HYBE is receiving backlash from fandoms of nearly every K-pop group for their degrading remarks.
Even the artists from HYBE Music Group were also criticized mercilessly in the report.
The thousands-page report was submitted to the National Assembly on October 24 and briefly made public.
Over a week since it was leaked, many controversial parts of the report are going viral in online communities.
A newly viral snippet reveals the agency reviewing SHINee Taemin’s “Guilty,” his 4th solo EP dropped on October 30, 2023.
HYBE stated, “He’s going to release a new album next Monday. Oh~ Just recently released an MV trailer, and it’s still “overdoing it” as usual. In fact, in the previous warm-up stage, the sample footage and photos have already “objectified” the characters, which is really uncomfortable. This video trailer is even more scary.”
The report continued, “The plot is about some kidnapped young boys, and the guys who “forced them to do it” are around them. Seeing this, everyone thought it was imitating the style of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novels, but in the end, it turned out to be a “mysterious lolita control” style. The most amazing thing is that they found Taemin, who just returned from military service, to play this kind of innocent and flawless boy role that makes people feel “sinful”. It’s really weird.”
The label criticized him for sticking to the “boy” image, “Moreover, when the members were chatting before, others joked that “Hey, we are all over the age of boys, and we have to start turning to mature men”, but Taemin said seriously that he still wants to continue playing “boys”. This kind of anxiety of “being liked only as a boy”, coupled with the performance team’s “unconcealed” flaunting of this setting, is really laughable, and it has a taste of negative chemical reaction.”
The design of his album was also mentioned in the report, “Moreover, the design of this album is even more interesting. The packaging is like a “shoe box” and various “boy-style” photos are added. Fans have been complaining that this is “referencing” V’s personal album design?
What’s even funnier is that some SM fans may have taken the opportunity to “fight back” against those overseas fans in revenge, sarcastically saying: “HYBE didn’t “steal” these things from SM?” However, in the end, everyone seemed to realize that whether it was Taemin or V, they were all following the class Lee Hee Jin’e “boy template,” which made the fan circle bosses who knew the inside story a little laughable. However, SM fans still clarified with a straight face: “It’s completely different, okay?” They also criticized V’s album (“Layover”) for “not having any originality”, which put an end to the heart-field storm.”
“Guilty” was one of the most popular songs of last year, and Taemin received praise for choreography and his flawless performances.
Fans have been criticizing HYBE for their degrading review of his solo album, and demanding an apology. The agency has apologized to fans and K-pop artists after the contents of the report caused a major stir online.
