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SM Entertainment group aespa's fans have accused HYBE of leading a smear campaign and spreading hate against the girl group in 2022 following their Coachella performance.
On October 24, BELIFT LAB CEO Kim Tae-ho, who is also HYBE's COO, appeared as a witness at the comprehensive audit held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Republic of Korea. He answered some questions regarding the conglomerate and its subsidiary, BELIFT LAB.
During the audit, Democratic Party of Korea representative Min Hyung-bae unveiled an internal document of the agency titled ‘Industry Trends Data,’ according to ET News.
The document gained attention as it reportedly contained slander and direct criticism against K-pop groups and artists signed under other labels like SM Entertainment and JYP Entertainment. BELIFT LAB CEO Kim Tae-ho made a statement at the session regarding the internal document and said:
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“We are very carefully watching public opinion on artists affiliated with HYBE and K-pop in general. This is not the agency's opinion or official judgment, but rather a compilation of many articles online.”
Netizens on TheQoo platform noticed an alleged statement about aespa and their 2022 Coachella performance. The girl group received hate for its alleged poor vocal performance at the international festival. Following the release of the reported document leak, aespa fans believe that HYBE was behind the hate towards the group in 2022. They took to social media to voice their opinions.
"It's no surprise that hybe is behind all the hate aespa received during their coachella performance even though they sang perfect live while dancing their choreo— and now, karma is biting them back," a fan said.
“They made aespa apologize on bbl, the hate train they suffered was so insane, karina literally said “i'll always do my best in order for you to not hear bad words” the stage was great vocals were amazing and so was their dancing,” a fan added.
“Coachella hate train, music show cancellation every aespa comeback, melon app crashing down during spicy era, articles popping off before aespa comeback and many more. we all know whos behind this without those hearings mys told you all about this,” a user commented.
Fans continued criticizing the agency and accused it of leading smear campaigns to sabotage aespa’s career.
“It’s more laughable now when they say mys leads hate trains for certain groups when actual hybe professionals are leading hate trains,” a user said.
““imaginary hater syndrome in kpop needs to end” but there’s literal text proof that hybe been wanting to dethrone aespa for the longest,” a fan stated.
“So hybe behind Coachella/Girls hate train for aespa... I wonder what they felt after aespa released Spicy and reverse the public opinion in their favor again…” a fan wrote.
HYBE COO Kim Tae-ho receives criticism for the agency's statement regarding the internal document during the audit
After severe criticism from netizens on the internal document, which allegedly contained public opinion regarding other agencies, the entertainment company issued a public statement on October 24 around 7 pm KST and warned the person who leaked it.
“The data in question is simply a direct copy of reactions from SNS and the community, and we will hold accountable to the end. Those who leaked the provocative content to make it seem as if Hibe had created the material criticizing the artist,” the statement read.
This enraged the congressmen, as the session was still ongoing when the statement was out. Chairman Jeon Jae-soo reportedly criticized Kim Tae-ho for the statement and said:
“The state audit is underway and the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee is currently questioning witnesses, so how can the company release a statement and make the state audit meaningless or use the authority of the National Assembly in this way? How can a leading company leading K-content in Korea respond so irresponsibly? Is the National Assembly that easy?”
HYBE is a multi-label entertainment conglomerate with subsidiary labels like BIGHIT MUSIC, SOURCE MUSIC, PLEDIS Entertainment, KOZ Entertainment, ADOR, and BELIFT LAB.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism summoned the company on accusations of manipulation of album sales. Meanwhile, BELIFT LAB was summoned for accusations of plagiarizing NewJeans concepts for ILLIT.
