They emphasized the need to clarify the core of the issue.
In an interview with Ilgan Sports on October 8, the mothers stated, “Belift Lab released a statement on October 7, but it contained many inaccuracies. We all asked CEO Ju Young Kim to address this issue directly as the head of ADOR. However, CEO Kim said that if they issued a statement based on the explanation provided by the parents and Hanni, it could lead to further rebuttals, creating a vicious cycle of responses. So, they refused to release one.”
Member Mother A said, “We have no official platform to address these issues and correct the facts. That’s a responsibility the agency should take, but since they refused, we had no choice but to contact (Ilgan Sports) again.”
Previously, in an emergency live broadcast on September 11, Hanni revealed that while waiting in the hallway of the HYBE building, she greeted another artist. When she encountered the artist again, their manager told the artist to “ignore her”. In response, the National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee selected ADOR CEO Ju Young Kim as a witness in the parliamentary inspection over workplace bullying, with Hanni chosen as a reference.
In the interview on October 7, NewJeans members’ mothers revealed that while CCTV footage showing Hanni greeting someone exists, the footage showing the moment when the manager allegedly said “ignore her” was deleted. They criticized the ADOR and HYBE leadership for failing to take appropriate action to resolve the issue.
On the same day, HYBE, under the name of Belift Lab, posted a statement on its website, “We strongly demand an immediate stop to groundless allegations aimed at harming our rookie artists through false accusations about greetings, following unfounded plagiarism claims. ILLIT’s manager never said ‘ignore her’ about any NewJeans member. When the video was reviewed together with former CEO Min Hee Jin’s side on August 14, they newly claimed that the lack of a greeting occurred after this scene, suggesting that there might be another video.“
A said, “Belift Lab’s claim that this is an ‘innocuous greeting issue between labels’ is completely missing the point. Hanni never complained about not being greeted. The problem is that another artist’s manager told them to ignore Hanni.”
She continued, “We have been trying to resolve this matter internally within the company. We never identified the label or artist to the public. Yet, Belift Lab’s false statement has tarnished the reputation of NewJeans and us.”
Another member’s mother, B, expressed frustration, “CEO Ju Young Kim said they were taken aback by our interview, as it was done without consulting the company. But we have asked repeatedly for this issue to be resolved. Since nothing was being done, we responded to the interview request.”
B continued, “We also asked CEO Kim to issue a statement from ADOR refuting Belift Lab’s lies, but CEO Kim refused, citing concerns about inter-label conflict. The company won’t fight the falsehoods for us, so where else can we speak the truth?”
B stressed, “We never raised the issue of greetings. Our concern is about the unjust treatment HYBE has shown toward NewJeans.”
Member mother C recalled, “Before the CCTV review on August 14, we hadn’t seen any videos, so Belift Lab’s claim that CEO Min’s side made a new argument after viewing the video is clearly false. And the term ‘CEO Min’s side’ is incorrect, as it wasn’t even Min Hee Jin’s argument, which distorts the essence of the issue.”
She continued, “Initially, they said only the person involved could check the CCTV, so Hanni and one manager went to view it together. How could they call it ‘Min Hee Jin’s side’? Aside from Hanni and the one manager, no one else saw the video. So how could HYBE (Belift Lab) claim in their statement that Min Hee Jin’s side changed their stance after viewing it? They keep changing their narrative and making things up to the point where it’s become terrifying.”
C said, “At that time, Hanni was extremely busy preparing for the Tokyo Dome fan concert and other activities in Japan. So after wrapping up her activities in Japan, she finally went to review the video.”
“When we first raised the issue, we clearly explained that the incident happened when Hanni was alone. However, the video HYBE showed Hanni on August 14 was of her with the ADOR manager and Danielle.”
“When Hanni viewed the footage, a security guard told her that footage showing the artist walking past without greeting had been deleted because they believed it wasn’t necessary to keep since the greeting occurred earlier. The guard couldn’t even make eye contact while explaining this to Hanni, visibly shaken.”
C expressed dismay that CEO Ju Young Kim promised to investigate the matter further after this was shared with CEO Kim, but the official statement from Belift Lab ignored this and only discussed footage of another artist greeting.
C concluded, “This is why we suspect HYBE or Belift Lab may have deleted the footage to cover up the facts.”
Another member mother, D, added, “They keep insisting that after 30 days, it’s impossible to retrieve CCTV footage. But we never even asked about CCTV initially. It was only when they said they had footage that we felt relieved, though we were still concerned that the footage might not show the full context.”
D expressed frustration, “They only showed us footage that doesn’t match the situation we described, then claimed the rest was deleted after the retention period expired. It’s hard to accept their explanation.”
D also pointed out the misleading narrative by saying, “Belift Lab called the entity that reviewed and deleted the CCTV a ‘security company’, making it sound like an external contractor. But it’s an internal HYBE department that made the decision. This attempt to distort even small details like this is not acceptable.”
Currently, NewJeans members’ mothers believe that rather than admitting fault or reflecting on their actions, HYBE and Belift Lab are continuing to distort the issue and downplay the gravity of the situation. The mothers emphasized that their only desire is to prevent their children from facing such problems again, wondering why the agency keeps creating false narratives.
