NewJeans Emergency Live Broadcast (What NewJeans Wants to Say)
I experienced something not long ago. The 4th floor of the HYBE building is where we get our hair and makeup done. So it’s a space where many other artists come and go, and many other staff members come and go as well.
So one day, I was waiting alone in the hallway, and some members of another group along with one of their managers passed by me. So we exchanged greetings with each other. But when they came back out a little later, that manager said “Ignore her.” Right in front of me. I could hear and see everything, and they said “Ignore her.”
But even now when I think about why I had to go through something like that, I don’t understand it and I find it truly absurd.
I was truly shocked when I heard about what Hanni went through. How could a manager of a group say, as they pass by, to the members of that group to ignore Hanni, loudly enough for everyone to hear? She experienced such unimaginable words and treatment, yet we didn’t even receive an apology, let alone an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
With no one to protect us, we’re naturally worried about how many more similar incidents might happen in the future and whether we might be subtly ostracized.
I hope no one has to go through something like that, but since it already happened once, I can’t help but be scared that our other members might go through the same thing.
And I did tell the new CEO about it, but seeing how they tried to brush it off by saying “there’s no evidence and it’s too late,” I felt that there was no one left to protect us, and I really felt that they don’t have any genuine consideration for us. I was so honest with them, but in an instant, I felt like I had been made out to be a liar.
Before, CEO Min Hee-jin fought for us a lot, but now, although the new people say on the surface that they’ll help us, for months now they’ve only been making excuses and saying it’s something that can’t be resolved.
But even though this was something I personally experienced, they’re trying to shift the blame onto me, so I’m worried and scared about what else might happen in the future.
Also, we don’t understand the recent statement released by the new management. If they truly intended to keep their word about not interfering with our producing, what happened with Director Shin Woo-seok should never have happened, and they shouldn’t have handled it this way. We, the actual parties whose copyrights and likeness rights are at stake, don’t want this—so who exactly are they working for?
Also, in that new statement, they keep using the excuse that it’s to protect us and to prevent us from feeling anxious, but why do they keep saying they’re doing things for us when they haven’t actually been doing anything for us?
We wish they wouldn’t cause these unnecessary problems. We want them to show respect and proper treatment not only to our CEO but also to the directors who have worked with us. What they’re doing right now is absolutely not for our sake.
We found out about our CEO being dismissed through news articles on that very day. Um, it was so sudden, and it was something none of us members could have ever imagined, so honestly, it was really hard for us, you know? And we were extremely bewildered. As artists under HYBE, such a unilateral notification from the company made us certain that “Wow, they really don’t respect us at all.”
The new person who came in, Ju-young, met with us and said “I’m thinking of the members,” “I’m considering the members,” “NewJeans is the priority,” but looking at everything that’s happened so far, we can tell it was really just words.
To begin with, HYBE couldn’t even help with promotion, yet they released articles about the CEO’s breach of fiduciary duty one week before NewJeans’ comeback, and portrayed NewJeans negatively to the outside world—I want to ask once again how any of that was for the sake of NewJeans.
Based on what we’ve experienced, the way HYBE is working right now feels dishonest and not the right approach. Please stop interfering any further. Please reinstate our CEO and return things to the original ADOR, not this unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar people.
We’re not asking you to do anything more for us. We just think everyone should do their own job well in their own place. We’ll also do our job well in our place. We really hope you’ll listen to our request.
What we want is the original ADOR where CEO Min Hee-jin is in charge, with management and producing integrated. The reason we’re making this request is because this is the way to get along well without fighting with HYBE. If our opinion has been well conveyed, Chairman Bang and HYBE, we hope you will make the wise decision to restore ADOR to its original state by the 25th.