To say that BTS and BLACKPINK are two of the most popular bands in the world is a severe understatement. Hence why speculation that two of the groups' core members—BTS' Kim Taehyung (aka V) and BLACKPINK's Jennie Kim— are dating has pretty much broken the internet since rumors began all the way back in December 2021. More recently, these two have upped the ante by being spotted on a romantic stroll together in the city of love, Paris. For all the deets on how we got here and a comprehensive timeline of Jennie and V's rumored romance, keep reading.
December 2021
According to AllKPop, rumors of a potential romance first begin after V follows—then promptly unfollows—Jennie on Instagram. The BTS member then takes to Korean fan community platform WeVerse to shake off the rumors, explaining, "Is there a way to get rid of the 'recommended' friends list here on this Insta thing?.... It's a scary app."
May 2022
The first sighting! A pic of V driving in a car on Jeju Island with someone who maaaay or may not be Jennie starts making waves online. At the time, people lose it over the implications of two mega-stars hanging out, though others are skeptical given that, pretty much up until this point, Jennie w rumored to be dating another celeb: Big Bang's G-Dragon.
In the midst of all of this ^^, an employee from the Korean airline T'way Air claims they saw V and Jennie on a flight to Jeju Island. "One employee of the Korean budget airline T'way wrote on the 'Blind' app saying that they saw BTS's V and BLACKPINK's Jennie together. She also said that many of the T'way employees thought they were publicly dating because the two were traveling together in the open," reported AllKPop. In-ter-est-ing!
Later in May 2022:
Jennie's agency, YG Entertainment, finally addresses all the speculation and says, "We have nothing to say [regarding this matter]. We will inform you if we have a different response to share."
Basically all of Jennie's reps after making the announcement:
August 2022
Another day, another set of images leaked to the public... but these don't go without tons of rightful scrutiny aimed at the source, who is accused of leaking the pics from Jennie's iCloud.
Later on, fans debunk some of the photos as fakes.
October 2022
YG, Jennie's agency, announces a formal investigation into who is leaking the singer's photos. "We have officially requested the police to investigate who first circulated Blackpink Jennie's personal photos," the management company reports. "YG has been consistently monitoring the matter and filed a lawsuit in September after collecting information."
"There have been indiscriminate rumors, criticism, personal attacks, sexual harassment, and violations of personal life sparked by those private photographs," the statement continues before adding that "we are now announcing that we will take legal action and correct the situation."
May 2023
Jennie and V are spotted taking a v cute stroll in Paris in a video captured by French journalist Amar Taoualit, which low-key high-key checks out with the celebs' schedules as V is in town for his Céline brand ambassadorship and Jennie is set to promote The Idol at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Soon thereafter, other images and videos of the two appear:
@taoualitamar #kimtaehyung and #jennie in #paris #blackpink #bts #taehyung #V #kpop ? Perfect - Ed Sheeran
And even the most cynical of fans can't deny that other images of the rumored couple out and about with their managers wearing the exact same 'fits confirm it is indeed V and Jennie.
In the wake of all of the ???? content, both of the musicians' entertainment agencies speak out about the dating rumors, but manage to leave fans feeling in the dark about what's really going on. Reportedly, the agencies speak with Sports Seoul (via Soompi) and reveal, "It is difficult to check [regarding this matter on the artists' private lives]."
Here's hoping that we get more intel on these two soon!
*This story originally appeared on Cosmopolitan.com. Minor edits have been made by Cosmo.ph editors.