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| ▲ K-pop girl group ILLIT is seen in this file photo taken July 21, 2024. (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Yonhap) -- The controversy surrounding claims of bullying involving the girl group NewJeans and their dispute with HYBE has escalated into a conflict over the facts.
NewJeans members and their mothers allege that a manager from ILLIT, another girl group under HYBE, told others to "ignore" Hanni and that the relevant CCTV footage was deleted. However, ILLIT's agency has firmly denied these allegations.
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| ▲ This photo, provided by Hybe, shows NewJeans' Hanni singing "Aoi Sangoshou." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
According to industry sources on the 7th, NewJeans members' mothers stated in an interview that “the video of Hanni greeting members of the other group (ILLIT) was kept, but the CCTV footage containing the ‘ignore’ comment was deleted.”
This aligns with Hanni's statement made during a YouTube live stream on August 11, where she mentioned, “While getting makeup done, I encountered a manager and another idol group member (from HYBE), and the manager said ‘ignore her’ loudly enough for me to hear.”
In response, BELIFT LAB released an official statement denying the allegations, stating, “The ILLIT protocol staff member (manager) did not make such a comment about NewJeans, and ILLIT members never ignored NewJeans members.”
According to BELIFT LAB’s explanation, the incident was first raised by NewJeans’ parents on June 13, leading to an investigation of CCTV footage, the protocol staff, and the artists. The investigation revealed that the only encounter between NewJeans and ILLIT occurred on May 27 at HYBE's office, where they were in the same space for about five minutes. The CCTV footage reportedly showed ILLIT members bowing at a 90-degree angle to Hanni as they exited the elevator.
BELIFT LAB further explained, “When we reviewed this footage with Min Hee-jin (former CEO of ADOR) on August 14, she claimed that the act of not greeting occurred after this scene, suggesting the existence of other footage. However, by then, the 30-day retention period for the footage had expired, making it impossible to obtain additional footage, according to the security company. Min’s side claims that HYBE intentionally deleted the footage.”
Additionally, BELIFT LAB emphasized that the protocol staff member in question always used honorific language with the artists, making it unlikely they would say "ignore her." They also noted that the CCTV system does not record audio, making the claims about the content of the conversation unverifiable.
As the controversy over the "ignore" comment involving Hanni has grown into broader accusations of bullying against NewJeans, Hanni has been summoned as a witness to discuss idol group bullying and workplace harassment at a National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee hearing scheduled for the 15th.
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