NewJeans's agency says it will sue those who leave hate comments

Girl group NewJeans [ADOR]

NewJeans's agency ADOR will sue those who write malicious comments or spread rumors about the girl group's members after a hate comment emerged during the group's livestream on Monday.

The comment, telling the group's member Hyein to "die," appeared during Hyein and her bandmate Minji's streaming session on Monday.

"That's so mean," Hyein said after seeing the comment.

Minji, who was with her, took a screenshot of the username of the person who made the comment.

The agency, in a notice on the group's communication platform Phoning, said, "Please be assured that we are consistently taking legal measures against any acts of defamation, insult and spreading false information leading to reputational damage."

Hyein, who received the hate comment, is 15 years old, while members Minji and Hanni are 19. Danielle is 18, and Haerin is 17.

The agency also said it will only allow paying subscribers to leave live comments.

"In our effort to encourage active communication between NewJeans and our fans, we have previously allowed unrestricted live comments for everyone," ADOR said.

NewJeans debuted in July 2022 under agency ADOR, a music label under HYBE, and has been one of the biggest names in K-pop ever since its debut. It's known for its hit songs, including "Attention" (2022), "Hype Boy" (2022) and "Ditto" (2022).

To find out more about NewJeans, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]