They underlined the need to clarify the crux of the matter.
In an interview with Ilgan Sports on October 8, the mothers said: “Belift Lab released a statement on October 7, but it contained many inaccuracies. We have all asked CEO Ju Young Kim to address this issue directly as the head of ADOR. However, CEO Kim said that if they released 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.“
Mother A said: “We do not have an official platform to address these issues and correct the facts. This is a responsibility that the agency should take on, 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, he greeted another artist. When she met 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 of workplace bullying, with Hanni chosen as a reference.
In the October 7 interview, the NewJeans members’ mothers revealed that while CCTV footage exists showing Hanni greeting someone, the footage showing the moment the manager allegedly said “ignore her” has been deleted. They criticized the leadership of ADOR and HYBE for not taking adequate action to resolve the problem.
The same day, HYBE, under the name Belift Lab, posted a statement on its website: “We strongly demand an immediate end to the unfounded accusations aimed at harming our debut artists through false accusations on greetings, following unfounded plagiarism accusations. ILLIT’s manager has never said “ignore her” regarding any member of NewJeans. When the video was reviewed together with former CEO Min Hee Jin on August 14, they again stated that the lack of a greeting occurred after this scene, suggesting that there may be another video.“
A said: “Belift Lab’s claim that this is a “harmless cross-label greeting problem” completely misses the point. Hanni never complained about not being welcomed. The problem is that another artist’s manager told them to ignore Hanni.”
He continued: “We have tried to resolve the issue internally within the company. We have never identified the label or artist to the public. However, Belift Lab’s misrepresentation has tarnished our and NewJeans’ reputation.”
Another mother member, B, expressed frustration: “CEO Ju Young Kim said he was surprised by our interview, as it was done without consulting the company. But we have asked several times for this problem to be resolved. Since nothing was being done, we responded to the interview request.”
B continued: “We also asked CEO Kim to release an ADOR statement refuting Belift Lab’s lies, but CEO Kim refused, citing label conflict concerns. The company won’t fight falsehoods for us, so where else can we tell the truth?“
B emphasized: “We never raised the issue of goodbyes. Our concern is HYBE’s unfair treatment of NewJeans.”
Mother C, member, recalled: “Prior to the CCTV review on August 14, we had not seen any video, so Belift Lab’s claim that CEO Min’s side made a new argument after seeing the video is clearly false. And the term “on CEO Min’s side” is incorrect, since it was not even Min Hee Jin’s argument, which distorts the essence of the matter.”
He continued: “Initially, they said only the person involved could check the CCTV, so Hanni and a manager went to see it together. How could they call it “Min Hee Jin’s side”? Apart from Hanni and the one manager, no one else has seen the video. So how can HYBE (Belift Lab) say in its statement that Min Hee Jin’s team changed its position after seeing it? They keep changing their narrative and making things up to the point where it becomes terrifying.”
C said: “At that time, Hanni was extremely busy preparing for the Tokyo Dome fan concert and other activities in Japan. So, after finishing her activities in Japan, she finally went to watch the video again.”
“When we first raised the issue, we explained clearly that the accident occurred when Hanni was alone. However, the video HYBE showed Hanni on August 14 was of her with ADOR’s manager and Danielle.”
“When Hanni saw the footage, a security guard told her that the footage showing the artist walking by without saying hello had been deleted because they believed there was no need to keep it since the greeting had happened before. The guard couldn’t even make eye contact as he explained this to a visibly shaken Hanni.”
C expressed dismay that CEO Ju Young Kim promised to investigate the matter further after this was shared with CEO Kim, but Belift Lab’s official statement ignored this and only discussed the footage of the greeting from another artist.
C concluded: “This is why we suspect that HYBE or Belift Lab may have deleted the footage to hide the facts.”
Another mother member, D, added: “They continue to insist that after 30 days it is impossible to recover CCTV footage. But initially we didn’t even ask about CCTV. It was only when they told us they had the footage that we felt relieved, although we were still worried that the footage might not show the full context.“
D expressed frustration, “They only showed us footage that didn’t match the situation we described, then claimed that the rest had been deleted after the retention period expired. It is difficult to accept their explanation.”
D also pointed out the misleading narrative saying, “Belift Lab called the entity that examined and deleted the CCTV a “security company,” making it appear to be an external contractor. But it is an internal department of HYBE that makes the decision. This attempt to distort even small details like this is not acceptable.”
Currently, mothers of NewJeans members believe that instead of admitting guilt or reflecting on their actions, HYBE and Belift Lab continue to distort the issue and downplay the severity of the situation. The mothers stressed that their only desire is to prevent their children from facing such problems again, questioning why the agency continues to create false narratives.
Source: Nate
