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Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty ImagesJuly 24, 2026Beauty / Beauty FeatureBeauty / Beauty FeatureWhy the internet is praising celebrities for their ‘natural aegyo’

A K-pop fandom term has gone mainstream, with fans now using it to praise celebrities for seeming cute, lovable and authentic

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Lil Uzi Vert, young Timothée Chalamet, Zayn Malik (specifically his 2013 trip to Japan) and PinkPantheress: no one is safe from the comment section’s latest form of praise, “their natural aegyo is so refreshing.” The phrase is often overlaid onto CapCut edits of glowing celebrities, soundtracked by the bubbly melody of a K-pop song.

The word aegyo (애교) refers to a Korean concept that has long existed within K-pop culture as a term for charm, affection and cuteness. “Aegyo doesn’t have a direct English translation, but it generally refers to someone acting cute, lovable, or adorable,” explains K-beauty expert and beauty brand strategist Devon Abelman. Within idol culture, it’s often expressed through exaggerated facial expressions, higher-pitched voices, finger hearts and winks, and is regularly performed during fan interactions to appear endearing. “Celebs are often asked to ‘show their aegyo’ or ‘do aegyo’ too. It makes them seem more relatable,” she adds. However, as Abelman points out, the idea of “natural aegyo” is contradictory, since aegyo is typically performed rather than understood as an innate characteristic.

As the term circulates beyond K-pop fandoms and into Western meme language, its meaning has broadened to encompass almost any display of cuteness or expressiveness by a celebrity. It’s now common to stumble across the phrase “his natural aegyo is so refreshing” in comment sections, often confusing those unfamiliar with its origins.

But this popularity coincides with a broader internet obsession with authenticity in celebrities. As public images become increasingly curated across social media, comment sections have begun using the term as a shorthand to reward perceived authenticity. One viral video listing “non-K-pop idols with exceptional natural aegyo” includes names such as Underscores, Ayo Edebiri, Megan Thee Stallion and even hardcore rage artist Jane Remover – no one is exempt from classification.

As writer Felicity Martin explored for Dazed in 2024, authenticity has increasingly become a form of cultural currency, shaping how artists and celebrities are received online. In recent years, however, the pursuit of “realness” has become more complicated, with some artists actively pushing back against expectations of constant accessibility.

At the same time, fans have developed a growing appetite for any trace of unfiltered celebrity behaviour. When Fakemink’s old YouTube videos resurfaced, they were widely clipped and re-edited; Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams was praised for appearing un-media-trained; and Charli xcx’s unfiltered Letterboxd reviews were reposted tenfold. As Laura Pitcher has previously explored for Dazed, audiences are increasingly fatigued by media-trained polish, which can now be read as distance rather than professionalism.

“We have spent a decade watching celebrities perfect themselves into a kind of surreal glossy smoothness, almost digital in their sheen,” says author of Pixel Flesh Ellen Atlanta. “As an ordinary human audience, we then find ourselves scanning for any leaks, slips, any proof left that there’s a person under the brand content. When everything about a star can be bought, styled and strategised, the involuntary becomes precious.”

Interestingly, this fascination with expression also comes at a time when cosmetic procedures and aesthetic optimisation are increasingly normalised. “For all of human history, facial expressions have created a shared language,” Atlanta explains. “Tweakments (Botox in particular) have broken that contract. Botox freezes facial expressions (preventing frown lines but also causing other muscles to compensate, so in a way, creating new confusing facial expressions) and filler can obscure facial movement.” As she argues, this can fundamentally change how we communicate with and understand one another.

“Aegyo is interesting because it’s a performed cuteness, something idols practise and deploy when the brand necessitates. So ‘natural aegyo’ is the idol who is cute and endearing without seeming to try,” explains Atlanta. “What the fandom is really rewarding is a performance convincing enough to look like no performance at all. We want our celebrities to be beautiful and shiny but we also want the manufactured thing to move like something uninhibited.” Ultimately, “natural aegyo” is another way the internet expresses its ongoing search for authenticity in an increasingly curated celebrity culture.