Hanni, a member of NewJeans, gave emotional and tearful testimony about workplace harassment.
The testimony is part of an investigation by South Korean lawmakers into workplace harassment.
According to BBC, Hanni claimed that Hybe entertainment company had intentionally sabotaged her band. She also accused the company’s senior managers of intentionally ignoring her.
“I realized that this was more than just a feeling,” she said in her testimony. I truly believe the company hates us.”
Hanni was previously asked to give evidence last month, after the team went public with allegations about their treatment following the sacking of their mentor Min Hee-Jin. Min allegedly intended to separate from Hybe and take the group with him. She has since denied the allegations against her.
The group then took to a YouTube channel to make allegations of workplace harassment, the BBC reported. In one incident they detailed, Hanni said that when she greeted members of another band at their record label’s office, a manager instructed them to “ignore her”. She reported the incident, but claims that nothing was done.
“On the way out, [the manager] made eye contact with me, turned to the rest of the group and said, ‘Ignore her as if you don’t see her,'” Hanni said in her testimony.
She also confirmed that this happened many times and that senior members of Hybe were also the ones who acted cold towards her.
“Since my debut [in NewJeans]We have met many times a person with a high position, but when I greet them, they never say hello,” she said.
“When I lived in Korea, I understood that I had to be polite to my elders and that it was part of the culture – but I thought it was disrespectful to not greet us, regardless of our professional status. There’s a certain feeling.” [of disrespect] that I feel about the company,” Hanni continued.
The NewJeans member further claimed that company employees said some nasty things about the group on an app called Blind. Furthermore, Hanni alleged that Hybe’s PR department contacted a journalist, asking him to downplay NewJeans’ achievements in an article about their record sales. The record label has denied these allegations. Instead, they assert that they are trying to correct a factual error.
Despite this, Hanni stated that the company and NewJeans were no longer working together, even saying that “the company hates us”.
Ador’s current CEO, Kim Joo-young, was subpoenaed to testify. During her time on the stand, she shared that she believed Hanni, but did not have any supporting evidence to support her claim.
NewJeans was founded in 2022 and includes members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein. They have become a global phenomenon since their formation and have scored hits such as “Super Shy” and “OMG”.
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