SEOUL, Oct 30 — HYBE has apologised for its industry evaluation report revealed during a Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee’s National Assembly audit on October 24 that caused an uproar within the KPop community.
The document — which exposed plans to ‘dispose NewJeans’, as well as derogatory remarks towards other managements and idols — stirred up a hornet’s nest with names like Blackpink, TWICE, IVE, aespa, Stray Kids, NCT Dream, (G)I-DLE, Seunghan formerly of RIIZE, NCT’s Haechan and NMIXXs’ Haewon thrown about.
HYBE CEO Lee Jae-sang issued an apology yesterday began saying “I bow my head and apologise to our artists, industry insiders, and fans regarding our monitoring document.“The document was written after the fact to gather various reactions and public opinions on industry trends and issues.
“It was shared only with some leadership in order to understand public opinion in the market and among artist fans, but the content of the document was highly inappropriate,” he said.
“I acknowledge all my mistakes on behalf of the company and feel responsible for the fact that it contained provocative and crude expressions toward KPop artists, the fact that the writer’s personal views and evaluations were added, and the fact that the content ended up in a document.
“I am especially sorry and devastated by the fact that innocent artists and members are being misunderstood and harmed by the suspicions of reverse virality, which are completely false.”
Lee said he formally and sincerely apologises to artists “who were harmed and hurt” by the document.
“I am contacting each agency separately to apologise directly. I am also sincerely and officially apologising to all the artists of HYBE Music Group who are being criticised because of the company.
“I have immediately stopped writing the monitoring document. I promise to establish guidelines and strengthen internal controls so that this kind of problem never happens again.”
