No matter what happens to MHJ from this point on, the damage Hybe has done to itself is inexcusable

Yeah, I know there's a megathread, but I think we really need to talk about what is happening right now, not to NewJeans, but to LE SSERAFIM and ILLIT.

They are getting destroyed in Korea. Did you see the statement Source Music had to put out?

Yes, Min Heejin is the one who ignited this, and I won't pardon her for dragging both ILLIT and LSF into this, but the fact remains that she is not the one who turned a private dispute into a public one. Hybe's hubris and power made them think their usual tactics wouldn't backfire as badly as they have.

I would just ask Hybe one question, while LSF/ILLIT continue to get absolutely buried by the Korean public: Even if you do get rid of MHJ, was the damage to your girl groups due to this drama playing out publicly worth it?

To make matters worse, ILLIT's creative director can't stay out of the drama either, and is bringing even MORE hatred to ILLIT, thanks to the director's shady instagram posts clearly targeted at MHJ.

We've reached the point where it legitimately doesn't matter what happens to MHJ going forward, because the damage Hybe has invited on to its own girl groups is just completely untenable. I don't know how they can even fix it.

Oh, and if they have any insecurities about NewJeans, the public loves them even more now. There were fears their careers would be ruined at the start of the week, and that's clearly not going to happen at least in terms of their perception with the public. (Look, the point still stands without even mentioning charts)

Even if you're Team Hybe, this was such a stupid move by them. My last thread about the girl groups was more satire than anything, but now that I see the scale of the hate LSF/ILLIT are receiving, I can't help but see Hybe's decision to corner MHJ in the public eye as an unmitigated disaster.

They should've consulted with the shaman first.

Second Edit: I'm not saying Hybe won't be fine ultimately. The only thing that would fall is their stock price, and that's short term (better buy it while it's undervalued, but you didn't hear that from me).

I'm saying that I'm not sure LSF/ILLIT will be fine. I don't think ifans realize how much hate LSF is getting, and I'm not sure if ILLIT will ever shake the NJ 2.0 allegations now.

If you think I'm happy about that, even if NJ has benefited from the press conference, then I would tell you to look at my thread history, and if that doesn't convince you, nothing I could say would anyway.

Quote from killingtime1934

How very weird of u to bring charting when ggs with minors are being bashed

Very telling form a supporter of a woman that play victim and play the "voice of the kids" but thrown other kids under the buss

That all nj it's good for, for charting, more charting is more money to hybe

Why is your brain so smooth? Your interpretation only makes sense if you completely remove the context of why I mentioned charting. I'd expound further, but it wouldn't be worth the time to do so just for you.

I have faith you probably won't figure out what point clearly flew over your head, and I'm at peace with it.

Quote from redcurtain

They underestimated her, she completely flipped the script on them in terms of public opinion (for now anyways). I just don't understand why if they were so certain they could get rid of her, why did they need to mediaplay to such an absurd extent? It was a circus before Ador even released their first statement.

They somehow didn't know whom they were dealing with. Just like you said, they greatly underestimated how far she was and still is willing to go to defend her name. If it was just backlash to Hybe as a corporate entity, that would be one thing, but they opened the door to backlash going directly to their girl groups.

Anyone with common sense could've seen this potentially happening if they go after a person like MHJ so publicly. She is a genius creative with decades of industry experience. Did they not think she'd find a way to manipulate the narrative?

You know they have to be punching the air in frustration right now, because the harm MHJ has caused on her way out will far exceed any satisfaction gained from her removal.

Quote from Ves

Hybe isn't innocent. They certainly used underhanded tactics with MHJ, but blaming them as though they made MHJ say that stuff about LSFM and Illit? Misplaced.

But Hybe are the ones who made the dispute public and started trying to bury her with constant news articles.

We can say that their strategy was objectively a horrendous one that left them extremely susceptible to exactly what ended up happening.

We know for a fact that MHJ was sending internal reports about ILLIT and complaining that they were copying her work. Hybe has acknowledged that they even responded to those reports (MHJ just didn't feel they addressed her concerns so here we are). That means they should've known there was a possibility of MHJ's counter attack dragging out the details of that report into the light as well.

But really, this isn't about MHJ. It's about Hybe's poor strategy, which we can acknowledge with the benefit of hindsight, and how the end result is both LSF/ILLIT getting raked across the coals.

Quote from Disevidence

Bringing up charting is a bit premature, to try and say that's the NJ support.

It's the weekend They always raise up on the Saturday. Secondly Magnetic may have lost the number 1 spot to Zico but the underlying numbers are identical - more or less same ULs as they were before this all kicked off.

If the public perception is affecting charting like you claim, wouldn't Illit's numbers begin to drop?

Besides, any streaming/money you give to NJ will largely end up in Hybe's pocket anyway.

Like I'm not going to wade into the rest of it, but I think looking at charting to allege the 'stance' of Koreans on this is a bit misnomer. You are correct on the perception of Hybe and the support of MHJ in korea, but I don't think using charting as reading the proverbial tea leaves is the answer.

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People need to stop hyperfixating on the charting, because its obvious inclusion was to show that the Korean public haven't given up on NewJeans and are actually supporting them more AFTER this feud went public than before it.

We can remove the charting, and I could just link the dozens of translated comments with Netizens vowing to support NewJeans no matter what, due to the narrative MHJ created through her press conference, whether we think it's fair/accurate or not.

Quote from whiffy

I mean hybe as a corporate definitely got what they deserve for mishandling an internal conflict, but why are you making it seem like it was inevitable that other groups would be dragged into this?

It’s entirely on mhj for involving both nj and other ggs into this mess. She could’ve chosen to refrain from name-dropping any idol whilst still making her point - that’s what lawyers are for if you’re not great at legal speak.

Instead, she chose to emotionally manipulate the public with her embarrassment of a press conference, use nj for nothing but shielding herself, and expose how bitter and unprofessional she is towards her colleagues.

She’s not alone in hating her boss, but there’s no justification for how she acted about it. She claimed she cares for nj members like her own daughters, but she had no problem dragging other parents’ daughters through the mud, all while being extremely vindictive and petty and immature about it. Is that the hero yall worship? Give me a break

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I'm not entertaining anyone who tries to spin this into a defense of MHJ.

So to all who respond in such a way, I'll simply say Hybe fucked around and found out the hard way.

Quote from SandyBee3

Hybe will be fine.

Of course they will. They have BTS.

But LSF/ILLIT? Especially LSF right now? I'm not so sure about that.

Were I in there place, we wouldn't be going public unless we're sure we can utterly crush MHJ.

All the day was open the door for Min Heejin to do exactly what she was apparently plotting to do. They made it so much easier for her, and the media play only made her tactic more effective.

Such a misplay.

Quote from Disevidence

I mean I'm not hyperfixating on it, I just thought it was a very odd (and speculative) thing to include.

Like I agree with 75% of your post, generally speaking, but then you kind of throw a curveball with 'NJ are charting better' - it's understandable that a point very asynchronous to the rest of the post is focused on.

Getting mad at people for your own error to be quite frank.

I mean, it's not an error and I don't care if people are so sensitive over objective data. I don't see why there is any harm in observing a likely correlation in public sentiment on NewJeans improving after the press conference and the resurgence of their songs up the charts. Hybe Boy hasn't been a top 20 song for months; it was today.

But I removed the line anyway, since I don't want charts to dilute the intended discussion.

Quote from MochaCinnamon

I'm glad Source Music is at least doing some steps to protect LSF. Belift though especially that creative director of theirs, is so incompetent that every time she post something, it garners even more hate towards ILLIT.

Hoping this doesn't affect the friendship between yunjin and hanni.

I was worried about the same with Yunjin/Hanni. I'm not going to speculate about the strength of their friendship, which started from the time they were trainees together, but god it has to be awkward if Yunjin watches a woman burying her group members, people she certainly loves and admires, while talking about how much she was comforted by Hanni.

It's such a mess

Quote from Ves

So you're saying Hybe should have realized that she would go and drag two innocent groups through the mud because she was already mad at Hybe for letting one debut before NJ and letting the other "copy" off her and thus Hybe are responsible because they pissed her off.

Ok then. Do you also blame companies who fire workers that then go postal and shoot up the building for revenge?

False equivalence.

Min Heejin's reputation, personality and history aren't unknown factors, and the same holds true for the various points of contention that triggered the eventual erosion of the relationship between MHJ and the aforementioned executives.

If they were going to punch publicly, and several times at that, they needed to make sure the punches landed clean and knocked her out AND have a credible defense ready, especially when the arena is the court of public opinion.

The fact they said MHJ wasn't worth responding to and then later responded anyway is proof of how much sound strategy is happening behind the scenes.

Now, let me ask you this.

If I had a tenant in my home, whom I found out was volatile, potentially unhinged, prone to violent outbursts, and generally a terrible person, do you think I would tell them I'm not renewing their lease and plan to evict them in the middle of a department store or restaurant? And would I bear some blame if they then cause a scene?

That's how I feel about this situation. You don't have to agree.

Quote from pchromo4

You know what? This analogy actually makes sense to me and I agree. Hybe knew MHJ was a volcano ready to blow, and she was considering a public opinion battle herself. They should've waited until the audit concluded, acquired hard evidence of criminal conduct, and only gone public with a lawsuit or police report. Their soft-handedness at demanding a resignation as the first move was their mistake. But tbh even in this scenario I don't think Illit and LSF would've been saved, at best the reactions would just be more mixed.

Leeching off my analogy, in that scenario, I know for a fact that if the tenant ended up flipping the table at the restaurant or knocking things off the shelves of the department store, the reaction wouldn't be "I can't believe they did that!" but instead "Why did you choose to handle that there without a better plan?"

That's what I'm criticizing. Hybe have infinitely more resources and leverage than MHJ has as an individual, and now there are rumors that they've been investigating her since last December, and after all that investigation, this is how they chose to attack her?

This plan was probably months in the making and it was a horrible plan, and I don't think I deserve to be called a MHJ shooter for calling that out.

In this case, the flipped table would be LSF and the items knocked off the shelves of the store would be ILLIT.

You corner someone like MHJ publicly, you better make sure you catch her before she can strike back. They had plenty of time to do so and didn't, and the strategy was so bad it's puzzling.

Quote from Ves

You're accusing me of false equivalence? LMAO

Yes, actually.

In most cases, when the employee goes postal, the first thing that always comes out in the interviews are stories like "I never thought they were capable of this" or "they got along with everyone and had a great family so I'm just shocked".

We quite literally have nearly 300 pages of AKP users reacting to the accusations against MHJ and her subsequent press conference, and almost 100% of the responses have been "Yeah, that checks out for a prideful narcissist like her."

So...