Ilgan Sports - Reporter Jeon Hyunghwa
https://m.entertain.naver.com/now/article/241/0003385133
On the evening of October 8, the mothers of NewJeans members stated in an interview with Ilgan Sports: "Belift Lab made a statement on the 7th, but it contained too many incorrect facts. We all requested CEO Kim Jooyoung of ADOR to issue an official statement as ADOR’s representative on this issue. However, Kim Jooyoung replied that if they issue a statement based on the parents' and Hanni’s explanation of the situation, there is a high possibility that there will be further rebuttals. If this happens, it could lead to a vicious cycle of back-and-forth responses. For this reason, she decided not to issue a statement."
Mother A, one of the NewJeans members' mothers, said, "There are issues now and we want to correct the facts, we have no place to express our stance, and it’s supposed to be the agency’s role to do that. Since they refused to do it, we had no choice but to contact Ilgan Sports again."
Previously, in a NewJeans emergency live broadcast on September 11, Hanni revealed that while waiting in a hallway in HYBE's building, she greeted another artist. However, when she encountered that artist again, the manager beside her told the members, "Ignore her," which shocked viewers. In relation to this, the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee selected ADOR’s CEO and HYBE’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Kim Jooyoung, as a witness for a national audit on workplace bullying, and Hanni as a reference witness.
In an interview published by Ilgan Sports on the 7th, NewJeans' mothers claimed that although the CCTV footage of Hanni greeting the other artist exists, the footage containing the 'Ignore her' remark has been deleted. They criticized the current ADOR management and HYBE for not taking proper action to resolve the issue.
On the 7th, in response, HYBE released a statement under Belift Lab’s name on its official website, stating, "We strongly demand that groundless attempts to defame a rookie artist by making unfounded claims about greetings, following baseless plagiarism accusations, be stopped immediately. ILLIT's manager never made a remark to 'ignore' a NewJeans member. When we reviewed the footage together with CEO Min Heejin's side on August 14, her side raised a new argument that the greeting occurred after the footage shown."
Mother A responded, "Belift Lab’s claim in their statement that this is a ‘greeting issue, a matter of goodwill between labels,’ is distorting the core of the problem. Hanni never mentioned that they never greeted her. The issue is that the other artist's manager allegedly told them to ignore Hanni."
She continued, "We have made efforts to resolve this matter within the company. We never publicly pointed fingers at a specific label or artist. However, Belift Lab’s statement, which includes false claims, is tarnishing both NewJeans and our families’ reputations."
Mother B, another NewJeans member’s mother, added, "CEO Kim Jooyoung said she was surprised to know that we conducted an interview without consulting the company. In fact, we have repeatedly asked for this issue to be resolved, and nothing was done. That’s why we agreed to the interview. We also requested that CEO Kim issue a statement from ADOR regarding Belift Lab's falsehoods, but she refused because she's worried it might cause conflict between labels. If the company won’t fight against lies, where and how can we tell the truth?"
Mother B stressed, "CEO Kim said that she would issue an announcement to the entire HYBE team, including the artists, regarding greeting culture and manners so that this won't happen again in the future. I don't know how many times I've said it, but we are not raising an issue about 'greetings.' Our issue is about the unfair treatment NewJeans has received."
Mother B also revealed, "On June 13, we sent an official email to ADOR's board of directors raising the issue, but CEO Kim Jooyoung, who was also on the board, showed a lukewarm response. We requested photos of Belift Lab’s managers several times to identify those involved in this matter, but received no response."
She explained, "They claimed showing photos would raise human rights concerns. Then we asked if they can’t at least identify the manager responsible for the date and time Hanni mentioned? We never received a proper answer."
Mother B noted, "We checked how many times we have raised this issue. After reviewing the emails, we found that from June 13 to June 25, July 10, and July 20, we were in communication almost weekly through emails, continuously asking for help."
Mother C added, "We didn’t see any footage before the August 14 review. Therefore, Belift Lab’s claim that 'CEO Min Heejin’s side raised a new argument after seeing the footage' is a clear lie. Moreover, it wasn’t even CEO Min Heejin who made that claim, they’re just using her name to mislead the public."
She continued, "CCTV footage can only be checked by the individual, so Hani and a manager went to review it. How can Belift Lab claim that CEO Min Hee-jin’s side saw it and changed their stance? Their constant changing of stories and fabrication is frightening."
Mother C said, "At that time, Hanni was extremely busy preparing for the Tokyo Dome fan concert and other activities in Japan. That’s why she went to review the footage after wrapping up her Japan schedule."
"When we first raised the issue, we clearly explained that it happened when Hanni was alone. Yet on August 14, the footage that HYBE showed to Hanni was the one where she was together with an ADOR manager and Danielle."
Mother C added, "When Hanni came to check the footage, a security guard told her that there was other footage of them greeting when they came in and them passing each other without greeting when they exited. However, those were deleted because they didn't think it was necessary. The security guard was trembling and couldn’t even make an eye contact with Hanni while explaining this."
She stated, "Hanni explained this during a follow-up meeting with CEO Kim Jooyoung, who promised to recheck the facts since a new witness had come forward. However, Belift Lab’s statement focuses solely on the footage of the artist greeting at a 90-degree angle, completely ignoring the fact that the footage of them passing by without greeting was deleted."
Mother C concluded, "This is why we suspect that HYBE or Belift Lab might have intentionally deleted the CCTV footage to cover up the truth."
Another mother, Mother D, said, "They keep insisting that CCTV footage cannot be recovered after 30 days, but we never even asked for the footage. We didn’t even know the CCTV footage existed. When we found out they had it, we were relieved, but the fact that there’s no audio and no visible lip movements still makes us concerned."
Mother D added, "After two months, they finally showed us unrelated footage, claiming that the rest had been deleted due to the expiration of the storage period. This doesn’t seem like a genuine effort to address the issue, and even in CEO Kim Jooyoung’s email, communication has been unclear."
Mother D explained, "Belift Lab also claimed that the security firm handling the CCTV is an external company, which gives the impression that it’s outsourced. But the decision to review and delete the footage is clearly an internal issue within HYBE. This kind of misrepresentation, even in minor details, is not the right attitude."
theqoo
-The first paragraph frustrates me already. ADOR's CEO is not even making efforts to protect her own artists.
-It must feel like talking to a wall...
-HYBE is acting very pathetically despite their age... I don't get it.
-It must be really frustrating for them.
-Please just flop already. What are they doing to such young girls?
-It's really disheartening that NewJeans' parents' statements are not getting much coverage.
-HYBE is just lying from start to finish.
-ADOR only has one artist, and that is NewJeans. Why does the CEO keep defending artists from the opposite side?
-These dumbasses are treating people like fools.
-NewJeans doesn't even have an agency that protects them. Right now, ADOR, Belift Lab, and HYBE are all the same.
-It must be so frustrating for them since they're not able to communicate anything with HYBEㅠ
-I feel really sorry for NewJeansㅠㅠ I hope they win this.
-How hard is it to apologize for ignoring a greeting from a young artist?
