“Shockingly Ugly” — Leaked HYBE Internal Documents Reveal Explicit Comments About Minor Idols
On October 24, KST, HYBE representatives attended an audit with the National Assembly, during which they were asked about an internal report badmouthing idols.
During the audit, Rep. Min Hyung Bae of the Democratic Party revealed an internal report from HYBE titled the “Weekly Music Industry Report.” This report is apparently published weekly and sent to C-level executives of HYBE and its affiliated labels.
Rep. Min pointed out that the document was laden with crass expressions used to describe idols, even the ones that are underage. Some of the phrases highlighted by him included: “Since the members debuted at an age when they were all ugly, none of them have the facial features of an idol,” “There is a clear tendency to focus on their looks or sex appeal,” “Surprisingly, none of them are pretty,” and “[they are] shockingly ugly,” among others.
Rep. Min rebuked these comments, emphasizing how they showed impersonal perceptions and attitudes in HYBE toward idols. Kim Tae Ho, HYBE’s COO and BELIFT Lab’s CEO, responded to this issue by saying it was one of many monitoring reports made in HYBE, and he couldn’t recall the contents properly. He also defended the company, saying that the comments didn’t reflect HYBE’s personal judgment of idols but were just a collection of public opinion sourced from various online articles.
Despite this explanation, the Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, Yoo In Chon, called the comments “harsh” and “excessive.” Later, when the controversy inflated, HYBE released an official statement regarding the document. They reiterated that the report only contained excerpts of reactions from online communities and social media and did not represent HYBE’s personal position regarding the idols. They also threatened legal action against those who leaked the report to the public and allegedly edited the content provocatively to imply that HYBE was badmouthing artists.
Meanwhile, HYBE allegedly admitted to Sajaegi during the audit without realizing it. You can read more about it here.
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