“My role is just to get the facts”: Journalist Jeff Benjamin reveals details of HYBE and Min Hee-jin coverage amid ongoing NewJeans' controversy

On September 26, 2024, the award-winning journalist and K-pop columnist Jeff Benjamin revealed details regarding the HYBE and Min Hee-jin coverage amid the ongoing NewJeans controversy, through his official X account.

For those unversed, the Billboard journalist revealed that he emailed ADOR to get a statement regarding the NewJeans Guerrilla livestream, which the girl band hosted on September 11, 2024, on a now-deleted newly created YouTube account.

Journalist Jeff Benjamin revealed that he was taken aback by discovering his name in recent articles and statements. He clarified that his role was to get facts from both sides, mentioning:

"I was surprised to see my name mentioned in recent articles and statements. My role is just to get the facts from every side, which I'm doing. Anyone adding emotions to my standard fact-checking is adding their personal feelings or biases."

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Jeff Benjamin revealed communications to showcase transparency regarding HYBE and Min Hee-jin coverage

During the NewJeans Guerrilla livestream held on September 11, 2024, the group members made a demand, following the dismissal of Min Hee-jin as ADOR's CEO. They stated they wanted HYBE to reinstate Min Hee-jin as the CEO of ADOR, elaborating on the importance of Min Hee-jin to their existence, and further narrating the issues related to the corporation's current management.

Subsequently, Jeff Benjamin added the screenshots of his communications with Min Hee-jin and HYBE, respectively. He added that to ensure transparency and avoid any issues, he did not want to be personally involved in the story. As a result, he released screenshots of his communications with both sides.

The journalist confessed that he felt awkward in revealing the coverage. Hence, he redacted private information such as names, emails, typos, and other details, to ensure the involved party's safety and minimize the confusion. He shared three screenshots of conversations with Min Hee-jin on Kakao Talks.

In the Kakao Talk conversation, he reached out to Min Hee-jin regarding the ongoing controversy featuring NewJeans, writing the same message in both English and Korean. The journalist wrote the following text in the screenshot provided:

"Hello CEO Min Hee-jin! This is Jeff Benjamin, a columnist at Billboard. Sorry to send an abrupt message. Billboard has received new claims from HYBE regarding (censored words) claims within ADOR. I feel it's very important to hear from you directly on these claims if you can speak with me or provide your own statement."

Further, there were texts between Min Hee-jin and the journalist where the former questioned whether the content was sent by HYBE. In response, Jeff replied that HYBE U.S. PR sent it. Min Hee-jin further asked if the company revealed the identity of the PR person, to which he wrote TAG PR and The Agency Group PR's name.

In the last screenshot, he attached an email he sent to HYBE (@hybecorp.com), where he added:

"I'm checking in for any reaction or statement regarding the Guerrilla live stream that the NewJeans members hosted late last night or if there are any responses to any of the allegations made. If there's anyone at ADOR who may want to weigh in or you'd prefer I contact them, more than happy to do so as well."

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Jeff Benjamin concluded his post by stating that nobody has lied, and he is grateful when clarifications are shared. The journalist further stated that he wanted to confirm from his side that he was doing his part as a writer who had been assigned a story to investigate.