NewJeans livestream sparks call for investigation into HYBE

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NewJeans livestream sparks call for investigation into HYBE

Published: 12 Sep. 2024, 12:33

YOON SO-YEON
yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr

Girl group NewJeans [ADOR]

NewJeans' surprise livestream on Wednesday evening has stirred public interest, with one online user claiming to have requested the Ministry of Employment and Labor to investigate HYBE while hashtags related to the livestream's revelations were trending on X, formerly known as Twitter.

An anonymous online user claimed on Thursday that they requested the Labor Ministry to investigate whether HYBE violated the Labor Standards Act by bullying or harassing the NewJeans members, based on testimonies revealed during the group's YouTube livestream.

Member Hanni alleged that a HYBE manager instructed an artist to "ignore her" in her presence at the HYBE headquarters in central Seoul. Minji added that there have been additional instances of "subtle bullying" that she could not disclose further.

Earlier this year, parents of NewJeans members revealed that HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk had intentionally ignored the members when he saw them. However, it was argued that he did so because he has prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, a condition where people have difficulty recognizing other's faces.

"I was devastated after watching yesterday's video as a fan of NewJeans," the netizen said. "I filed the request for an investigation because I felt it was necessary to uncover the truth behind the NewJeans bullying allegations."

Members of girl group NewJeans in a livestream held Sept. 11 on YouTube [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The Labor Ministry did not confirm to the Korea JoongAng Daily whether such a complaint was made, stating that it does not provide information on individual requests.

X users began a hashtag with the phrase "BangPD_two_weeks_to_normalize_ADOR," referencing the Sept. 25 deadline Minji gave HYBE to reinstate Min Hee-jin as the CEO of ADOR. The members did not reveal their plans if the deadline was not met. As of Thursday morning, there are 255,000 posts using the hashtag.

Meanwhile, some online users criticized NewJeans for allegedly making a hasty decision to call out their company executives and staff members. Some even compared NewJeans to Fifty Fifty, referring to the former members of the girl group who sued their agency Attrakt last year after early success in their career.

HYBE had not made an official statement as of Thursday morning.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]