On Sep 26th (Korean time), Benjamin posted on X, “I was surprised to see my name mentioned in recent articles and statements. My role is just to get the facts from every side which I’m doing.“
He added, “To be transparent and avoid any issues since I do not want to be personally involved in this story, I’m releasing the following screenshots of my communications of both sides.”
Along with this, Benjamin shared parts of KakaoTalk conversations with former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin and some emails sent to HYBE. It appears that Benjamin is verifying the facts regarding materials he received from HYBE’s PR agency TAG.
Benjamin’s public statement comes in response to an interview with former CEO Min and HYBE’s rebuttal.
In an interview with JoongAng Ilbo published on Sep 26th, Min Hee-jin stated, “I received contact from Benjamin saying that he received materials full of defamation about me from a company called HYBE’s PR agency TAG, and that the content was too biased and strange, leading him to want to verify the facts with me.” She added, “Who would believe a company that promotes a five-year producer proposal on the surface while spreading defamatory materials to overseas media behind the scenes?”
In response, HYBE released a statement on the same day, asserting, “The claim that a foreign PR agency spread defamatory materials has been confirmed as false by the columnist (Jeff Benjamin).” They further stated, “The claim that a foreign PR agency spread defamatory materials is also untrue. That agency responded that they have ‘never distributed materials about former CEO Min and that if anyone claims otherwise, it is a lie’.”
Additionally, they noted, “Benjamin also sent a reply stating that he has never said he received defamatory materials about former CEO Min.”
Benjamin’s statement this time serves as a rebuttal to HYBE’s assertions. He said, “Anyone adding emotions to my standard fact checking is adding their personal feelings or biases.”