HYBE Group's "Music Industry Report" containing disparaging and insulting words towards many Kpop idols, revealed in an audit by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee of the Korean National Assembly on October 24, is a hot topic of discussion.
What angered Kpop fans was that this document not only contained negative reviews of artists from other companies such as YG, JYP, SM, StarShip, etc., but also contained content aimed at HYBE's own artists.
Recently, V (BTS) fans expressed anger and pushed the keywords "HYBE apologizes to V", "HYBE respects Taehyung" on social network X (or Twitter), after documents related to V were revealed.
The document mentions exploiting V's dating news: "I also feel that V's dating rumors can actually give the other members some respite from their private lives.
If V is in a real relationship, there is no reason for people to care about other virtual couples on DC Gallery.”
In addition, documents show that HYBE has been following Sojang - a YouTuber who specializes in posting fabricated news and insulting celebrities in Korea. This YouTuber was recently recommended by prosecutors for a 4-year prison sentence and a fine of 211 million won for his actions.
BTS's V and Jungkook also filed a lawsuit against Sojang in March, demanding 90 million won in damages.
HYBE was also accused of not providing adequate support for V's solo album debut.
On October 29, HYBE CEO Lee Jae Sang officially acknowledged the existence of the document and apologized.
“This document was created through the process of collecting diverse public reactions and opinions on industry trends and issues. It was only shared with a few leaders for the purpose of grasping market opinion and artist fans, but the content of the document is extremely inappropriate.
On behalf of the company, I admit all wrongdoings and take full responsibility for the document containing provocative, vulgar content aimed at Kpop artists, and containing the writer's personal opinions and assessments.
In particular, we are deeply regretful and heartbroken that innocent artists and staff are being misunderstood and harmed due to false suspicions of spreading negativity."
HYBE CEO added that they have contacted each agency whose artists were mentioned in the document individually to apologize. In addition, CEO Lee Jae Sang also apologized to all HYBE artists who have faced criticism due to the company's mistakes.
Also this morning, Korean media reported that HYBE fired Content Director Kang, who is said to have written the criticized internal reports.
