Hanni Voices Concerns over Alleged Mistreatment of NewJeans by HYBE During National Assembly Audit

On October 15, 2024, Hanni from NewJeans participated in a National Assembly audit alongside Kim Joo-young, the new CEO of ADOR, to address concerns regarding workplace bullying. Originally scheduled for October 25, the hearing was advanced by ten days. During this session, Hanni revealed troubling information, claiming to have witnessed HYBE employees disparaging NewJeans on the anonymous platform known as Blind.

For those unfamiliar, Blind is an anonymous forum where all HYBE employees, including those from its subsidiary labels, can openly discuss various issues while ensuring user anonymity for safety and privacy. Hanni expressed her belief that the negative comments she encountered confirmed her suspicion that “HYBE disliked”their group.

“Recently, I saw on Blind that the [HYBE] employees were using rude language toward NewJeans. Additionally, I listened to a recording of the HYBE PR team downplaying the success of our debut in Japan. This made it clear to me that my feelings were valid; it was evident that [HYBE] had an issue with us.”

The National Assembly had previously summoned Hanni to serve as a witness after the members of NewJeans expressed their experiences of alleged mistreatment by HYBE personnel during a live YouTube broadcast on September 11, 2024. This unauthorized livestream allowed the group to voice their grievances over the firing of Min Hee-jin, the former CEO of ADOR.

Hanni’s Testimony Reveals Need for Transparency on Workplace Bullying

In her voluntary testimony at the National Assembly audit addressing workplace harassment in the entertainment sector, the 20-year-old singer recounted an incident involving a manager from a different HYBE subsidiary who reportedly ignored her.

During the September 11 livestream, Hanni recounted greeting another HYBE group as they exited the hair and makeup area. However, she overheard the group’s manager instructing them to “ignore her.”Hanni, a Vietnamese K-pop idol signed under ADOR—HYBE’s subsidiary—added that her earlier concerns were dismissed by the newly appointed CEO, Kim Joo-young.

According to the Korea Times, the manager in question was affiliated with BELIFT LAB, and the idol group was ILLIT from the same label. Hanni mentioned that she urged Kim Joo-young to review the CCTV footage from that specific day, but the CEO informed her that the footage had been automatically deleted.

“I reviewed the footage, and all I could find was an eight-second segment; approximately 50 minutes were missing. When I inquired about it, (Kim’s) explanations altered throughout our discussion. At one point, she said that the video had been deleted,”Hanni said.

During the audit, ADOR’s CEO, Kim Joo-young, defended that the involved manager was from a distinct HYBE subsidiary. She stated they had sought verification and requested the CCTV footage from that label, but regrettably, it was not retrievable since the data was beyond its retention period.

It’s worth noting that CCTV footage is typically purged after a retention period of 30 to 90 days, making it impossible to recover older files.

“The manager in question is from a different HYBE subsidiary, not ADOR. We have reached out for confirmation from that label’s artists and staff. We took all necessary steps to retrieve the CCTV footage, but it was past its expiration date. Listening to Hanni’s concerns makes me wonder if I could have done more,”remarked Kim Joo-young.

On October 7, BELIFT LAB released a statement indicating that they, along with ADOR, investigated the incident involving Hanni back in June 2024. However, they were unable to recover the CCTV footage, which had been retained for only 30 days. According to BELIFT LAB, the incident in question occurred on May 27, 2024, and they attempted to access the footage again on August 14, 2024, in the presence of ADOR representatives and NewJeans members.

Unfortunately, they could not access the necessary data after reviewing the footage, due to the limits of the CCTV’s retention period.

In related developments, Min Hee-jin was removed from her position as ADOR’s CEO by the label’s board on August 27, 2024, with Kim Joo-young subsequently appointed as her successor.

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