NewJeans' Side Claims "CCTV Concealment"
Aileit Agency Denies Manager Ever Said "Ignore", Calls It Slander
The bullying dispute between the group ‘NewJeans’ and their agency parent company HYBE is escalating into a truth game.
According to the music industry on the 8th, NewJeans members and their mothers claimed in an interview with a media outlet the day before, “There is a video of (NewJeans member) Hanni greeting ILY:1, but the CCTV footage containing the manager’s instruction to ‘ignore’ her has been deleted.” This statement supports Hanni’s claim made on YouTube on the 11th of last month, where she said, “I once ran into another idol (ILY:1) at the place where I was getting makeup done, and the manager told me to ignore her loud enough for me to hear.”
On the other hand, Belift Lab, a HYBE label managing ILY:1, stated in an official position on the 7th, “The manager never told ILY:1 to ignore Hanni. ILY:1 also did not pass by without greeting Hanni.” Belift Lab revealed that after NewJeans’ parents raised the issue on June 13 and an investigation was conducted, both parties stayed together for about five minutes in the same space within the HYBE building on May 27, and there is CCTV footage showing ILY:1 greeting Hanni with a 90-degree bow before entering.
Belift Lab added, “We reviewed this footage together with Min Hee-jin, then CEO of ADOR (a HYBE label managing NewJeans), on August 14. The former CEO’s side newly claimed that ‘ILY:1 did not greet Hanni after this scene’ and suggested there might be other videos. However, this timing was after the 30-day video retention period, and the security company explained that the footage had already been deleted. The former CEO’s side is now claiming that HYBE intentionally deleted it,” adding, “However, this is not the case.”
Belift Lab also rebutted, “The manager always uses honorifics and polite language with artists, so the claim that the manager told them to ignore someone is unfounded. Since the CCTV does not record audio, NewJeans’ side’s claim does not make sense.”
Furthermore, Belift Lab stated, “Our company has refrained from commenting on this issue to protect our workers, who are inevitably in a weaker position compared to famous artists. However, as attempts to solidify untrue stories as facts continue, the involved member is expressing extreme injustice and mental distress.” They emphasized, “If this issue continues to damage the reputation of our company, artists, and members and disrupt work, we will take all possible measures.”
As the question of whether ILY:1’s manager said ‘ignore her’ has expanded into bullying allegations against NewJeans’ Hanni, she has been selected as a witness related to workplace harassment for the National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee’s audit on the 15th. Additionally, Kim Joo-young, CEO of ADOR and HYBE’s Chief Human Resources Officer, has also been requested to appear as a witness.
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