On October 10, NewJeans’ Hanni shared a lengthy message from her mother on the girl group’s fan communication platform, Phoning.
In particular, the female idol wrote, “This is a message my mom sent me. She wanted to share it with Bunnies (fans of NewJeans), and since there was no other way (to send it), I’m posting it here.”
In the message, Hanni’s mother expressed her whole-hearted support for Hanni’s every decision. The whole message is as below:
“As Hanni has personally decided to attend the National Assembly to speak on bullying and workplace harassment, her family wholeheartedly support her every decision.
Hanni grew up by my side, we cherish every little precious time together. Her openness to express herself growing up in difficult situations outside the house was always a challenge, fearing that her opinions were not valued or respected concerned me greatly. Her love for music and dance was encouraged as an extension to express herself better, this is where she found solace.
When the incident at HYBE occurred, upon her telling me, this upset me deeply. It felt this would be a narrative that would continue to play out in her life. We needed to stop this from repeating itself and I encouraged her to speak up. Hanni attending the National assembly is a great responsibility, one she does not take lightly. She truly has found a-lot of courage to speak up and stand up for herself, we are truly proud of her. Through this action; Hanni’s past, present and future will play out so she can do better things in the coming years. Her strength will come from the real people that continue to love and admire her like her own family, everything otherwise is to diminish!”
Earlier, the National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee selected Hanni as a witness and NewJeans‘ agency CEO, Kim Juyoung, as a testifier. The hearing stems from the workplace harassment controversy, which was sparked by Hanni’s mention during an emergency live broadcast in September about another artist’s manager’s comment to “ignore” her.
Additionally, Hanni confirmed on Phoning on October 9 that she will attend the parliamentary hearing, scheduled for October 15.