containing suggestive elements, created using AI, were reposted on Starship’s official Chinese SNS account. The images quickly drew backlash from fans, who questioned the agency's oversight, with comments such as, “Is this for real from an official account?” and “There’s no way this was an accident.”

In response, Starship’s Chinese SNS account posted an official apology, explaining, “This incident occurred while an employee was reporting malicious posts. The problematic post has since been deleted.” The agency added, “We sincerely apologize to the artists and fans who were offended by this. We will ensure stricter account management to prevent such errors from happening again.”

Meanwhile, IVE is set to release the pre-release title track “REBEL HEART” from their upcoming album IVE EMPATHY on January 13.

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