HYBE Q&A WITH CBS Nocut News

NOTE: i can't back the veracity of this report.

SOURCE: https://www.nocutnews.co.kr/news/6242567?utm_source=naver&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=20241112090107

The internal document of HYBE, 'Weekly Music Industry Report' (hereafter referred to as 'HYBE Document'), contained content that used crude expressions to slander numerous entertainers and other entertainment agencies, causing a huge stir in the industry. Most of the content was praise for the company's idols, and viral marketing methods were suggested based on the monitored content.

Earlier, former Adore CEO Min Hee-jin stated in her second internal whistleblowing email on April 16th, regarding the "Hybe document," "The content is so biased that I even have doubts as to whether it was distributed for some kind of ulterior motive of propaganda and dissemination," and "Adore even raised an objection, saying, 'Factual descriptions such as numbers and indicators are necessary, and we ask that at least a minimum level of objectivity be maintained. '"

In response to former CEO Min on the 22nd of the same month, Hive stated, "Industry trend reports are internal documents that collect and analyze subjective consumer reactions and issues in addition to quantitative indicators such as chart performance, and then suggest improvement opinions," and "Sometimes, areas for improvement are also included without reservation, and that is the reason for the existence of this report. Rather, if we can only be satisfied with analysis reports that are always full of praise, I would like to ask how that type of analysis data helps Adore develop."

However, on the 29th of last month, five days after the document was pointed out during the National Assembly audit, Hive made an official apology in the name of CEO Lee Jae-sang. CEO Lee acknowledged the problems with the report's content, saying, "The content of the document was very inappropriate," and announced, "We immediately stopped writing the monitoring document. We will establish guidelines and strengthen internal control to prevent this problem from happening again."

However, he completely denied the 'reverse viral suspicions.' 'Reverse viral' refers to activities that create negative public opinion.

On the 1st, a netizen claiming to be an internal employee of Hive additionally disclosed part of the 'Hive document' and claimed that 'reverse viral' had been carried out, so there are still reactions that are suspicious of Hive's 'reverse viral'. There are also criticisms that only removing one writer from his position is 'cutting the tail' that trivializes the issue. As the email in which Chairman Bang Si-hyuk requested that a specific person be added as a recipient was made public through media reports, voices demanding 'Bang Si-hyuk's responsibility' are also growing louder.

Among them, the Weverse Magazine team that the writer belonged to was unaware of the existence of the 'Hybe document', did not participate in its creation, and expressed their opposition to the document, releasing a separate statement on the 9th. It was a statement released 11 days after the official apology in the name of the CEO.

CBS Nocut News inquired to Hive regarding the following:

△Why did Weverse Magazine release a statement so suddenly?

△How did they respond to the reverse viral suspicions raised online?

△What will be the follow-up measures against the former editor-in-chief? We received a response on the 11th and will publish it.

The following is a Q&A.

▶ The Weverse Magazine team released an official statement on November 9. Why did you release a separate statement more than ten days after the official apology from Hive CEO Lee Jae-sang?

= As you know, on the 29th of last month, Hive apologized in the name of CEO Lee Jae-sang for the creation of the Hive Monitoring document, and on the same day, relieved the director of the Weverse Magazine office who wrote the report. Since then, there have been suspicions that other members of Weverse Magazine were involved in writing the document, so the Weverse Magazine team has decided to make an additional statement to clarify their position.


▶ The Weverse Magazine team stated that, except for the former editor-in-chief, no other members or external contributors knew about the existence of this document, and that the personnel that the former editor-in-chief had separately requested to work on monitoring had also stopped working. Does this mean that the former editor-in-chief asked a separate personnel, not the Weverse Magazine team, to write the weekly report? Also, some have pointed out that the statement in the released 'Hive document' states, "Next week, we will take a week off for the members who are participating in the report." This is not convincing. I am curious about your position on this.

= The monitoring document was something that the former editor-in-chief had done separately from the production of Weverse Magazine, and the personnel that the former editor-in-chief had requested to work on monitoring were separate members from the Weverse Magazine production team, so the explanation was given in the previous statement.


▶ The former editor-in-chief (Weverse Magazine Director) has been relieved of his position, but what is his current job? Are there any other follow-up measures planned in relation to this incident?

= The former editor-in-chief is on standby and is currently not carrying out any work. We will take appropriate action after an internal review.


▶ In an apology statement under the name of CEO Lee Jae-sang of Hive dated October 29, the reverse viral allegations were denied. On the other hand, in a post dated November 1 by a netizen claiming to be a Hive employee, there is a part that says, "Contrary to their claims that we did not do reverse viral, we wanted to let you know that many of the parts mentioned in this report were actually planned." I am curious to know whether their position that 'there was no reverse viral' remains the same, and whether they are preparing follow-up measures if the claims in the post are false.

= The claim that we did reverse viral is not true. We are considering taking necessary action against the false claim that we did reverse viral.


▶ You also said, "We are contacting each agency separately and apologizing directly," so please explain in what way and to what extent you are apologizing.

= We apologized to the CEOs of the agencies of the artists mentioned in the document by phone or through an official letter in the name of CEO Lee Jae-sang.