On September 11, 2024, NewJeans caught everyone off guard by starting a surprise livestream on a brand-new YouTube channel, separate from their official company account. Hanni also shared that the situation had escalated to the point where a manager from another group had instructed their members to “ignore her” when she encountered them in the hallway near the makeup rooms. Hanni mentioned that after reporting this incident to ADOR’s current CEO, Ju Young Kim, she was told there was no evidence supporting her claim.
There’s hair and makeup rooms on the 4th floor of the building. It’s a space frequented by other artists and staff. Anyway, I was waiting alone in the corridor then, and another group and one of their managers passed by me. We greeted each other well then. But when the group came out again with the manager, the manager said, ‘Ignore her.’ Right in front of me. I can see and hear everything, but the manager said ‘Ignore her.’ I don’t know even now, why I had to go through that. It leaves me speechless.
— Hanni
Despite Hanni not mentioning any specific group nor did she give out any details that could lead to guesswork, netizens’ queries were answered on September 12, 2024, when Korean media outlet Market Insight by Hankyung News detailed the reported ongoings during the matter.
What really was the final nail in the coffin to break the trust between NewJeans and HYBE was the ‘greetings controversy’ that happened between them and HYBE girl group ILLIT’s manager. It happened around 3 months prior, around June. Back then, it was right after Min Hee Jin won the legal battle against HYBE. NewJeans Hanni explained in a live stream on September 11 that ‘a manager of a HYBE artist group told the members to ignore her.’ It seems like she is referring to ILLIT’s manager.
— Hankyung News
The article further explained that NewJeans’ parents had brought this matter of the girls allegedly being bullied internally to the ADOR and HYBE executives, asking to talk, so as to smoothly resolve the issue. Reportedly, the matter could not be solved as both sides interpreted the matter differently. Hankyung News claims that HYBE reviewed around 7 to 8 minutes of CCTV footage about the situation, and the results were that the footage captured Hanni and ILLIT greeting each other, while they were unable to identify footage that captured Hanni’s accusations towards the manager. Although NewJeans’ parents allegedly raised the issue to the executives, it did not become known in the company due to lack of evidence.
You can read more about NewJeans’ recent claims against the company below.
Korean Public Weighs In On NewJeans’ Guerilla Livestream
Source: HanKyung
