On October 12, Korean AI girl group BABYQUEEN suddenly issued a statement saying member Mity would suspend activities due to pregnancy. The announcement was also posted in Chinese on the group's Chinese-language account, drawing a flood of criticism as soon as it went live. The reason is not complicated: Mity is herself an AI virtual idol, and pregnancy is not a possibility. Yet the agency adopted the exact phrasing used for human idols, solemnly writing out a narrative of pregnancy, impending childbirth, and an unavoidable work hiatus for the sake of family. This dissonance in the character's setting left many netizens speechless.
The controversy had yet to subside when, on October 13, another Chinese-language post of nearly 500 characters appeared. This time, the copy was written in the voice of the pregnant member Mity herself. The text said she had recently confirmed the pregnancy, and after a long period of consideration and thorough discussion with the company and fellow members, she had decided to temporarily leave the group to focus on rest and recovery. It added that the decision was not easy, especially for the members and staff who had been preparing for the comeback together, and that she was truly sorry. The entire piece exuded reluctance to part with fans, its tone nearly indistinguishable from a human idol's hiatus announcement.
BABYQUEEN's Pregnancy Announcement Sparks Widespread Controversy
Coincidentally, just one hour after that statement was released, the group's Chinese account posted a new-song teaser announcing a comeback. The two events followed each other so closely that many netizens criticized the stunt as baffling. Viewed on the timeline, the group first used an official announcement to drop the pregnancy-hiatus news, then followed up with an emotionally charged long-form post in the member's voice, and immediately released comeback materials. The entire sequence was remarkably tight, making it hard not to see it as a complete communications plan. Having just rendered a sorrowful atmosphere around the character's pregnancy and inability to meet fans, they instantly pushed out comeback content — an operation that can hardly be described as anything but a marketing script.
In terms of communications effect, this approach certainly garnered attention, but at the cost of thoroughly blurring the boundary between virtual idols and real-world logic. AI idols can build their own narratives through lore and works, yet directly grafting the human-idol topic of childbirth onto a virtual character is neither internally consistent nor likely to preserve fan trust. As of now, BABYQUEEN has not offered further explanation regarding the external skepticism, and discussion surrounding the maneuver continues.