Do you think NewJeans will survive or have they ruined their careers forever?

I ask this question almost rhetorically and most certainly tongue in cheek, but humor me.

Reddit has been trying for months (as well as those obsessed terminally online losers in the comments section of literally EVERY NJ/MHJ article on AKP) to convince everyone, including themselves, that NewJeans have ruined their careers for MHJ.

"they're going to be in the dungeon until their contracts expire"

"no company will touch them with a 10 ft pole"

"their brands will drop them due to their bad image"

"the Korean public will turn on them eventually"

"their fans will forget about them"

I think I covered the most common cope comments from their dedicated 24/7 haters

Now I would like to poll AKP, to ascertain the consensus opinion and prevailing sentiments of our chaotic community

Don't be shy. I won't make the votes public.

Quote from thebadguy

Newjeans gotta survive or else my kpop stan career is over

If they don't survive, I'm going to turn into a K-Pop super villain

Quote from Tru-Multistan

Kpop fans are fickle, today they love NJs, tomorrow they might hate them. Never know what can happen between now and their return. Assuming they are able to maintain the support they currently have, I'm sure they will be fin

The public can be fickle, but this year has been proof positive of how loyal and supportive their fans are. Even if I take my bias out of it, I've never seen a fandom go to the lengths to fight for their idols the way I've seen Bunnies manage this year, from lawsuits to petitions. They are never losing that support, as long as they want to continue on as idols.

Quote from Tru-Multistan

I don't think it's hating to assume they may not achieve the same level of success as they did under HYBE. If they do that's pretty crazy. Like imagine they debut as NewDreams and become the top gg again. But if all they cared about was success and money they wouldn't be doing all of this I'd think?

Globally? It's unknown. ETA did go viral after all this drama happened, and their global brands are still supporting them and apparently looking for ways to establish contracts directly with the member, so we'll see how that plays out

In Korea? Depending on the timing, I think it could be their biggest domestic hit since Ditto. The scandal has only increased their Korean fanbase.

I've seen a lot of k-tokkis say they became fans BECAUSE of the HYBE/MHJ conflict.

Quote from bbgc

The option is rather generic "They will be fine and release music"

Anything more would be too loaded. We know there are some difficult challenges ahead of them legally, but I wanted to keep things simple: do you think they'll survive or not?

Quote from bbgc

The options should be "Will they thrive as a successful Kpop group?"

That is more doubtful, than their survival as individuals doing music.

No, because the people I'm not so subtly calling out are declaring their careers DOA from this point on. They are not allowing for any caveats or nuance. They want them to be effectively silenced and disbanded.

Quote from David33

Most of their fans may be loyal, but I don't think we can say the same about the general public, let alone the Kpop industry.

Even if I don't want this, I think their career is over. Even if they can work as Idols after this, they won't be as successful anymore.

It's like asking Lex Luthor to not try to kill Superman. 😅

Case in point

Quote from Tru-Multistan

Yea I agree it's more than likely they've had a net positive gain in fans in SK and everyone and their mother will be anticipating their return. It'll probably top charts regardless of the song just from the excitement that'll be around it. If it's a bop that's a whole different story.

Globally is hard to say. I previously thought it hurt them but for all I know all the people claiming to have turned sour towards them were always sour towards them. Personally, their next comeback probably would've been an afterthought for me had all this drama not occurred. But unless some really indisputable evidence comes out showing they (MHJ and NJs) are what reddit claims they are, I'll be going out of my way to support their return. And I'm sure I'm not the only one with a similar experience.

Ironically, the more it gets coverage and articles in the West (even Bloomberg ran a story about them), the more I think it will be a somewhat positive form of noise marketing for them, especially if they win on every legal front they're engaged in battle on.

I've seen the literal bigger streamers on twitch publicly supporting NewJeans, and globally recognized publications like Wall Street Journal have even published articles about it.

There is also the MHJ factor. Despite what HYBE stans on reddit wish, she hasn't been canceled and has an undeniable star factor of her own. HYBE actually made her MORE powerful in their attempt to crush her, and MHJ giving 110% to making NewJeans succeed globally should scare their antis.

Quote from ISaidISaid

It’s hard to say. Look what happened to Baekhyun he is a million seller, he did well even without SM and he openly spoke about wanting to attend award shows and what not

He didn’t go to a single one in spite of having the best selling solo album of the year.

Companies can and will ban you. And even if it’s not “direct”, other companies generally like to do “favors” for big entertainment companies like “look here SM I didn’t allow that guy you fought with on my award show/etc”

So yeah they may release some music cuz people have known to do that. But will they be able to promote and be their most authentic selves, it’s debatable.

Don’t underestimate how difficult HYBE can and will make it for them. They’re not impenetrable like the way you think they are.

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HYBE have done nothing the past 8 months to give me cause for concern. They're sloppy, unprofessional and incompetent. A well-run organization would've handled this dispute with MHJ way different and way better than HYBE, whose founder and chairman is currently being investigated for a 400 million won financial fraud.

Also, no offense to Baekhyun, but his pull as a solo artist can't be compared to how NewJeans and MHJ are currently held in high esteem in Korea.

That's somewhat of an apples to oranges comparison.

Also, don't underestimate how much the industry hates HYBE right now.

A vogue editor in Chief filmed themselves traveling a hour to HYBE HQ just to give them a middle finger. And guess who just had a Vogue photoshoot drop yesterday?

I'd be way more worried if brands showed any signs of dropping the girls, but the exact opposite has happened.

Quote from ISaidISaid

It doesn’t matter what esteem Korea holds them in lol.

Companies trade favors for each others and there’s nothing NJ or MHJ can do to circumvent this.

Yes they will be ignored by many entertainment opportunities and that’s what will cause them to stall.

Brands are nothing. Baekhyun also has his own endorsements. SM can’t stop those. Calvin Klein doesn’t owe favors to SM or HYBE. But Mnet may. Music Bank might. Etc Entertainment companies are another breed.

You’ll see it happen.

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I highly doubt that. If that was going to happen, we'd see evidence of that already, but instead they're being given more platforms and support from the industry. HYBE isn't SM; they don't have decades of good will or connections to rely on, and they've pissed off multiple big players in the industry already with their "Internal Weekly Report".

I don't think you understand how bad HYBE's image in Korea is presently. The only ones supporting them are the demographic you literally hate the most: toxic, misogynistic incels. I find it odd how much you're repeating the same rhetoric found on the hill those smooth brains die on.

Quote from TwiceKaren

I think it depends on how the lawsuit ends, if they win they will be perfectly fine and stronger than before, if they win it all depends on what HYBE do if they have the power to keep their brand and songs but NewJeans still allowed to debut with a different name and new songs they will be ok but less successful, but also MHJ has a no compete clause on her contract so it will be years before she can make her own agency and also we don't know how NewJeans's contract works maybe they won't be able to promote for 5 years or so, if that happens their carreers are pretty much done

The non-compete clause on MHJ was voided when she resigned from HYBE. That's no longer in play.

Quote from TwiceKaren

How was it voided?

It was voided when they terminated her as CEO, and cemented when she resigned as internal director.

She still has the option to sue for her put options, which is the path she has chosen.

Quote from CaraFIMIE

Of course their career has been ruined, why is this surprising news?

Anyways their career might be ruined but they will still survive. I don't think they will achieve the same level of success as they did prior but who knows.

This doesn't make any sense, as it reads like you're claiming NewJeans have already been ruined, when the following is true:

• They've gained more global brands and lost zero, even at the peak of the scandal
• They are the most streamed girl group on Spotify
• They are the #1 artist on Circle Digital Index
• They have the most cumulative albums sold of any girl group this year
• They have songs from every album released since their debut EP still charting on the MelOn Daily Chart
• They remain the Ambassadors of Korean Tourism
• The general public still largely supports them
• They continue getting invited to prestigious events and ceremonies, including bagging a daesang

I need tangible evidence of them being ruined

Quote from ISaidISaid

You’re in your delulu era Yama lol.

It really doesn’t matter how bad HYBE’s image is at all. It won’t change the fact that they have power.

I know you desperately want them to not to and I wish you the best.

If they had any kind of meaningful power, things wouldn't have escalated this point and the public wouldn't be on NewJeans' side, nor would HYBE have lost the first injunction nor would that internal document been leaked or reported on nor would their CEOs get summoned to the national assembly and embarrassed in public while being forced to apologize.

Stop overrating HYBE. They're new money and an ANT compared to the true titans of Korea, let alone the business world at large.

HYBE is worth about 10 billion.

Apple, who has openly supported NewJeans, is worth 3 trillion.

There are levels to this.

Quote from CaraFIMIE

At this point, charts are your daily mantra lol.

Gaining brands, getting invited to prestigious events and ceremonies, and being the ambassadors of korean tourism are not part of their job/career.

But anyways, what I mean by their careers been ruined already is the fact that such an issue that could've been solved internally has been made public to the extent that many rumors and speculations have taken on a life of their own. Those rumors and speculations will continue to suffocate NewJeans more than it already has for as long as they remain present in the industry.

NewJeans will forever be associated with this drama and having such toxicity present in your resume is never a good look.

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Queue the defensive outburst

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It's called using objective metrics to determine the current status of a group. If you have something better than sales, charts, brand deals and public sentiment, then present them; I'm all eyes, otherwise, put up or shut up.

Not to be toxic, but an example of a group being ruined is what has happened to ILLIT, whose charting fell off a cliff with their latest comeback. Or what happened to your favorite group and my second favorite group, after a series of unfortunate scandals.

When this scandal first hapopened, all of NewJeans' songs went UP the charts. When they held their press conference and announced their contract termination, all their songs went UP the charts.

So please explain how this scandal has already ruined them, because the only one taking a hit in Korea right now is HYBE.

Give me OBJECTIVE, EMPIRICAL evidence of them already being ruined, not just your unsubstantiated cold take.

You can take your time gathering the relevant facts, since I saw you're a bit occupied with leaving shady comments about NewJeans in the comments section of AKP articles, like my good friend Paulette.

Quote from CaraFIMIE

If you can't see the number of haters they have amassed due to this scandal, then idk what to tell you.

They're completely irrelevant. Haters didn't derail them from being the most streamed artist with the most albums sold and the biggest brand deals.

So to be blunt, who gives a shit about them? They've always had haters jealous of their meteoric rise and success from the day they debuted.

Quote from CaraFIMIE

I don't leave "shady" comments on AKP articles. And if you deem them shady then maybe you do like seeing hate being directed towards your faves just to use it as an excuse for being rude and bitter towards others.

You're a company apologist and sycophant, so the least you can do is stop the bullshit and admit you're team HYBE and hope for NewJeans to lose and disband, like all the other people who openly hate them.

Quote from CaraFIMIE

I dislike more than half of the bunnies on this site especially because most of them act like they know everything and are aware of all things NewJeans even though they don't. There is SO.MUCH. happening bts that you guys are unaware of but y'all keep believing everything you see online (specifically all things coming from the favorable side) without thinking about the possibility of it having been manipulated.

I don't care about your feelings and have no real interest in discussing this. Couldn't give less of a shit. We at the very least know way more about this than you people do, and we have made substantial contributions to this fight. Why do you think the HYBE CEOs got dragged out in front of the National Assembly, and why do you think Hanni got to talk about her experience? We, the fans, made that happen.

The fact you're ignorant to this is proof you have no right to talk about who knows what is happening behind the scenes.

Quote from CaraFIMIE

Call me shady or a hater

I have and will continue to do so, because you are, whether you want to admit it or not. Your short history of making bait threads to invite hate or criticism towards NewJeans speaks for itself.

So anyway, all of this side bar tangent is meaningless. Bring me objective proof that their careers are already ruined. What is that assessment based on? The presence of haters? If that's all it takes, then every popular group ever has a failed career.

Quote from CaraFIMIE

Gaining brands, getting invited to prestigious events and ceremonies, and being the ambassadors of korean tourism are not part of their job/career.

How did I miss this? Never mind. Don't respond to me any longer. This is such an indefensibly idiotic statement that I don't have any interest in engaging your further, since I promised to be nice this month and I cannot address this brainless comment while honoring my commitment to be cordial.

Have a good day.

Quote from ISaidISaid

This is pure delusion. And your examples prove how delusional you really are lol.

I’m not really overrating HYBE. HYBE has control over award shows and other entertainment shows. This is merely a fact. Everyone who is not a hybe stan knows this. New jeans own victories and celebration were in part because of that. (Which you can deny to your hearts content)

Now you may think never winning another award and never being invited to another award show or missing out some appearances on some shows will not affect new jeans and that’s your prerogative.

Supporting someone by giving them brand deals is NOTHING like being signed to a company. New jeans is nothing to Apple than a speck they pay as part of their multi million dollar brand campaign.

It doesn’t matter a whit if new jeans has a million endorsements. If hybe is able to tell MAMA “I won’t send BTS and 17 and everyone else” on your show if you bring new jeans, MAMA is not going to side with new jeans no matter how delusional you may want to be. And hybe can do this for every TV show.

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They can't do that and they won't do that. And time will prove you wrong and me right, like it always does. I'm not interested in debating your absurd hypothetical which makes HYBE out to be some intergalactic super power and not a fumbling, bumbling bunch of losers whose company grew faster than their competence to handle it.

The fact you think HYBE have more power than the media giants with way more power, influence and assets than them is frightening given your time in this hobby.

No label has more power than Mnet. Lmao. Mnet is way bigger than any entertainment label. HYBE cannot DEMAND they do anything.