The mothers of the NewJeans members addressed inaccuracies in Belift Lab’s statement regarding an incident where a manager of another artist allegedly told the artist to "ignore" Hanni. They emphasized the core issue that needed to be clarified. They stated, "We asked Belift Lab to release a corrected statement because the facts in their initial statement were very different from the truth, but they refused, so we had no choice but to reach out to you again."
In another interview with Ilgan Sports on the evening of October 8, the mothers stated, "Belift Lab issued a statement on the 7th, but it contained too many factual errors. We all asked ADOR CEO Kim Joo Young to address this issue personally, as the leader of ADOR. However, CEO Kim said, 'Even if we release a statement based on the information provided by the parents and Hanni, there’s a high chance of further rebuttals, which could lead to an endless cycle of back-and-forth,' and refused to issue a statement."
One of the mothers, A, stated, "We have no proper channel to correct these falsehoods, and it’s the agency’s responsibility to do so. Since they refused, we had no choice but to contact Ilgan Sports again."
In their previous interview on October 7 with Ilgan Sports, the NewJeans members' mothers claimed that while CCTV footage exists of Hanni greeting the other artist, the part showing the alleged "ignore" comment had been deleted. They accused both ADOR's current leadership and HYBE of failing to take adequate measures to resolve this issue.
In response, Belift Lab strongly refuted the claims of workplace mistreatment of NewJeans' Hanni. The label claimed, "The protocol team member (manager) of ILLIT never remarked 'ignore her' about any NewJeans member, and the ILLIT members have never passed by the NewJeans members without greeting them. These facts were confirmed through a review of CCTV footage and an investigation of the protocol team members and artists, conducted at the request of Belift Lab on June 13, following the concerns raised by NewJeans' parents."
However, NewJeans' mothers continue to suspect Belift Lab had intentionally deleted the surveillance footage to cover up the incident. One mother stated, "From the beginning, we were told that only the person involved could check the CCTV, so Hanni and one manager went to view the footage. Why are they now claiming that ‘Min Hee Jin’s side’ saw it and changed their stance? Only Hanni and one manager saw the footage. But BeliftLab is now saying that Min Hee Jin’s side saw it and changed their argument. It’s terrifying how they keep changing their story and making things up. This is why we are suspicious that HYBE or Belift Lab deleted the CCTV footage to cover up the facts.”
Another mother pointed out, "The security guard said that the video of Hanni greeting and then being ignored was deleted because they thought the greeting was enough and didn’t need to be preserved."
She continued to criticize HYBE and stated, "BeliftLab referred to the place that checked and deleted the CCTV as a ‘security company,’ making it seem like it was an external company. However, the decision to review and delete the footage is clearly an issue within HYBE’s own organization. This attempt to distort even small details is not the right approach.”
NewJeans' mothers emphasized that they are not raising issues with the "greeting incident" but pointing out the unfair treatment HYBE is inflicting on NewJeans.
Korean netizens were also questioning why HYBE had decided to delete the footage of the incident. They commented:
"Was it simply that they didn’t greet as they passed by, or was there a movement caught where they tried to greet but were stopped by the manager? That’s why the CCTV shouldn’t have been deleted. So why did HYBE delete it? Are they feeling guilty about something?"
"So who was the manager who said 'ignore her'?"
"It is suspicious that the footage was deleted. Especially just that part?"
"So the question is, why did they delete just that part?"
"HYBE is so low."
"There's definitely something suspicious in the latter part of the video that's why they deleted it."
"The part that's the issue is when the manager said 'ignore her' not the greeting part. Hanni said they greeted each other but the manager told them to 'ignore her.' That's why they deleted the video after the greeting part."
"Hanni fighting."
"They tampered with evidence."
"The issue was not the greeting part. It was the part where the manager said 'Ignore her.' But that was the part of the video that got deleted."
"This is such a crazy company."
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