2024-10-09 NewJeans Parents Interview with Ilgan Sports

Korean Original: https://m.entertain.naver.com/home/article/241/0003385133

English Translation (@juantokki): https://x.com/juantokki/status/1843880621015478764

[Analysis] 2024-10-09 NewJeans Parents Interview with Ilgan Sports

[Exclusive] NewJeans’ Mothers: "Belift Lab’s Statement is a Lie... Security Guard Said the CCTV Footage of Hanni Being Ignored was Deleted" (Interview)

By Reporter Jeon Hyung-hwa

"The statement from Belift Lab is so far from the truth that we requested CEO Kim Joo-young of ADOR to release a corrected statement, but it was refused, so we had no choice but to reach out again."

The mothers of NewJeans members have corrected the false facts presented in Belift Lab's statement regarding the incident where another artist's manager allegedly told their artist to "ignore" Hanni, refocusing on the core issue of the event.

In an interview with Ilgan Sports on the afternoon of the 8th, the mothers of NewJeans members said, "Belift Lab made a statement on the 7th, but there were so many factual errors in it. We all requested CEO Kim Joo-young of ADOR, as the head of ADOR, to make a direct statement on the matter. However, CEO Kim declined, saying, ‘Even if we release a statement based on the explanations given by the parents and Hanni, there’s a high chance of further rebuttals, and that would lead to a vicious cycle of back-and-forth responses.’ So, they refused to release a statement.”

One member's mother, Ms. A, said, “We have no platform to convey our position when an issue arises, and the company should be the one to handle it, but they refused, so we had no choice but to contact Ilgan Sports again."

Previously, on September 11th, during an emergency live broadcast, Hanni shocked fans by revealing that while waiting in the hallway of HYBE's building, she greeted another artist. However, when they passed again, that artist's manager reportedly told them to "ignore" Hanni. In response to the 'workplace bullying' issue, the National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee summoned Kim Joo-young, CEO of ADOR and HYBE’s Chief Human Resources Officer, as a witness, and Hanni as a reference.

Regarding this, NewJeans' mothers, in a separate interview with Ilgan Sports on the 7th, claimed that although CCTV footage of Hanni greeting the other artist still exists, the footage showing the "ignore" comment has been deleted, and HYBE and ADOR have not taken appropriate action to resolve the issue.

On the 7th, HYBE responded by releasing a statement through their website, under the name of Belift Lab, stating, "We strongly demand an end to the baseless attempts to tarnish a rookie artist with groundless allegations, following absurd claims of plagiarism and unfounded controversies over greetings." They also claimed, "The ILLIT manager never told the artist to 'ignore' the NewJeans member. When we reviewed the footage on August 14th with then-CEO Min Hee-jin’s team, they argued that the footage showing the lack of a greeting would be found in other clips."

Ms. A said, "Belift Lab’s statement claims that greetings between labels are ‘a matter of good faith,’ but that distorts the issue. Hanni never raised an issue about someone not greeting her. The issue is that another artist’s manager told their artist to ignore Hanni.”

She continued, “We’ve tried to resolve this issue internally within the company. We never mentioned specific labels or artists externally. It’s Belift Lab’s false statement that is defaming NewJeans and us.”

Another mother, Ms. B, added, "CEO Kim said she was taken aback by the interview because we didn’t consult with the company, but we have been asking for a resolution for so long, and nothing has been done. That’s why we responded to the press request. We even asked CEO Kim to release a statement from ADOR about Belift Lab’s lies, but she refused, citing concerns about conflicts between labels. The company refuses to fight against these lies, so where and how can we speak the truth?”

Ms. B also mentioned that CEO Kim promised to issue a notice about proper greeting etiquette and manners for all HYBE staff, including artists, but the issue isn’t about greetings. "We didn’t raise the issue over 'greetings'; our concern is about HYBE's unfair treatment of NewJeans."

Ms. B also revealed that on June 13th, NewJeans' parents officially raised the issue by sending an email to ADOR’s board of directors. “At the time, CEO Kim Joo-young’s response was lukewarm, and we had to ask several times for photos of the Belift Lab managers involved, but we never received a response.”

She added, “They claimed that showing photos would be a human rights violation, so we asked them to at least identify the manager who was on duty at the time of the incident. However, we never received a clear answer.”

Ms. B continued, “I reviewed the emails we sent, and from June 13th to June 25th, July 10th, July 20th, and even through September, we have been communicating and requesting via email almost every week.”

Another mother, Ms. C, said, “Belift Lab’s claim that Min Hee-jin’s team made a new argument after reviewing the footage on August 14th is a blatant lie, as we hadn’t seen any footage prior to that date. Moreover, Min Hee-jin wasn’t involved, but they’re misleading the public by referring to ‘Min Hee-jin’s team.’”

She also expressed her frustration, saying, “HYBE initially told us that only the person involved could review the footage, so Hanni and one manager watched it together. How can they claim that Min’s team reviewed it and changed their stance? It’s frightening how they keep changing their story and fabricating details.”

Ms. C further explained that Hanni was extremely busy preparing for the Tokyo Dome fan concert and Japanese activities at the time. “Once the activities in Japan wrapped up, she went to check the footage.”

“When we first raised this issue, we clearly explained that the incident happened while Hanni was alone. Yet, the footage HYBE showed Hanni on August 14th was of her with her ADOR manager and Danielle,” she added.

Ms. C also mentioned that when Hanni reviewed the footage, a security guard told her, “There’s a scene where you greet the person as they enter and another where you pass them without greeting again. We didn’t keep the latter scene because we thought greeting once was enough.” The guard reportedly couldn’t make eye contact with Hanni while explaining this, and appeared nervous.

Ms. C noted, “Hanni told CEO Kim Joo-young about this during a meeting after viewing the footage, and CEO Kim promised to re-investigate since a new witness had come forward. But Belift Lab’s statement only mentions the scene where the artist greeted Hanni with a 90-degree bow, omitting the part where they passed without greeting.”

Ms. C emphasized, “This is why we suspect that HYBE or Belift Lab might have deleted the CCTV footage to cover up the truth.”

Another mother, Ms. D, added, "They keep insisting that recovering CCTV footage after 30 days is difficult, but we never even asked for the footage. We didn’t know it existed. When we learned that they had secured the footage, we were relieved, but we were still concerned that the audio might not be clear and the lip movements might be hard to see.”

Ms. D also expressed disbelief, saying, “It’s hard to accept their explanation that they showed us unrelated footage months after we raised the issue and then claimed the rest was deleted due to the retention period expiring. Their response lacked any real intent to resolve the issue, and the communication process was opaque, as reflected in the explanation email CEO Kim Joo-young sent us.”

Ms. D criticized Belift Lab for trying to create confusion by referring to the company handling the CCTV footage as a ‘security firm,’ making it sound like an external agency was responsible. “Decisions about reviewing and deleting the CCTV footage were made within HYBE, not by an outside firm. This attempt to obscure even such minor details is not a proper way to address the situation.”

Ms. D concluded, “HYBE and Belift Lab are continuing to distort the truth rather than reflect on their attempt to cover up and downplay the issue. We only want to ensure that our children don’t have to go through this again. Yet, I don’t understand why they keep making up stories.”