“Kim Taehyung and Jennie in Paris,” wrote journalist Amar Taoualitb when sharing footage of the BTS singer (known as V) and BLACKPINK star walking hand-in-hand in Paris. In the TikTok that Amar shared, V and Jennie, both 27, hold hands while taking a pleasant stroll along the Seine. Jennie sports a white bucket hat that matches her coat and shoes. V does his best Ignatius J. Reilly with a white cap, the flaps pulled down around his ears.
“All I can say is… THEY’RE NOW MY PARENTS. YES. TWO OF MY BIASES,” wrote one fan in the video’s comment section. “It’s making me emotional seeing them – I’m happy for them, and I will support them,” added another. “I can see his smile from afar. I’m very sure he’s happy, so let’s just be happy for him, and for the both of them Armys & Blinks,” wrote another fan. Some questioned whether or not this was V and Jennie (she’s in France to promote The Idol at Cannes.) Amar doubled down on his claims that it was the two K-Pop stars.
Speculation of a potential romance between Jennie and V began in December 2021, per Elle, when V briefly followed-unfollowed the BLACKPINK star on Instagram. Shortly afterward, V posted on Weverse that it was an accidental follow. He asked, “Is there a way to get rid of the ‘recommended’ friends list here on this Insta thing?…. It’s a scary app.”
However, in May 2022, the dating rumors surfaced again with a photo appeared online that supposedly showed them driving on a Jeju island date. More photos of Jennie and V seemingly together on that date and spending time together in other places leaked in August and September. K-Pop fans, the Internet sleuths that they are, dissected the photos with such precision that would make Swifties jealous.
Jennie’s agency, YG Entertainment, said in May that it has “nothing to say [regarding this matter]. We will inform you if we have a different response to share,” per Elle. V’s agency, Big Hit Music, didn’t respond. However, in October, YG Entertainment released a statement saying it would take legal action against those circulating Jennie’s private photos.
“We have refrained from mentioning the matter or making an official statement in order to minimize any further damage,” the agency said in its statement, per Korea JoongAng Daily. “However, there have been indiscriminate rumors, criticism, personal attacks, sexual harassment and violations of personal life sparked by those private photographs.”
“The photos [of Jennie] distributed online were made public illegally, without Jennie’s consent,” the statement continued. “Sharing those images is an act of secondary victimization and can be subject to legal penalty. Please refrain from indiscriminately sharing those images.”