“NewJeans Members’ Mothers Claim Belift Lab’s Statement is False, Suspect Deletion of CCTV Footage by HYBE or Belift Lab”

The mothers of NewJeans members expressed their continued support following an official announcement from Belift Lab concerning a recent incident on October 7, 2024. In a follow-up interview with Daily Sports on October 8, the mothers aimed to clarify inaccuracies in Belift’s statement. One mother remarked:

“This raises our concerns that Hybe or Belift Lab may have removed the CCTV footage to hide the truth.”

This interview served to address and rectify the misleading information shared by Belift Lab. One of the mothers noted that while there is still CCTV footage available of NewJeans’ Hanni interacting with other artists, the critical footage that captured the “ignore”comment has been deleted.

“Belift Lab released a statement on the 7th, but it was filled with numerous factual inaccuracies.”

NewJeans Mothers Challenge Belift Lab’s Account

On October 8, 2024, the mothers of NewJeans members participated in an interview with Daily Sports to dispute the claims made by Belift Lab on October 7 via X. They argued that the company has attempted to misrepresent the situation by framing greetings between labels as merely a matter of ‘good faith.’

“Belift Lab suggests that greetings between labels are merely a matter of ‘good faith,’ but that mischaracterizes the actual issue. Hanni never brought up the lack of a greeting. The real concern is that another artist’s manager instructed their artist to ignore Hanni.”

The mothers stressed that neither they nor NewJeans members named any particular label or artist in their concerns. They emphasized that their approach was to resolve the matter internally. The true issue pertains to perceived unfair treatment of NewJeans by HYBE, rather than the matter of ‘greetings.’

Mrs. A mentioned their formal complaint sent to ADOR’s board, seeking clarity on the identity of the responsible manager multiple times but without any satisfactory response.

In response to Belift Lab’s assertion that Min Hee-jin’s team reviewed the footage on August 14, Mrs. B denounced this as a blatant falsehood, suggesting the company is attempting to mislead the public by incorrectly attributing responsibility to Min Hee-jin’s team, who was not involved. She expressed her frustration over HYBE’s manipulation of facts.

“HYBE initially informed us that only those directly involved could review the footage, which is why Hanni and one manager viewed it together. They can’t just claim that Min’s team reviewed it and altered their position. It’s alarming how they constantly change their narrative and fabricate details.”

Additionally, they revealed that the footage Hanni reviewed included herself and NewJeans’ Danielle, along with their ADOR manager. However, Hanni clarified that the incident occurred while she was alone. Mrs. C pointed out that Belift Lab’s statement selectively omitted relevant details. She commented:

“Hanni informed CEO Kim Joo-young about this during a meeting following her review of the footage, and CEO Kim vowed to re-investigate because a new witness had stepped forward. However, Belift Lab’s statement only highlights the moment where the artist formally greeted Hanni, completely ignoring the part where they walked by without acknowledgment.”

During Hanni’s review of the footage, a security guard disclosed that the scene where she was ignored was not retained, while they did keep the moments where she greeted individuals entering. This has led the mothers to suspect that HYBE or Belift Lab deleted the relevant CCTV footage.

Mrs. D added that they were unaware that any CCTV footage of the situation existed, yet the company claimed recovering the footage after 30 days was challenging. They also misled by using terms like ‘security firm’ to imply involvement of an external agency. Another mother condemned HYBE, stating:

“Decisions about footage review and deletion were made internally within HYBE, not by any third-party firm. Such attempts to obscure even minor details are an inappropriate way to handle the situation.”

The mothers of NewJeans expressed their frustration with the current ADOR CEO, Kim Joo-young, for refusing to issue a formal statement in light of Belift Lab’s claims, citing worries about label conflicts and a potential back-and-forth communication cycle. Mrs. A stated that due to ADOR’s reluctance to respond, they felt compelled to reach out to Daily Sports again.

“We lack a platform to express our stance during disputes. The company should manage these issues, but their refusal has forced us to contact Ilgan (Daily) Sports once more.”

The ongoing conflict between HYBE and NewJeans began on April 22, 2024, following an audit of former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin. This feud has embroiled both NewJeans members and their families, leading to leaks of sensitive information and defamation of NewJeans and other artists associated with HYBE.

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