Amidst controversy over the revelation that HYBE compiled an industry report assessing idol group members’ appearances in an inflammatory manner, the creator of the report, Chief Content Officer Kang, was removed from their position on October 29th KST.
According to the music industry, HYBE had been preparing a weekly report titled “Weekly Music Industry Report,” which was distributed to key leaders within HYBE and its subsidiary labels. Kang, who reportedly authored the report, was removed from their position as head of the division in response to the growing backlash over the report’s inflammatory and demeaning content.
The report gained attention on October 24th during a National Assembly audit by the Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee, where Democratic Party representative Min Hyung Bae questioned HYBE about the report’s contents. The report allegedly contained remarks about idol group members, including statements such as “the members debuted when they were at their ugliest,” “no one has the features of an idol, and the plastic surgery is excessive,” and “the other members are shockingly unattractive.”
In response, HYBE released a statement explaining, “The monitoring report shown in the National Assembly consists of compiled opinions and trends in fandoms and the industry. It was drafted by directly quoting public reactions from communities and social media to provide a reference for a small internal group, and it does not reflect HYBE’s stance.”
However, as additional contents of the report circulated online, public outcry intensified. Seungkwan from HYBE’s subsidiary label group SEVENTEEN expressed his criticism on October 29th KST, saying, “Our journey is not something you have the right to casually judge. Not just us, but other artists too, are not your items to freely exploit,” showing his frustration over the degrading remarks in the report.
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