On November 1, an individual claiming to be an employee of HYBE Labels revealed new pages of the “HYBE Weekly Music Industry Trend Report”.
Along with a photo of the business card, the employee verified more than 1,000 pages of the report sent to HYBE employees on July 13, 2023. According to the email, the report was sent to HYBE executives including Bang Si Hyuk, Kang Myeong Seok, Lee Chang Woo, and many others.
Among them, the content related to the 4-member group Blackpink (Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa, Rose) attracted attention. HYBE said Blackpink is a group that "focuses on love more than any other group". At the same time, Lisa's performance at Crazy Horse Paris was criticized.
The report said: "Lisa's appearance at Crazy Horse in Paris caused a huge image shock. While her goal may have been to assert her autonomy and power, her burlesque style of performance there caused a mixed reaction among some fans. It seems she did not fully realize the impact of doing so in that context.
In addition, Blackpink's overall image was also significantly damaged due to the members coming to cheer for Lisa.
Anyway, since the group has never had feminism or gender issues as a theme in the first place, it makes sense that they would go this far. This is a group that focuses more on romantic relationships than any other group.”
According to the Korea Herald, currently, Kpop fans in Thailand, one of the largest Kpop fan communities globally, are strongly protesting HYBE because the group's internal documents contain unverified rumors about Blackpink and Lisa.
Previously, part of the report said that Lisa's success at the MTV Video Music Awards may have been inflated by "suspicious voting activity," which the report attributed to interference from the singer's "internal fandom." "Internal fandom" is believed to refer to Lisa's fans in Thailand.
In Thailand, Lisa is revered as a national icon, so the public was outraged by HYBE's report. Thai local media reported extensively on the controversy. Fans have been calling for an apology from HYBE, with the hashtag #HybeApologizeToLISA trending on X.
