Who Is Gurumiharibo? The User “Leaking” Alleged Dating Photos Of BTS’s V And BLACKPINK’s Jennie

Photos of alleged K-Pop couple BTS‘s V and BLACKPINK‘s Jennie have been circulating online, all “leaked” by a Twitter and Telegram user known as Gurumi Haribo (@gurumiharibo).

Dating rumors about V and Jennie began in December of 2021 when V accidentally followed Jennie’s Instagram account. The first “dating photo” of the stars would not be leaked, however, until May of this year.

This is a photo that was sent in today. It might be they’re lookalikes, but it is allegedly a photo of two top idols. The female idol, in particular, has been rumored to have broken up with an OG idol member. So fans seem to be more receptive to this photo as true. We won’t name any names as we are not able to fact-check the photo.

— Instagram Account @dailyfashion_news

At the time of its release, many fans believed the above photo was fake, possibly edited from a screenshot from BTS’s show, BTS In the SOOP, or other publicly available media.

The first photo released by Gurumi Haribo was a backstage mirror selfie of a woman (supposedly Jennie) snapping a photo of a stylist curling V’s hair. Netizens, who believe the photo is a composite selfie, have had difficulty locating the original photos of Jennie and V. They have, however, pointed out what appear to be editing blunders.

I would like to point out that the harsh white edges and lines usually point to photo editing js. https://t.co/nweEmw12ky pic.twitter.com/CBtJioqq4r

— Liz (@mystic_mochi7) August 24, 2022

Gurumi Haribo followed up the backstage selfie with a full-body mirror selfie, supposedly taken at V’s apartment, and a close-up mirror selfie of “V” and “Jennie” wearing matching Winnie the Pooh shirts.

Who is Gurumi Haribo? Some fans believe the user is a hacker, who stole pre-edit photos from V and Jennie’s respective accounts, or someone who had in-person access to the idols’ phones. Twitter user Neon (@Neon86342259), who claims they approached Gurumi Haribo as a customer, says the user is interested in accepting commissions to edit celebrities’ photos.

⚠️ THREAD : THE DARK TRUTH ABOUT GURUMIHARIBO ⚠️
I send them an email saying I was looking for an edit to create a new scandal. I also let them know that if I was wrong about them, they should just ignore my email. However they replied asking which members I wanted to involve AND

— Neon (@Neon86342259) August 24, 2022

Gurumi Haribo’s Twitter account has been suspended, but the user is still active on Telegram, a messaging app that allows users to create groups for up to 20,000 people. Thousands of netizens have joined Gurumi Haribo’s group chat, where the user recently fielded questions.

Gurumi Haribo says they are working alone, but it appears that they did not have direct access to the photos’ sources.

Gurumi Haribo says that they left “a very big hint” on Twitter, prior to their suspension, that pointed to the person who originally sent them the photos.

Gurumi Haribo said that before leaking the photos, they reached out to two people implied to be Jennie and V.

The user says Jennie has not responded to their messages.

Gurumi Haribo also states that no idols, other than Jennie and V, appear in the photos they have released.

One user in the group chat urged Gurumi Haribo to reveal information about the other six BTS members, but Gurumi Haribo replied, “I do not have information on the other 6 members of BTS.”

Since the beginning of K-Pop “dating” and “scandal,” have gone hand in hand, in part because dating shatters the illusion that idols are romantically accessible to fans. Dating news can also spark fan wars, affect agencies’ stock value, and unleash anti-fan hate on one or both idols involved in the relationship.

Neither HYBE Labels nor YG Entertainment has addressed Gurumi Haribo’s photos, more of which could be on the way. Many fans are now urging the agencies to speak up and protect their artists.

HYBE PROTECT TAEHYUNG
Gurumiharibo said he'll post another picture on August 31st. It needs to be stopped because that person is invading an artist's privacy and the company is doing nothing regarding this. Now enough of the silence. Hybe should take action regarding this.

— Preethi (@Preethi83335968) August 30, 2022

what’s alarming is gurumiharibo and the fact that these pictures were leaked out of their knowledge/consent. report the issue to yg and hybe because at this point, they look a little too real that i fear for their safety and privacy.

— throw away acc (@breadnomnom) August 30, 2022