Lee Jae-sang, HYBE CEO, Official Apology
"Acknowledging All Faults as Company Representative, Deeply Responsible"
"The Document Was Highly Inappropriate... Apologizing to Each Affiliated Company"
HYBE CEO Lee Jae-sang has officially apologized for the inappropriate content contained in the 'Weekly Music Industry Report,' which included evaluations and disparagement of the appearances of K-pop idols belonging to other entertainment agencies, causing a stir.
CEO Min Hee-jin of ADOR has filed an injunction to prohibit the exercise of voting rights against HYBE, continuing the conflict between HYBE and CEO Min. The photo was taken on the 8th at HYBE headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@
On the 29th, HYBE posted a statement on its official website under the name of CEO Lee. In the statement, CEO Lee said, "I bow my head and sincerely apologize to the artists, industry officials, and fans for the monitoring document of our company pointed out at the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee hearing on October 24."
HYBE explained the background of the document’s issuance, stating, "The document was created in the process of retrospectively compiling various reactions and public opinions on industry trends and issues." It added, "It was shared only with some leadership members for the purpose of understanding market and artist fan opinions, but we acknowledge that the content of the document was highly inappropriate."
Furthermore, HYBE stated, "We, on behalf of the company, fully acknowledge all mistakes and take responsibility for the fact that the document contained provocative and harsh expressions directed at K-pop artists, included the personal views and evaluations of the author, and that such content was recorded in a document. Especially, we deeply regret and feel devastated that innocent artists and members are suffering misunderstandings and damages due to suspicions of false reverse viral rumors."
HYBE also conveyed direct apologies to the external artists mentioned in the document who suffered damages and expressed apologies to all artists under the HYBE group who have been receiving criticism as a result.
HYBE emphasized, "We formally and respectfully apologize to the external artists who were mentioned in the document and suffered harm and wounds. We have separately contacted each agency to apologize directly. We also sincerely offer official apologies to all artists of the HYBE music group who have been receiving criticism due to the company."
HYBE promised to immediately halt the creation of monitoring documents and strengthen internal controls to prevent such issues from recurring. CEO Lee said, "We acknowledge the lack of awareness of the leadership who received the document, and as CEO, I immediately stopped the creation of the monitoring document. We promise to establish guidelines and strengthen internal controls to ensure that such problems never happen again."
He added, "As the representative of the company, through deep reflection, self-examination, and introspection, we will thoroughly improve past mistakes and prioritize respect for the rights of all K-pop artists and fans, doing our best for the healthy development of the K-pop industry."
Earlier, on the 24th, at the comprehensive audit of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism by the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, Min Hyung-bae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, revealed an internal document shared among senior executives at HYBE called the ‘Weekly Music Industry Report.’
The document contained harsh appearance evaluations of idol groups from other agencies, such as "They debuted a bunch of members at the age when they are at their ugliest, so none of them have idol-like facial features," "There is a noticeable tendency related to appearance or sex appeal," "Surprisingly, none of them are pretty," and "Other members are shockingly ugly."
Only a very small portion of the approximately 2,000-page report was disclosed, and the fact that many of the idols mentioned in the document were minors caused a huge uproar on the day of the audit. Representative Min pointed out, "There are contents that make us wonder how this could be possible, so we are not disclosing the full text," and criticized, "The report contains a dehumanizing perception and attitude toward idols."
Kim Tae-ho, HYBE COO, who appeared as a witness at the audit that day, explained, "It is one of the documents that looks at what kind of public opinion fans and the industry have about K-pop overall," and clarified, "It is a compilation of many posts from online communities and is not HYBE’s opinion or official judgment."
However, during the National Assembly audit, HYBE faced strong criticism from lawmakers after announcing through a statement that it would identify the whistleblower.
In response, HYBE explained in an official statement at the time, "The monitoring report disclosed at the National Assembly is a document that compiles various reactions and public opinions from fandoms and the industry," and "It was created by extracting community and SNS responses as they are to share internally with a small number of people for reference on industry trends and issues, and it does not represent HYBE’s position."
Full Apology Statement from HYBE CEO Lee Jae-sang
I would like to offer my apology as the CEO of HYBE regarding the HYBE monitoring document.
I sincerely apologize to the artists, industry officials, and fans for the monitoring document of our company pointed out at the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee hearing on October 24.
The document was created in the process of retrospectively compiling various reactions and public opinions on industry trends and issues. It was shared only with some leadership members for the purpose of understanding market and artist fan opinions, but the content of the document was highly inappropriate. We fully acknowledge all mistakes and take responsibility on behalf of the company for the fact that the document contained provocative and harsh expressions directed at K-pop artists, included the personal views and evaluations of the author, and that such content was recorded in a document. Especially, we deeply regret and feel devastated that innocent artists and members are suffering misunderstandings and damages due to suspicions of false reverse viral rumors.
We formally and respectfully apologize to the external artists mentioned in the document who suffered harm and wounds. We have separately contacted each agency to apologize directly. We also sincerely offer official apologies to all artists of the HYBE music group who have been receiving criticism due to the company.
We acknowledge the lack of awareness of the leadership who received the document, and as CEO, I immediately stopped the creation of the monitoring document. We promise to establish guidelines and strengthen internal controls to ensure that such problems never happen again.
Once again, I apologize to the artists and industry officials who were hurt by this incident, to the fans, and to everyone who loves and supports K-pop. As the representative of the company, through deep reflection, self-examination, and introspection, we will thoroughly improve past mistakes and prioritize respect for the rights of all K-pop artists and fans, doing our best for the healthy development of the K-pop industry.
Thank you.
HYBE CEO Lee Jae-sang
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