In October 2021, rumors V was dating the daughter of the president of Paradise Group, a hotel and resort conglomerate, spread throughout Korean online communities after he was spotted at a gallery exhibit with her and her mother (who happens to be the chairwoman of Paradise Group’s Paradise Culture Foundation). Hybe quickly shut down the rumors in a statement, saying, “Chairwoman Choi Yoon Jung’s family and V are just acquaintances.” Still, that didn’t stop V from speaking out about dating rumors himself on Weverse. “Pathetic. I’d like to sing UGH,” he wrote in an Oct. 14, 2021, post, according to a fan translation by Twitter user @Choi_BTS2. “In tonight’s dream I’ll shoot poisoned needle on their back necks. Please watch out your back neck.”
Most recently, in May 2022, rumors began to spread that V and Jennie from Blackpink were dating. The rumors were based on a photo that appeared to show V driving in a car with someone who looked like Jennie on Jeju Island. While some fans believed the photo was real, other fans questioned its authenticity since photo manipulations aren’t uncommon when it comes to shipping idols (based on this list, it’s safe to say dating rumors are more often fabricated than not when it comes to BTS). However, when reached out to for comment regarding the rumors, Jennie’s label, YG, released a statement saying, “We have nothing to say [regarding this matter]. We will inform you if we have a different response to share,” according to Chosun (via Soompi).
A few months later, in late August 2022, another photo of Jennie snapping a pic of V while he’s getting his hair styled leaked. In the photo, V appears to be wearing the same outfit he wore to the airport to attend the Celine fashion show in Paris on June 23 (which he, coincidentally, attended with Jennie’s bandmate Lisa), suggesting they may have hung out before his departure.
More photos of the pair would ultimately leak, and YG released a statement that seemed to suggest they were starting an investigation into who was leaking the photos. “We have officially requested the police to investigate who first circulated Blackpink Jennie’s personal photos,” YG said in an October 2022 statement (via Rolling Stone).
“We have refrained from mentioning the matter or making an official statement in order to minimize any further damage. However, there have been indiscriminate rumors, criticism, personal attacks, sexual harassment, and violations of personal life sparked by those private photographs,” the statement continued. “We are now announcing that we will take legal action and correct the situation.”
While some fans took this as confirmation that V and Jennie did date, others still doubt the authenticity of the photos or believe YG could have been referencing other breaches of privacy in their statement. Hybe has yet to address the dating rumors. Whatever the case may be, it’s unclear what V’s current relationship status is.