On October 30, according to Hankyoreh, HYBE Chairman Bang Si Hyuk was the one who directly directed the sharing of HYBE's controversial "Internal Report" to executives within the group.
After former Weverse Magazine Editor-in-Chief Kang Myeong Seok - who drafted the report - was dismissed (October 29), it is expected that the responsibility of Chairman Bang Si Hyuk will be put first.
The “internal report” that has been causing a stir in HYBE for the past week is a document released during an audit by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee of the Korean National Assembly, held on October 24.
The content of the document contains many criticisms and insults towards idols of other entertainment companies, even controversial content about HYBE's own artists.
Although HYBE CEO Kim Tae Ho affirmed that this was just a compilation of social media comments from Kpop fans, the document still shocked the public.
Some longtime entertainment industry insiders said they had never seen an internal report done in a similar manner.
On October 29, HYBE CEO Lee Jae Sang apologized to artists, industry colleagues, and fans. He admitted that “HYBE’s document contained clearly provocative content aimed at K-pop artists” and “included the writer’s personal opinions.”
However, fans and some industry insiders believe that HYBE is simply trying to “blame” one person. Questions have arisen regarding the accountability of higher-level executives.
According to Hankyoreh, HYBE Chairman Bang Si Hyuk was the one who directly instructed Kang Myeong Seok to share the “Weekly Music Industry Report” to the group's directors and senior leaders.
Email data shows that on January 6, 2022, Bang Si Hyuk requested that Zico be added to the document sharing list. The recipients of the document also included Kim Joo Young - the current CEO of ADOR (NewJeans' management company) and the HR Director of HYBE at that time.
Rapper Zico, a former member of idol group Block B, was included in the list because KOZ Entertainment, the entertainment company he founded in 2018, was acquired by HYBE in November 2020.
A music industry official who knows the HYBE situation well said that Zico himself is an artist, so when HYBE first acquired KOZ, the rapper was not allowed to share the documents immediately because the documents contained negative content about idols.
