Chinese-American actress Liu Yifei’s decision to crop Vietnamese singer Ho Ngoc Ha out of a group photo has drawn comparisons with the controversy over Rosé’s removal from an Elle UK image at Paris Fashion Week.

A crop that sparked controversy

Vietnamese social media erupted on Sept. 9 over a series of photos posted by Liu Yifei from a luxury jewelry and fashion event in Shanghai, China. Vietnamese singer Ho Ngoc Ha appeared alongside Liu Yifei and the brand’s CEO in the original group photo, but was completely absent from the version shared by the Chinese actress.

Ho Ngoc Ha had earlier posted the full photo showing all three of them and praised her Chinese-American counterpart, prompting greater scrutiny of Liu’s decision to crop her out, with some interpreting the move as unfriendly.

Criticism spread quickly across social media platforms, and Liu Yifei later removed the photo featuring the CEO. Ho subsequently addressed the controversy but adopted a measured tone and did not escalate the situation.

For many observers, it was not the first time a high-profile celebrity had mysteriously disappeared from a group photo. The incident quickly drew comparisons with a controversy that erupted in international entertainment not long ago, when BlackPink’s Rosé was cropped out of a group photo posted by British fashion magazine Elle during Paris Fashion Week.

Not just an Asian celebrity phenomenon

In October 2025, Rosé attended Saint Laurent’s Paris Fashion Week show, sitting in the front row alongside Hailey Bieber, Zoë Kravitz and Charli XCX. At the time, Rosé was a global ambassador for the fashion house.

However, when Elle posted a photo of the four celebrities on social media, only the three Western stars appeared. Rosé had been completely cropped out of the frame.

BlackPink fans reacted strongly, with many social media accounts accusing the publication of racism and of disregarding an Asian artist, despite Rosé being an official global ambassador for the brand staging the show.

The backlash became intense enough for Elle to remove the post and issue a public apology, explaining that the crop was related to the composition of the image. It also published additional individual photos of Rosé in an effort to address the criticism.

Around the same time, Charli XCX also faced criticism after posting a photo in which Rosé’s face appeared blurred.

Disappearing from group photos is hardly exclusive to Asian show business. Rapper Diddy was repeatedly spotted by social media users cropping Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner out of photos posted on Instagram, inspiring a long-running meme known as “DiddyCrop.”

Diddy blamed the incidents on photo-editing mistakes, although much of the public remained unconvinced by the explanation.

A lesson in image management

For many celebrities and their management teams, personal social media accounts are viewed as spaces where they have complete control over who appears, allowing each post to fit the personal brand they are trying to build.

Behind many such crops is what international media sometimes describe as a “protagonist mindset” - treating the celebrity being represented as the central character in every image while minimizing the presence of people who do not directly contribute to that personal narrative.

Problems emerge when this commercial logic collides with social etiquette at public events, where everyone appearing in a group photo may be regarded as an equal guest. Removing just one person can easily invite the public to read status into the decision: who matters and who is not worth acknowledging.

In Asian cultures, where maintaining face and professional relationships is highly valued, public reactions to such cropping incidents can be more intense and prolonged than in the West, where similar episodes sometimes end up primarily as internet jokes.

There is no rule requiring celebrities to include everyone present in a photograph when posting it on their personal accounts. The right to control content on one’s own social media pages is widely accepted.

At brand events, red carpets or diplomatic functions, however, images can take on a more official character. Quietly removing a colleague from a group photo therefore carries significant reputational risks, particularly when the other person has already publicly demonstrated goodwill.

From the Liu Yifei-Ho Ngoc Ha controversy to Rosé’s experience, the common lesson is that celebrity management teams increasingly need to weigh the desire for a “clean” image centered on their client against the risk that an edit will be interpreted as disrespect toward a colleague.

Elle UK’s response - removing the post, apologizing, offering an explanation and publishing additional content featuring the person affected - also provides a reference point for handling similar controversies.

Minh Phi