[Analysis] 2024-10-07 Belift Lab Statement

This is an analysis of the 2024-10-07 Belift Lab Statement.

On the same day Ilgan Sports published an interview with NewJeans’ parents, Belift Lab released a statement. A close reading of the statement reveals contradictions that inadvertently support Hanni’s claims.

1. Belift Lab denied the accusations against their manager

In the statement, Belift Lab denied allegations that ILLIT’s manager instructed members to ignore Hanni.

“The protocol team (manager) of ILLIT did not make the comment “ignore them” in reference to NewJeans members”.

2. Belift Lab distorted the nature of Hanni’s claim

Belift Lab’s statement misrepresented Hanni’s concerns. Where they reframed the issue as accusations against ILLIT members for not greeting her.

“We strongly urge an end to the unfounded controversies that seek to damage the reputation of our newly debuted artist… the members of ILLIT have never passed by NewJeans members without greeting them.”

Since Hanni explicitly said that the members greeted her, there was no need to emphasise this in their statement.

This distortion was criticised to be a clear attempt at using their rookie artists to deflect criticism back on Hanni, as they would garner more sympathy than an adult manager.

3. Contradictory statements on the number and duration of encounters

The statement contained a key contradiction that proves Belift Lab lied.

Belift Lab first claimed there was only one encounter between ILLIT and NewJeans on 2024-05-27, referencing CCTV footage they obtained.

“On the footage from May 27, we identified a single encounter between ILLIT and NewJeans... We obtained a copy of this footage.”

But later in the same statement, they acknowledged that the two groups had crossed paths over a 5 minutes period.

“It was verified that the two groups crossed paths for only about five minutes on May 27 at the HYBE building.”

Their own admission that the groups crossed paths for about five minutes corroborates Hanni’s recollection of a second encounter after a 5–10 minute interval.

However, the CCTV footage they referenced shows that the first encounter lasted only 8 seconds. This directly contradicts their earlier claim that there was only one encounter.

These inconsistencies prove that Belift Lab was aware of footage of a second encounter after around 5 minutes, but chose not to obtain or disclose it, while publicly insisting only one encounter occurred.

This selective presentation of evidence and shifting narrative points to a clear attempt to cover up what happened during the second encounter, indirectly supporting Hanni’s account of workplace harassment.