On Thursday, December 25, CORTIS and BABYMONSTER were some of the many performers and attendees at the 2025 SBS Gayo Daejeon annual year-end music festival. During the event, quite a few controversies landed on the internet surrounding CORTIS and the members' alleged disrespectful reactions to their peer artist, BABYMONSTER.
One of the audience members captured James' reaction to Ahyeon's high note and vocals during BABYMONSTER's performance at the event, and the idol's facial expression communicated that he was shocked and displeased by the same. As Ahyeon's note kept going higher, fans stated that James looked judgmental of her vocals and thereby expressed that his reaction to the BABYMONSTER member's performance was disrespectful.
As fans continued to debate and call out James' rude facial expressions to their fellow artists, the controversy was fueled by CORTIS's Christmas-themed performance at the 2025 SBS Gayo Daejeon. The K-pop boy group performed a hip-hop-style version of the classic Christmas track, Jingle Bell Rock, which garnered mixed reactions from fans. While some loved the new and fun twist to the iconic holiday song, others felt that it was unnecessary and too experimental.
Additionally, the members' vocals were also largely criticized. Since Jingle Bell Rock works with several vocal complications, netizens felt that the group's cover of the song was too flat and unpolished. This criticism specifically increased following James' reaction to Ahyeon's vocals. Many called out the idol for judging Ahyeon's high note following his allegedly poor vocal skills during the recent Jingle Bell Rock performance.
More fans and netizens shared their reactions to CORTIS's recent Jingle Bell Rock performance at the 2025 SBS Gayo Daejeon music festival.
Others also shared their thoughts and opinions regarding the same.
CORTIS is a South Korean K-pop boy group that debuted under BigHit Music in August 2025. The band stands as the third boy group to debut under BigHit Music, following BTS and TXT. Given the reputation of the agency and the two K-pop artists, netizens held great expectations for the new group, and many were soon stunned by their tracks.
CORTIS consists of the members James, Juhoon, Martin, Seonghyeon, and Keonho, with Martin standing as their leader. The group released a pre-debut track called GO! in August 2025, which was soon followed up with their official debut song, What You Want, as part of their first EP, Color Outside The Lines.
As the two songs continued to dominate the internet, the group put forth more viral tracks such as Fashion, Lullaby, and JoyRide. In less than six months since their debut, the group bagged multiple trophies. Two wins at the 2025 Asia Artist Awards for Rookie of the Year and Best Performance, one win at the 2025 MAMA Awards for Best New Artist, and the latest win at the 2025 TikTok Awards Korea for the Global Rookie Award.
Therefore, fans and netizens have been looking forward to more such releases and progression in the group's career in the upcoming days.