On November 25, a topic titled “NewJeans said that as victims themselves, they declined to collaborate due to concerns that other victims would be harmed” was published on the Korean forum “theqoo”.
The topic, which attracted over 33,000 views within just a few hours, cited a Naver article, which revealed several damning details.
In particular, it was reported that NewJeans and ZB1 (ZEROBASEONE) were supposed to collaborate at the 2024 Korea Grand Music Awards (2024 KGMA), but the collaboration ultimately fell through. This was reportedly because ZB1 was mentioned in the HYBE’s music industry report, which criticized and compared various K-pop artists, ranging from BLACKPINK’s members to 4th generation groups.
As a result, NewJeans, who were victims of the report themselves, were afraid that ZB1 will be attacked if they performed with NewJeans, and so declined the collaboration to protect the boy group.
Upon seeing this news, many netizens showed support for NewJeans and slammed HYBE for its “dirty tactics”. Below are some comments from netizens:
- I hope HYBE perishes, collapses, breaks, and tears itself apart~
- HYBE is on a different level from other agencies. Why are the kids suffering because of this dirty company? It breaks my heart even though it’s not me. I hope things go well for them
- NewJeans fighting!
- I hope NewJeans get to safely leave HYBE
- NewJeans are so cool…
- Woah it’s really a shame that the collaboration couldn’t happen.. But their mindset are amazing