The Journey of ITZY's Hate Train

By: Francine Kamutenga, IST Tanzania.

ITZY is a well-known and famous girl group in the K-pop community, supported by their fanbase, MIDZYs. ITZY made their official debut with the single album IT’z Different, with Dalla Dalla going viral on February 12, 2019, earning them Rookie of the Year awards. Throughout six years of their music journey, they were loved and idolized for their talent and for promoting themes of self-love and independence in their music until 2022.

In 2022, they released a song named Sneakers, which many fans expressed hate towards ITZY for publishing, as it was seen as unsuitable for their established independence and self-love theme. Sneakers began gaining more negative attention than positive attention, as more K-pop supporters shared criticism, comparing it to their “better” discographies such as ICY, WANNABE, Not Shy, and more. After this, ITZY experienced a major hate train regarding the group and even the individual members—Yeji, Lia, Ryujin, Chaeryeong, and Yuna.

Shortly after, in September 2023, Lia’s hiatus was announced so she could focus on her mental health, causing her to miss group promotions and the world tour for the BORN TO BE album. This hiatus left the rest of the ITZY members devastated, as they had to continue promotions and be viewed as a group of four rather than five while waiting for Lia’s return. Due to the after-effects of Lia’s ten-month hiatus, haters began commenting that ITZY was “OT4” or that “ITZY is better without Lia,” rather than “OT5,” which means supporting all five members as one true group.

ITZY’s emotional turmoil regarding Lia’s absence was illustrated deeply during their Born to Be world tour in Seoul, when they noticed her in the audience and became emotional, leading almost all members to tears, as it had been five months since she had stood alongside the group (September 18, 2023 – February 25, 2024). Lia did not immediately return after this moment, as her hiatus continued until July 8, 2024, when she officially came back during a livestream with the rest of the group.

Recently, ITZY’s hate train has settled down since the release of Girls Will Be Girls on June 9, 2025, which gained popularity for reviving their self-love concept. They later released Tunnel Vision on November 10, which fascinated their community, MIDZY, through its catchy rhythm and energetic choreography.