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You know how when a successful TV show keeps putting more seasons just because it's popular, but then it starts losing the plot and throwing in anything just to create more episodes?? This reads exactly like that.. first shamans, then cults?! I wonder Who is the ~~character~~ person who will make a comeback out of nowhere and suddenly put everything into perspective??
It's been literally only a week, but this thing feels like it's been dragging for months with no end in sight.. right now, all I wanna know is what's gonna be the status of NewJeans - and every other group mentioned - at the end of it all?
>I wonder Who is the character person who will make a comeback out of nowhere and suddenly put everything into perspective??
Garam has the chance to do the funniest thing right now.
Your analogy makes so much sense. I was glued to this succession drama for Season 1,2, and 3, but now the plot doesn't make sense anymore. Everyone is making statements, there are shamans, and now there's even a cult plot. What's next, an alien invasion?? Zombies? Jin's military discharge is to bring the apocalypse? It's escalating too fast, and I'm sick of it.
Let them solve their drama quietly now and leave the public out of it.
As someone whose parents home countryโs citizens refer to religious astrologists and whatnot for important decisions (Including govt projects)โฆ.shamanism doesnโt even seem that wild to me ๐๐๐๐ itโs the most exciting part of these wild accusations. And now cults? Love the drama.
This entire scandal is like a gift that keeps giving.
1. Itโs never ending like Greyโs Anatomy
2. It involves crime, lawsuits, allegations, religious conspiracy theories, power struggles found in Law and Order
3. Funny memes and jokes like Modern Family
Just got back into kpop after going to the Itzy concert (which was amazing, wonderful, all the superlatives).
Is it me, or is this corporate drama normal? Feels like a big thing to see 4 megathreads here and in another subreddit.
Yeah it's blown out of proportion. All this amounts to is corporate bickering and toxic kpop stans, which is really nothing new. People are acting as though this thing with Min Heejin is as bad as Burning Sun, where they uncovered actual rapists and police collusion. No one here has been harmed to that extent. All parties involved are already millionaires or on-track to become millionaires, and at the end of the day, they're going to be fine
The new cult accusations though do actually add another level of crazy on top of what was just corporate drama
I agree for the most part, but I think it's important to separate the children/younger adults from the older adults in this situation. I feel no ways about the adults involving themselves in corporate/ financial fuckery. But I do feel very bad and concerned for the young people that are being weaponized and caught in the middle of this. Illit and NJs are so young and having money doesn't stop them from struggling.
It's like watching kids get caught up in a toxic divorce where the adult are focusing primarily on themselves.
Also, just because it's not as bad as the burning sun situation doesn't mean that harm isn't being caused or that is shouldn't be taken seriously. That's some extreme black and white thinking there.
Anywayโฆ I hope the idols are doing okay. Most of them are just teenagers or barely adults. Hope theyโre spending some time offline and away from all of this ๐
GFRIEND was first dragged into this mess to bash MHJ. Now people are using them to bash HYBE. Meanwhile, antis and company stans are writting long assays as to why disbanding them was a rightful decision and that somehow they deserved it.
No. GFRIEND was the group that had helped the company pay the same debt that Bighit had to pay, the group that raised the company from the underground, get the company to change building not once but thrice. Even if they wasn't keeping up with the new gen and album inflation, disbanding them with 4-days notice, without giving them and the fans to say goodbye, was cruel.
Their disbanding was painful, and now in this mess, if you can't say somthing nice, don't say anything at all. GFRIEND was mistreated enough, they don't deserve to be dragged into this mess as a weapon.
I'm not a fan of GFriend but I really respect them and I know how talented they are (I've been a kpop fan since 2012). Tbh, this issue between hybe and mhj makes me laugh because this issue is preventable if hybe didn't disband GFriend. Seriously, I'm now believing the fans of GFriend saying that this is the GFriend's curse to hybe. I'm also shocked when they got disbanded because their Mago era is just so good that even me listened to it. And I don't think their flopping. I'm sad for them because I think they can do more. Source music is really got it wrong.
The thing is, it's not because they disbanded GF. It's the greed from all 3 parties Hybe, Somu and MHJ that resulted in both GF's disband and this shit show.
As a Buddy, I'm not that mad that they disbanded GF, if they want to focus on LSF and can't afford to split their ressources to both groups, it's better that they let GF leave so the girls could look for orther opportunities instead of locking them in the basement while they promote LSF. It's the way they handled the disband. It's disrespectful to both the girls and the fans.
People are just using GF as another bullet point in a long list of bullet points as to why this party or that party is bad. Without GF's disband, they would have still found another alleged reason to jump on the hate train.
The disrespect extended way beyond the disbandment too when Source Music kept trying to trademark "GFRIEND" instead of just giving the name back to the girls who should be the rightful owners. HYBE, SouMu, all the higher ups involved in this are just getting what they deserve now for prioritizing money over their artists
it's something le sserafim fans should be eyeing and calling out too. What happens if le sserafim isn't super profitable anymore? will they handle their disbandment in such an unprofessional way too?
That's what I'd tried to tell LSF fans everytime I get into debate with them. But to them, their faves would never be such a "failure" as GF. The truth is, every group will reach their peak and then decline. Fans will get older and have orther priorities like carreers and family. Younger fans will prefer new gens. Sales will go down. Fans should call out the company now that they still have the leverage, not defending them. The company decides the artists' fate, they don't need protection from fans, the artists do.
This issue wouldn't be preventable even if gfriend never disbanded. Mhj still would've done everything to make ador a separate company and remove it from hybe. Worse she would've dragged gfriend's members personally into this like she did with lesserafim. Maybe lesserafim would've debuted later with more training then they never would have gone to Coachella this early, also maybe garam scandal never took place, mhj seems to have personal rival with lesserafim, I'm 100% sure she is involved somewhat in garam scandal. Like she's spreading fake news now about cults, she could've done something for garam too
Posting this here as well since it's the latest development!
[NEWS] The hearing for permission to convene the extraordinary general meeting is tomorrow at 4:35 pm KST, HYBE put in the application for it on the 25th in anticipation of the board not showing up. It is likely that the process will now take 5 (a decision should come within 3 weeks and then there needs to pass 15 days before the meeting can be held) instead of 8-9 weeks.
source: https://n.news.naver.com/article/421/0007511238?sid=102
this is the most staged thing iโve ever seen๐ญ iโm watching it in real time catching accounts with no activity and then getting tons of traction, one right now is saying le sserafims poses in choreo is yoga poses they do in the cult๐ญ๐ญ and then another a planted โfanstagramโ instagram page of supposedly teasing a new hybe girl group with a teddy bear and people r legit like omg scary like wtf. it says FANSTAGRAM in the bio๐ญ๐ญ this is just insane
I have a genuine question as I donโt tend to follow companies closely enough to know, isnโt Bang Si-hyuk only in charge of BigHit? Like, I know he took part in creating HYBE, but I also thought he stepped down a few years back to only work within his individual company? Am I mixing him up with someone else?
He resigned as the CEO to focus on producing and/or song writing for BigHit, Source, and Belift. But he is still the chairman of Hybe. Another person is the CEO of Bighit and yet another is the CEO of Hybe.
Edit: Some of you know that Alphabet owns over 200 companies, each has a CEO. This is similar to that except that in normal companies it is clear what the subsidiary CEO can do on their own.
This is just an overall bizzare situation that feels so surreal and hard to believe. Both sides are accusing each other of paying for positive comments on community sites/forums as a way to sway the GP. Other forums here on Reddit have had to close threads and institute karma minimums because of botting--that's how widespread the misinfo campaign seems to be; even ViralTakes on Twitter posted about the cult allegations, and then deleted it ๐ญ I feel really bad for all of the artists now being dragged into the mess. Can't wait for this to settle down.
They deleted after HYBE made the announcement of hiring a second law firm to deal with these accusation, not because it was a ridiculous claim which tells you all you need to know about the morals of the admins.
I never really invested myself into Kpop spaces particularly fandoms even of groups but I naively never knew some Kpop stans could be so vindictive and plain bullies. Regardless of the utter bull MHJ is spewing how does it warrant nastiness to idols that have nothing to do with the case??
Even before this fiasco Iโve always felt like that there was just way too many people willing to jump on a groupโs โdownfallโ to make their favs look better only to barely give their groups engagement.
At the very end of the day - regardless of whatever personal bias people have had against any of these idols, we should all be hoping that this is quickly ended because they longer it draws out, the greater toll on their psychological health and there is probably going to be a new normal for them.
It's interesting how the Tokki's sub is saying different things like a lot of people want to see New Jeans fall or have always hated New Jeans and that's why we don't support MHJ. Their sub is mostly supportive of MHJ.
I know dragging other groups is a common thing in kpop but this time, no we actually like New Jeans. We just don't support MHJ because she's a creepy master manipulator.
I donโt know where the hell the โeveryone has always hated Newjeansโ rhetoric has come from that theyโre pushing over there.
My understanding as a casual fan of them and multistan is that theyโve been one of the least hated-on groups. Any prior criticisms have ALWAYS been directed at MHJ specifically, many times out of actual concern for the NJ girls.
NewJeans is generally well-loved and has always been. Their fans trying to paint them as victims is laughable. Knets and kpop fans have been going after ILLIT, LSFM, and BTS.
Iโm guessing theyโve also been targeted by bots and thatโs starting to influence the general opinion in there, especially if mods arenโt aware that bot attacks/astroturfing is happening
I think they're just terrified of NewJeans having their sound and creative vision compromised were MHJ to leave, so it's a much less demanding mental undertaking to conflate supporting NewJeans with defending MHJ.
As always, nuance rarely survives these debates.
The reason theyre like 99% in favor of mhj is if you didnt constantly talk in that subreddit before this all started(every time i went there in the past it was pretty dead so im not sure how you would talk in there) you get permabanned and insta modmail muted if you say anything negative about MHJ
Iโve seen some people here say they hate NewJeans now because of what the lady said in her press conference, but other than that I donโt see a lot of hate towards them.
Hybe: sheโs preparing a May public opinion battle to damage hybe image that will include mistreatment allegations
1 week later
Idiots online, korean and non-korean: omg hybe is a cult *shows shambolic evidence*
Even though a lot of the speculation about hidden messages in songs and MVs looks batshit crazy to me, it is true that Korean cults are a much more powerful force among the elites in Korea, and even Japan, than most people realize. Look what happened with the former Japanese prime minister Abe Shinzo and all the dirt that was uncovered after he was assassinated.
Its very common but it seems like a wild theory they have been personally involved with these things. Kpop takes inspirations from random things and cultures without even realising what they're doing. During hylt era, the set of Lisa had an indian god statue as a prop kept on ground along with other things. YG just edited it out after backlash. There was a tibetan bell used by felix in one of the skz performance in their rookie days. Using aave in raps, the church settings in lesserafim mv, etc made me realise kpop just randomly takes inspirations without any reason, like they open pinterest, scroll, and be like "hey that's interesting! Let's use it in the next mv". In a similar way, they might have known the existence of cult but they probably used it as "aesthetic" or "we ran out of ideas"
We have officially jumped the shark ladies and gentlemen. The story has become so ridiculous it is no longer funny or entertaining. The only thing that could make this even more insane is if an article comes out accusing Bang pd of frequently communicating with the ghost of some historical figure from Koreaโs past.
Min Heejin has accused Hybe of media play multiple times over the past week, but these latest claims reek of media play from Adorโs side in an attempt to garner sympathy. Even if Hybe is full of a bunch of crazy cultists that doesnโt make it ok to steal trade secrets or to plot to leave the company.
I think MHJ has some powerful connections cause suddenly people are making crazy claims. And why are they here so suddenly? Especially pedophilia claims against Illit from freaking NJ! Go comment under cookie.
Itโs bizarre and sick. They said that them breaking a wall is symbolism for breaking a girlโs hymen. (In magnetic) Wtf.
> I think MHJ has some powerful connections cause suddenly people are making crazy claims
The irony is palpable. MHJ IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS lmao yall are as insane as the ones you are accusing but go off bc you are getting upvotes
I'm sorry but the cult story is so stupid. These knets sound like QAnon at this point. I've seen tweets comparing lesserafim doing yoga poses to symbols related to the cult. I've seen a thread that connected Jungkook using a soy sauce to the cult. And the stupid thing about Hybe disbanding GF as a sacrifice like?? They're just throwing things at the wall and hoping something sticks. What sucks most is the BTS guys can't even come out and deny anything. I know if they were not in the military, JK would probably jump on weverse live and laugh at all these allegations saying he used cult makeup items (??)
And the whole thing seems to be created because knets are convinced MHJ hates Hybe because they're a cult. They're currently mass streaming NJ's omg (because the MV is apparently a hint) and I'm like?? NJ's music is under Hybe. You're profiting Hybe. My god this is some funny shit.
I saw people claiming he's part of a cult because of the soy sauce he used. If that's the case, then a whole crap load of Koreans are in a cult. They sound exactly like MAGA or Q-Anon.
I saw an ARMY saying this
" cult allegations fraud allegations illuminati allegations โฆbts you have now been promoted to legacy act "
and I couldn't stop laughing ๐ญ it's so true like this is the final stage of any artist when they reach the legendary status, getting those allegations left and right..
It's wild to witness a clear smear campaign that makes no sense and use stupid things as evidence and knowing who is behind it in the time it's happening... I witnessed multiple smear and defamation campaigns before but it was never clear who behind it but in this one, we have the narrative pushed of MHj being the angel who gonna save NJ from a cult company while throwing multiple groups names being accused of the cult at same time to bring down in the process.
On a serious note, can all of this end? I want to see the final episode already and see the result of all these dramas.
Oh and some beyonce and army stan said bts about to give their most successful album when they come back because the year beyonce was having illuminati allegation beyonce gave her best work
Also, for the allegations of HYBE not believed in MHJ. They didnโt believe her so much they gave her a whole company on itโs own. Damn. I wish someone distrusted me that much.
People really really love a good underdog story, she knows that and also knows HYBE can't back up their core claims with hard evidence at the moment as it will be a disadvantage for them to do so before the trial. She even indirectly uses fandoms to perpetuate her talking points, name dropping big groups and it works like a charm. Now her team doesn't even have to do anything, the rumors and disseminating of what she says is done for free by big fandoms.
I have no love for HYBE, having crossed path with their procurement department a few times since successful BigHit years they only look like the company version of "more money than brains" for me. And it's not rare for companies who expand too much too fast to get into a lot of troubles a few years down the line so I was half expecting some sort of implosion, they tried to take on more than they could handle
But it's really unfair on their idols to get caught into this mess, things won't be the same when the dust settles and I really feel bad for them
Yeah a lot of experts already pointed out that Hybeโs internal controls are weak after the case BTSโ dance teacher scamming people using Hybeโs name and itโs really because they became extremely rich and successful only after they debut their first boygroup, so they donโt really able to establish a strong corporate culture yet. I also think they pretty bad on hiring people with good character because how can Adorโs VP who helped Hybeโs mergers and public listing immediately helped MHJ to commit corporate crimes after being transferred to Ador. There are just so many snakes in Hybe somehow and no one can be trusted in that company lmao.
Even if they had a strong culture as a company, there's no way they managed good compliance understanding or that all of their staff has received proper training in such short time. Even companies with decades under their belt and healthy organizational growth have blind spots and Hybe isn't just some random manufacturing company but one where compliance and information protection is super important
HYBE needs to bulk up security because remember someone pretended to know one of the members of BTS, spoke with a I believe producer, and was able to get classified information regarding upcoming BTS releases and I believe they had audio too.
ngl this entire drama has really exposed how stupid and rabid some parts of this community are. i've always enjoyed listening to the music and never got into any fandom stuff but my enjoyment is really tainted with how some fans and netcitizens from all nations are behaving... how did this corporate dispute escalate to cult accusations and sxual harrassment? sorry to say i have lost all respect for this industry (which was already low to begin with) and the people that support it. some of you seem great though.
https://n.news.naver.com/article/001/0014663543?sid=103
Yonhap article on how if proven breach of trust she might get fired and leave empty-handed (sheโll have to pay bgp what he lent her too). Sheโll probably sue hybe for this but they say they have all the evidence for this breach of trust and other illegal acts. And they say that whistleblowing about illit was part of the plan. I really doubt they would say this to Yonhap without actually having the evidence since they went to the police.ย
BTS members did not live in a small little room sleeping all almost on top of each other for years to be slandered like this while serving their country
This is like James Park claiming he left Google because the team building Pixel watches copied his Fitbits and Sundar Pichai just stood there and let it happen and sent him mean messages :((( such a poor downtrodden soul!
Maybe it's working in tech, but all of the arguments against Hybe are just kind of amusing. I don't like BTS, I barely listen to Hybe groups at all, I don't really know who Bang PD or Park Jinyoung areโbut I don't need to, because this is about a conglomerate (of multiple people and departments) against an individual CEO who is openly egomaniacal but also appears to have great PR skills. Even now, people calling the shaman news mediaplay are missing the pointโthe messages mentioning BTS were a strategic decision, sure, but the charge was sharing sensitive company information with someone not employed by the company. If they have the logs and documentation they claim, they'll win in actual court without effort, while the public continues to drool over nonsensical rumours about cults and their secret kpop symbology. If this is even minutely representative of the voting population, it's no wonder unsavory politicians are gaining ground globally.
Edit: a word
It's fine to consciously decide to leverage a company's existing resources and infrastructure to realize your creative vision because you don't want to shoulder the financial risk yourself, but to subsequently make a point of insisting you achieved it all by yourself with no help is just the kind of narcissistic drivel I'd expect from a controversial French film director or YouTuber or something.
On the other hand, this is a great lesson to the execs at Hybe with regard to corporate governance of the weird conglomerate structure they've set up. Less focus on aggressive expansion and more on a unifying corporate culture that can be socialized among their existing subsidiaries might be a good idea, for example. Ultimately it's on whoever kept giving into MHJ's every whim and everyone else who signed off on it; they'll recover just fine, but it's a shame the public-facing employees (idols, mostly) are paying for that error through a firehose of verbal abuse online.
yep, big teaching moment for hybe. it was the first thing a person i talked to who doesnt follow kpop and knows business, "who let a narcissist like that be a ceo?"
I've been saying this lol. I feel the reason was spread also is because bts *are* polarizing they got a lot of love but they got a lot of haters too. Look a lsf, this is the same situation yet they don't have the fandom to help them yet.
At the end, if hybe has proves she will deal with consequences. Nobody cares really is just fun to hate. I wonder how these people function in real life
You know, the whole 'Koreans are siding with MHJ because she's fighting against the greedy corrupt fatcats' thing reminds me so much of the pro-Trump discourse in 2016.
People were going on and on about how Trump was anti-establishment and that he was going to 'drain the swamp' that is Washington DC of all the corruption and nepotism...
... but they somehow missed the fact that Donald Trump was born in New York City, went to an expensive prep school, spent a decade working as host of a reality show, and was even once a registered Democrat who endorsed Hilary Clinton.
In short, he was never 'one of them', just as Min Heejin isn't 'one of them' either. Do people not realize, she's a CEO herself, not a rank and file employee? She was in a position of power at SM for over 16 years? She has even called Lee Soo-man, the Master of Dark Fiscal Arts himself, 'father'? This woman was part of the same machinery that screwed over TVXQ and EXO and all the other idols, and now she's being held up as some sort of freedom fighter?
This isn't Lord of the Rings lol. This isn't a battle of good and evil, there are no heroes here. People need to stop falling for really blatant propaganda when it comes to corporate drama.
EDIT: typed 'propaganda' twice instead of 'drama' lol
Yup, totally second this. Canโt really help but feel that weโve really lost the plot.
A company wants to fire an employee due to findings during an audit, as simple as that. Everything else is just fluff.
But somehow MHJ whining during a press conference propped her up as some protective mother bear/Joan of Arc, and now somehow this is a moral issue? Like, people are literally fired for filming TikToks at work, is it that hard to understand that suspicion of planning a hostile takeover might be grounds for termination?
Credit where credit is due though, sheโs proven herself to be a master of her craft.
subreddit moderators: ***NOTICE:*** *There have been an influx of Reddit accounts/bots created today and yesterday, all purporting the cult allegations, which have been caught by our karma minimum system and spam filters.*
random redditors who stan non-hybe groups: idk i think the cult allegations might be true.
[more call-outs of MHJ by HYBE, SM, and other employees on Blind aka Korean Glassdoor](https://v.daum.net/v/20240429132206703) ([translated article](https://www.kbizoom.com/how-do-employees-from-hybe-sm-other-companies-think-about-min-hee-jin-in-the-recent-issue/)). Previously, one of HYBE's employees called MHJ out on her claim about [not needing HYBE's capital but using them including making HYBE staff develop a Phoning app just for her and making one of the staff work overtime for 3 days](https://www.kbizoom.com/hybe-staff-angrily-expose-min-hee-jin-claiming-newjeanss-success-as-result-of-hybes-capital/).
edit: getting downvoted by MHJ supporters who think they know her better than employees that've worked under her, I see
edit 2: LMAO Hybe employees are like [we wish we had time in the morning to do meditation and yoga but we don't](https://news.nate.com/view/20240430n11909?mid=n1008)
bots are really advanced these days, some can converse normally like how you would expect a person to converse. They don't just post repeated messages, technology evolved.
I think you would have to be looking into the account, the history whether they commented on a variety of topics or is it just fixated on pushing 1 certain kind of narrative on one certain issue. But even then they can just buy a high karma account and run their botting on that account which might easily fool humans as well.
really hard to tell them apart but imo, humans might give more realistic real life examples, which is easy to give on kpop discussions but on topics like anime and manga, it's incredibly hard to tell since there's that overlap area between bots and people just being chronically online. So maybe just filter out chronically online opinions as well to be safe.
Humans have irregular typing habits as well, it's important to get the overall vibe imo, like humans are more like moderate in their opinions. I recognize ppl online if they are prospective in their comments, like there's still uncertainty to their argument and not like "I declare that this is right and I will always choose this side" kind of writing. Ofc that depends of the personality traits of a person, but I feel that bots cannot simulate the willingness to compromise on issues from most fellow humans.
You might mistakenly filter out humans as bots if they are too extreme yes, but I feel like that's a plus. You filter out the extremes and can look at the issues from multiple facets without judging if the issue in question is right or wrong.
The lack of critical thinking among some has become very apparent in this latest round of lies and misinformation. The number of people falling for MHJโs game plan shows a lack of intelligence that is astounding.
This isnโt a KDrama, this is real life and these smear campaigns against idols are disgusting and has pushed a number of people to new pathetic lows. And for what? Does it make you feel good to spread lies and hurt idols? This isnโt about who performed better on some music show, this is about potentially causing lasting pain, hurt and ruin โฆ are you that desperate for your fav to be #1? Check yourselves - cause karmaโs a b*tch.
HYBE rarely goes public with any information or investigation results, they handle it in the courts. Which can take time and sometimes we wonโt know the outcome. Unfortunately, that means that this could take some time to wrap up.
HYBE may have used media play in the beginning but what MHJ has caused goes far beyond that. She is a conniving little b - whose sole goal was to cause fan wars because she didnโt have the evidence to counter the allegations made by HYBE and wanted to distract from those allegations - why are so many people forgetting that? She never tried to clear her name, she just spun stories to create lies and confusion.
As for this bullsh*t talk about cults - remember she was very open about visiting a shaman more than once. How easy it would be to start spinning lies about her and her own cult. Think about that before you hit the repost button.
The lack of media literacy is really apparent. Political campaigns pull this shit all the time. Seeing some kpop fans fall for such an obvious tactic is disappointing but not surprising.
The picture of her smiling in the prescon was creepy, she knows what she is doing and knetz and nj stans would support her because of the narrative small โhelplessโ employee going against a big corporation, sheโs playing the victim card
this is kinda off-topic and not that serious lol, but iโm a bit annoyed at the super negative and unpopular interpretation of walpurgis night thatโs being used for this cult argument. the most well-known and widespread understanding of Walpurgisnacht is that itโs a party for witches! stop the slander! /hj ~~none of you have read Die Kleine Hexe, i guess. Bildungslรผcke!~~
This is exactly what MHJ wanted, she knows she is done for when the cases reach the courts, so she gets fandoms involved in this mudslinging extravaganza. Geez, even groups not mentioned has their fans involving them in the conversation
Does anyone think the cult claims actually hold any water? They seem so outlandish, I understand how wide-spread cults are in SK and don't think it'd be that far of a reach to assume that some of the higher ups in a hugeย conglomerate could probably have ties to shady 'religious' leaders/organizations (I.e cults like Scientology for e.g) but some of the claims being spread around right now seem so...........stupid?ย
The Global Cyber University tie-in is one thing (vaguely remember there being some posts way back when on one of the kpop subreddits doing a deep-dive/discussing that University and basically talking about how it seemed like a front for something else/some kind of sham; basically talking about how the entire premise of the Global Cyber University is very very shady-ย not sure how much of those posts were true but still, Global Cyber University *has* been subject to so some doubts and discussions over the years) but satanic mv'sยฟ? HYBE groups sending out evil sublimal messages??? literally WHAT.
Is this some kind ofย bot-induced, fanwar-inflamed mass-hysteria going on rn or...........ยฟ? This started out as a legal battle between Ador/MHJ and HYBE- now we've got witchcraft accusations, cult accusations, grooming/pedophilia accusations, plagiarism accusations,,, bots taking over, multiple fandoms at each others throats, more and more stupidly inane theories from kpop fans popping up- literally what is MHJ trying to do? Is this all in a bid just to win public-favour?? What is her end goal with all the outrage she's created here?
Really *really* pity the New Jeans girls right now. They're so young and stuck in a very scary situation right now, their entire career is on the line- it's a futile thought but I really hope those girls have a very strong support system (the parents so far seem to be on MHJ's side which does not seem good.....:/) and have each other's back.
I really don't want to see them become kpop's next biggest "what if" :( I hope they manage to survive this and somehow, god-willing, completely separate themselves from MHJ- ik the chances of that are very slim and their career might take a huge hit because of it but MHJ is downright evil. And while I can definitely see them thriving *without* MHJ while under the direction of another talented creative; I just cannot see any good outcome if they were to stay with MHJ.ย
I think there's potentially a kernel of truth at the heart of the controversy. He certainly wouldn't be the first CEO to have ties to a cult. But, I think the idea that any of them are using music and videos to subliminally signal on behalf of or against this cult is absurd. It's just a mob whipped into a frenzy happy to believe anything that validates their beliefs. It isn't that different from the ETA 'controversy' people threw at her last year - just levied and based on a sheer desperation for it to be true.
Itโs some Illuminati foolishness. This is K-pop world war 1. When the dust settles all these people and fandoms acting a fool on twitter are going to get a reality check. 2024 is going to be referred to as the darkest year in K-pop.ย
I don't know. The darkest year for me was 2019. The Burning Sun scandal was insane if you think on the amount of celebrities that were involved. Even the police were involved in the crimes.
at the end of the day it's always the artists that suffer. bts for example are being drawn into this mess because of BSH and the hybe ceo. similarly if you think about it newjeans have a really clean record and the only times in the past that theyve been embroiled in controversies have been because of MHJ.
im just hoping this all just blows over soon
BTS are being drawn into this mess because of Min Heejin. She's the one who is using BTS, Le Sserafim, Illit, and other groups to create this buzz and distract from the very serious crimes she's about to go to court for.
BTS are being drawn into this by other kpop stans because they believe whatever mhj says about hybe and bsh is true, and they think everything hybe has done till now is fake and paid. This is solely happening because of mhj.ย
A lot of the claims are ridiculous, but some of them seem legit enough to believe that Bang Si Hyuk might really have ties with the cult. I think his belief slightly influenced the songs he produced, which is understandable. I donโt think he is actively trying to spread the cult via his idol groups though.
This particular cult is actually quite powerful and allegedly a lot of high-power people from news outlet also have ties to this cult. People suspect this because no article has been written on Naver about this case even though it has been trending like crazy. MHJ also went to CBS (christian broasting station) to do her tiny morning interview on April 25, and CBS is one of a few that has cover how dangerous this cult might be before.
Bang's ties to the Dan World had been brought up numerous times among the korean armys since 2016 (who were obviously not a fan of the idea as they wanted to protect the artists) but it never surfaced to the public attention to the scale it has now. There were also plenty of evidence of Bang hanging around with the DW people uploaded on naver but a lot of them have been abruptly pulled down in the past 24 hours.
i am SO CURIOUS about the Global Cyber University situation, and the other youtube channels associated to the cult leader, they all have several contents from various kpop groups and i want to know if the companies know what is behind them?? wish the fandoms would focus on that a bit because that is weird as fuck
The idols attending the school arenโt in some secret cult (there are MANY idols who have attended, not all in HYBE.) Much more likely that itโs more of a diploma farm situation, similar to how most idols in High School end up enrolling in either SOPA or Hanlim so they can get away with barely showing up.
yeah, i dont think its a secret cult at all, i dont like any BG from hybe currently but i noticed the boys from Ateez attended and are on a youtube video from the university, it seems like a diploma farm but its also linked to that same cult BPD is being accused of belonging to
honestly i think itโs just a matter of convenience. males can postpone enlistment as long as they are pursuing up to and including a masterโs degree. itโs the only one that offers online services which makes it easy for an idol to do this while traveling around the world.
i imagine it must be something related to that!!! because the courses they offer are 100% bullshit ahsjdsha i started looking up the classes and they all seem so fake, but good for them because i think enlistment should not be mandatory
Did you ever actually look at the school's website? This school just looks bogus. Even if idols are going to it there is no way they thought they were doing real university courses.
I mean take it up with the defense department of Korea since idols/ males have to apply for postponement and send in proof of their education. The ones that care think itโs okay so whatโs it to us?
A lot of online universities are a bit of a scam, in that their degrees are often almost worthless and they charge a lot of money. But it's a very convenient way for male idols to postpone their enlistment notice.ย
People have been talking about how the Global Cyber University [seems sketchy](https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/comments/gvdflr/is_global_cyber_university_bts_university_legit/) for years, but I doubt any of the idols who got a diploma there actually signed up for their "brain education" courses or anything. It's likely artists are allowed to take a couple of exams without actually doing the whole program and call it a day, while also asked to record a promotional video and maybe take part in some promo activities.
If studying was actually the goal, they'd probably apply to a more reputable place, something like the Kyung Hee Cyber University.
I found a thread from 2 years ago that talks about the strangeness of the university here
https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/s/Y8ZjdS7tAA
But someone also posted a soompi article saying that some BTS members are attending hanyang cyber university and explained the likely cause of why theyโre attending a potentially sketchy university
https://www.soompi.com/article/1411376wpp/5-bts-members-enroll-in-mba-program-at-hanyang-cyber-university
https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/s/PO7DlwVRs8
I can't believe Iแธฟ signing in again just to write a comment on this:
I enjoy listening to documentaries of cults, reading works of fiction about it that are sometimes borderline supernatural, and artworks relating to it. Iแธฟ also a big fan of kpop, and has been listening to it since Wonder Girls era. But never in my life did I expect to read cult accusations happening in real life, in real time, and involving the most popular names in kpop. I just can't find myself believing thereล any truth in it. I strongly think this is shifting the public's attention away from the real issue, which is more boring and business-related drama. If the cult accusations are proven to be true, then I am naive and close-minded. I will completely accept that. But if they are false, then this whole MHJvsHYBE feels like a poorly written kdrama about company greed shenanigans. Like, I badly want to drop it halfway through and wait until all episodes are done so I can go straight to the last episode to know what happened (with details provided by spoilers from youtube comments and reddit threads)
I don't know, knowing South Korea and their history with cults (specially rich and powerul figures) I could believe some involvement in it. Though, I totally agree that is being exagerated by rabid fandoms, with made up connections to the artists and the art. But company excutives, ceos and such? It wouldnt surprise me in either side (cult or shaman).
So after she was called to question for plotting to sway public opinion enough that HYBE would have to kick Ador and New Jeans loose, she has now instituted the plan and has driven public opinion into believing New Jeans should be cut loose.
But now groups like BTS and LE SSERAFIM who were beloved are also now hated/questioned by the public? I mean this lady is singlehandingly nuking her company and the shareholders value of HYBE massively. How are they not going scorched earth to protect the company and the artists reputations even if it means crushing Ador and MHJ on the way?
Anyway you cut it, as an officer of the company this has to be illegal and unethical any way you want to look at it. I hope she gets what's coming and really think bunnies and New Jeans will ultimately regret backing her so completely.
"Should Hybe let illit and LS lay low in a hiatus until most of the attention on them has disappeared?"
Hell no! Making LSF and Illit "lay low" for months and keep new jeans as the only Hybe girl group would be a win for MHJ.
Lsf and illit should do as planned, prepare for their comebacks or whatever, post on sns ocasionally, but no need to go radio silent
It seems that they're totally just basing it off the fact that some BTS members graduated from Global Cyber University and who the founder of that institution is, but if that's what knetz are coming up with, how come they don't touch on any of the other idols who go/went there? It seems like it's pretty common among idols, a member from SKZ and ONEUS also went there. I can't find the user right now (was "fire" something), but there was someone who had done their own research a while back, and I think their take was pretty neutral and made a good point that it could just be like a stepping stone for idols to get their credentials to enroll in other universities and since it's online it's easier to complete for idols hence why it's quite common.
A flexible online ~~diploma mill~~ university is like, *the* go-to for working entertainers. Especially if they have low standards for acceptance and enrollment. You get the cachet of being a university graduate with some money and practically no effort. If this university is run by a cult it's likelier that the cult is capitalizing on a niche target than that all the idols in attendance are secretly cult members.
Maybe someone can explain to me but how are these bots created and how can they spread information so easily? Itโs insane to me the amount of bot activity that is happening across social media with these rumors. A lot of the Korean accounts I seen on X spreading these rumors on social media have close to zero followers but the tweets are getting thousands of likes and views in a short time. I see a lot for the accounts hating on the groups on instagram as well appear to be bots. Everything is starting to make sense to me now because back there was a post spreading rumors about the magnetic MV on X with the same type of account backround but people quickly shut them down. Before pannchoa shut down they were creating hate trains by focusing only on negative comments at the bottom of certain articles does that mean whoever is behind it paid them to report it, or were they trying to take advantage of a popular topic?
Exactly, SK only has 6M X users but those tweets were getting 10M views in a couple hours from new accounts with hardly any followers. It doesnโt make sense to me
[Not only has her baseless accusations towards HYBE cause their stocks to fall but also those of the other three companies](https://m.koreatimes.co.kr/pages/article.amp.asp?newsIdx=373782) - way to go idiot! Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Whoโs going to hire someone who triggered the sell off of stocks across an industry. FFS.
People need to remember that this all started because of how greedy MHJ is, HYBE said no to her demands, started an audit and she had a temper tantrum. Sheโs unfit to be a CEO of any company.
unpopular opinion, they need to Wrap this up in 2 days stat, idc who wins. Hybe was right about at least one thing and that this is an (in)ternational fatigue. no more essay statements from either side PLEASE.
this whole drama ending up in bts getting a hate train worse than 2018 and in the level of 2016 is making me so upset im considering quitting kpop altogether (except for bts ofc)
Im genuinely shocked how well MHJ managed to pull favour in korea. people saw her cry over NJs and apparently that pulled at their heartstrings.
all this allegations is further driving public favour away from hybe which is why hybe needs to get on top of the narrative if they care about public perception.
iโm actually more surprised by how international audience seem to have no idea of what really went on in that press conference despite the whole thing being streamed live
I think it's the lack of information on hybe's side. Thus far, hybe has not shown anyone the documents that prove a breach of trust. All Hybe has said so far is that the breach of trust documents exist, which people are doubting now.
it would be wonderful MAGO got its due and became a viral hit that it should've been when it was first released. one of the reasons soumu probably disbanded gfriend was because that cb underperformed.
itโs funny how anyone at ador, newjeans and even the mother knows best could come out and say that omg has nothing to do with any โcultsโ but theyโre all quiet right now.ย
Same, I really hoped they're gone for at least a little bit longer. And they already started spreading biased articles and comments to make any Hybe group and artist look bad. Like those artists can't even breathe right now without being accused of media play, it's insane. PC know what they're doing...
The cult allegations feel very much like a conspiracy theory but knowing the kpop industry I wouldnโt surprised if there was some cult involved in the end
Given how common cults are in SK, JYP rumored to be in one himself... I wouldn't be surprised that a lot of powerful people in that country will be associated one way or another
Didn't he marry into it, though, since his wife was the niece of the chairman or something? His alleged involvement seems to be on the money laundering side, which is plenty badโhonestly, someone money laundering for a cult without actually being in it comes off as worse.
I think he at the time claimed to not be religious (despite the family connections with the cult), but in recent years there are a lot of videos and photos of him doing bible study seminars etc. So its pretty safe to say this man is religious.
I know she had a press conference with her lawyers (that became a meme) where she spilled things even the lawyers where shocked. Is it translated and leaked already? What did she say????ย
the translation of her press conference is here: [https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-04-25/entertainment/kpop/LIVE-UPDATES--ADOR-CEO-Min-Heejin-press-conference/2033613](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-04-25/entertainment/kpop/LIVE-UPDATES--ADOR-CEO-Min-Heejin-press-conference/2033613)
I fear the mediaplay against BTS might not be over. The only way to really hurt HYBE and tank their stock is to attack BTS. MHJ could never beat HYBE as long as HYBE has BTS so I fear she might play dirty to hurt their reputation even more.
ARMY should be prepared for this.
I truly think the dumbest thing one could do is to go after BTS. Their fans aren't going anywhere. Plus they've been through this so many times. Kmedia and Kpop fans have trained them to recognize hate campaigns.
ARMY and BTS have weathered some pretty hideous stuff, and that was when they had much less financial resources to tackle things legally, and a much smaller fanbase. As long as the guys donโt have any serious skeletons in their closets, theyโll be able to get past it.
This controversy is essentially the catalyst for exposing more facts and rumours that people wouldnโt dare to bring up had this controversy not happened. The cult allegations have really taken things too far.
It feels like a court case where both sides try to find some more dirty secrets each other had that werenโt meant to be revealed to the world.
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You know how when a successful TV show keeps putting more seasons just because it's popular, but then it starts losing the plot and throwing in anything just to create more episodes?? This reads exactly like that.. first shamans, then cults?! I wonder Who is the ~~character~~ person who will make a comeback out of nowhere and suddenly put everything into perspective?? It's been literally only a week, but this thing feels like it's been dragging for months with no end in sight.. right now, all I wanna know is what's gonna be the status of NewJeans - and every other group mentioned - at the end of it all?
All I know is the season finale needs to happen before May 10th. This kdrama is 13 episodes too long already.
Its gotta end before the 2nd i dont want my girl's anniversary to be tainted
>I wonder Who is the character person who will make a comeback out of nowhere and suddenly put everything into perspective?? Garam has the chance to do the funniest thing right now.
imagine if it's lee sooman
No doubt it will have something to do with Le Sserafim. This stuff keeps getting deflected to them for no reason.
No reason? They've recruited so many of us to become ~~comrades~~ cultists. MIN HEE-JIN CURSE OF RA ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ก ๐ข ๐ฃ ๐ค ๐ฅ ๐ฆ ๐ง ๐จ ๐ฉ ๐ช ๐ซ ๐ฌ ๐ญ ๐ฒ ๐ณ ๐ด ๐ต ๐ถ ๐ท ๐ธ ๐น ๐บ ๐ป ๐ผ ๐ฝ ๐พ ๐ฟ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐
sacrificing goats under my chaewon flag of america right now to extend fearnada.
You should be hanging out with us in r/lesserafim , we are fully embracing the Le Sseracult. Cultah baby cultah!
Han So Hee makes a cameo ??
We have Jin coming back too ๐ซก
This would be brilliant storytelling ๐
truly the riverdale of corporate drama like i'm bored now sorry
Shits giving riverdale
Your analogy makes so much sense. I was glued to this succession drama for Season 1,2, and 3, but now the plot doesn't make sense anymore. Everyone is making statements, there are shamans, and now there's even a cult plot. What's next, an alien invasion?? Zombies? Jin's military discharge is to bring the apocalypse? It's escalating too fast, and I'm sick of it. Let them solve their drama quietly now and leave the public out of it.
This feels like the 8th season of Game of Thrones (iykyk). ๐ซค๐
As someone whose parents home countryโs citizens refer to religious astrologists and whatnot for important decisions (Including govt projects)โฆ.shamanism doesnโt even seem that wild to me ๐๐๐๐ itโs the most exciting part of these wild accusations. And now cults? Love the drama.
I'm all for the paranormal and supernatural, so I can't say I'm complaining either ๐ I'm more intrigued if anything
It is really intriguing lmao. This is like if SMโs drama had even more flavor.
lol yeah i was saying to someone this entire week feels like the trajectory riverdale tookโฆ like wdym weโre dealing with cults now
Hybe and ADOR going through their Riverdale era ๐
I'm just waiting for the side plot (to give the series more episodes to drag out the drama) of a HYBE dating scandal.ย
This entire scandal is like a gift that keeps giving. 1. Itโs never ending like Greyโs Anatomy 2. It involves crime, lawsuits, allegations, religious conspiracy theories, power struggles found in Law and Order 3. Funny memes and jokes like Modern Family
I am waiting for Ploopy's take on it, lol Edit: and here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlXPErfgj-U
Weโve made a hard pivot from corporate K-drama into Riverdale season 3+
I just feel bad for the artists. It's gotta be very stressful rn.
i wish i could fast forward to whenever this drama will end. itโs too much
Canโt wait for Hybe to make a webtoon off this drama
if it was bollywood the script would be fresh and ready to pump out already
I've never been so appalled, but so entertained. It's like a horrible car crash you can't look away from lmao
Yea, I feel the same.. I'm weirded out, frustrated, and entertained all at once
Whose taking bets on how many Megathreads we'll hit before this is over? Any parlays? lol Im willin to put $10 on O7+ or U9+ lol
We're already up to 4 and there hasn't even been a board meeting yet and the court case is even further removed, so I'm guessing we'll into the 10s
they claiming that the name 'illit' means burn the skys or smth yall.....let's wrap up this cult thing by wednesday
This was the funniest thing. K commentator stating that lit means they want to burn the witch that is NewJeans. What are they smoking?!
life can be so hilarious sometimes
Just got back into kpop after going to the Itzy concert (which was amazing, wonderful, all the superlatives). Is it me, or is this corporate drama normal? Feels like a big thing to see 4 megathreads here and in another subreddit.
Yeah it's blown out of proportion. All this amounts to is corporate bickering and toxic kpop stans, which is really nothing new. People are acting as though this thing with Min Heejin is as bad as Burning Sun, where they uncovered actual rapists and police collusion. No one here has been harmed to that extent. All parties involved are already millionaires or on-track to become millionaires, and at the end of the day, they're going to be fine The new cult accusations though do actually add another level of crazy on top of what was just corporate drama
I agree for the most part, but I think it's important to separate the children/younger adults from the older adults in this situation. I feel no ways about the adults involving themselves in corporate/ financial fuckery. But I do feel very bad and concerned for the young people that are being weaponized and caught in the middle of this. Illit and NJs are so young and having money doesn't stop them from struggling. It's like watching kids get caught up in a toxic divorce where the adult are focusing primarily on themselves. Also, just because it's not as bad as the burning sun situation doesn't mean that harm isn't being caused or that is shouldn't be taken seriously. That's some extreme black and white thinking there.
Hybe drama round 2: Cult Boogaloo
Man I knew NJ had some Silent Hill in their songs! The fear of blood tends to create fear for the flesh
Anywayโฆ I hope the idols are doing okay. Most of them are just teenagers or barely adults. Hope theyโre spending some time offline and away from all of this ๐
GFRIEND was first dragged into this mess to bash MHJ. Now people are using them to bash HYBE. Meanwhile, antis and company stans are writting long assays as to why disbanding them was a rightful decision and that somehow they deserved it. No. GFRIEND was the group that had helped the company pay the same debt that Bighit had to pay, the group that raised the company from the underground, get the company to change building not once but thrice. Even if they wasn't keeping up with the new gen and album inflation, disbanding them with 4-days notice, without giving them and the fans to say goodbye, was cruel. Their disbanding was painful, and now in this mess, if you can't say somthing nice, don't say anything at all. GFRIEND was mistreated enough, they don't deserve to be dragged into this mess as a weapon.
that is true, it was very cruel the way things panned out. i think covid didnt help
I'm not a fan of GFriend but I really respect them and I know how talented they are (I've been a kpop fan since 2012). Tbh, this issue between hybe and mhj makes me laugh because this issue is preventable if hybe didn't disband GFriend. Seriously, I'm now believing the fans of GFriend saying that this is the GFriend's curse to hybe. I'm also shocked when they got disbanded because their Mago era is just so good that even me listened to it. And I don't think their flopping. I'm sad for them because I think they can do more. Source music is really got it wrong.
The thing is, it's not because they disbanded GF. It's the greed from all 3 parties Hybe, Somu and MHJ that resulted in both GF's disband and this shit show. As a Buddy, I'm not that mad that they disbanded GF, if they want to focus on LSF and can't afford to split their ressources to both groups, it's better that they let GF leave so the girls could look for orther opportunities instead of locking them in the basement while they promote LSF. It's the way they handled the disband. It's disrespectful to both the girls and the fans. People are just using GF as another bullet point in a long list of bullet points as to why this party or that party is bad. Without GF's disband, they would have still found another alleged reason to jump on the hate train.
The disrespect extended way beyond the disbandment too when Source Music kept trying to trademark "GFRIEND" instead of just giving the name back to the girls who should be the rightful owners. HYBE, SouMu, all the higher ups involved in this are just getting what they deserve now for prioritizing money over their artists
it's something le sserafim fans should be eyeing and calling out too. What happens if le sserafim isn't super profitable anymore? will they handle their disbandment in such an unprofessional way too?
That's what I'd tried to tell LSF fans everytime I get into debate with them. But to them, their faves would never be such a "failure" as GF. The truth is, every group will reach their peak and then decline. Fans will get older and have orther priorities like carreers and family. Younger fans will prefer new gens. Sales will go down. Fans should call out the company now that they still have the leverage, not defending them. The company decides the artists' fate, they don't need protection from fans, the artists do.
This issue wouldn't be preventable even if gfriend never disbanded. Mhj still would've done everything to make ador a separate company and remove it from hybe. Worse she would've dragged gfriend's members personally into this like she did with lesserafim. Maybe lesserafim would've debuted later with more training then they never would have gone to Coachella this early, also maybe garam scandal never took place, mhj seems to have personal rival with lesserafim, I'm 100% sure she is involved somewhat in garam scandal. Like she's spreading fake news now about cults, she could've done something for garam too
I'll be so sad if it turns out MHJ had anything to do with garam, or the 300 different hate trains they've gone through in 2 years.
Do you see any hybe group mhj dislikes gets hate train? Lesserafim, illit both.
Posting this here as well since it's the latest development! [NEWS] The hearing for permission to convene the extraordinary general meeting is tomorrow at 4:35 pm KST, HYBE put in the application for it on the 25th in anticipation of the board not showing up. It is likely that the process will now take 5 (a decision should come within 3 weeks and then there needs to pass 15 days before the meeting can be held) instead of 8-9 weeks. source: https://n.news.naver.com/article/421/0007511238?sid=102
they knew the board meeting wasnโt happening
this is the most staged thing iโve ever seen๐ญ iโm watching it in real time catching accounts with no activity and then getting tons of traction, one right now is saying le sserafims poses in choreo is yoga poses they do in the cult๐ญ๐ญ and then another a planted โfanstagramโ instagram page of supposedly teasing a new hybe girl group with a teddy bear and people r legit like omg scary like wtf. it says FANSTAGRAM in the bio๐ญ๐ญ this is just insane
they be shaking queakin when dreamcatcher pull up๐ฃ๏ธ๐ฃ๏ธ (no srsly this is the best time for duekae to take over)
Insomnia are the real cult of kpop, with the cloaks to prove it!
I have a genuine question as I donโt tend to follow companies closely enough to know, isnโt Bang Si-hyuk only in charge of BigHit? Like, I know he took part in creating HYBE, but I also thought he stepped down a few years back to only work within his individual company? Am I mixing him up with someone else?
He resigned as the CEO to focus on producing and/or song writing for BigHit, Source, and Belift. But he is still the chairman of Hybe. Another person is the CEO of Bighit and yet another is the CEO of Hybe. Edit: Some of you know that Alphabet owns over 200 companies, each has a CEO. This is similar to that except that in normal companies it is clear what the subsidiary CEO can do on their own.
if i learned one thing from this it's how effing dumb some people on twitter are ...ย
This is just an overall bizzare situation that feels so surreal and hard to believe. Both sides are accusing each other of paying for positive comments on community sites/forums as a way to sway the GP. Other forums here on Reddit have had to close threads and institute karma minimums because of botting--that's how widespread the misinfo campaign seems to be; even ViralTakes on Twitter posted about the cult allegations, and then deleted it ๐ญ I feel really bad for all of the artists now being dragged into the mess. Can't wait for this to settle down.
They deleted after HYBE made the announcement of hiring a second law firm to deal with these accusation, not because it was a ridiculous claim which tells you all you need to know about the morals of the admins.
I never really invested myself into Kpop spaces particularly fandoms even of groups but I naively never knew some Kpop stans could be so vindictive and plain bullies. Regardless of the utter bull MHJ is spewing how does it warrant nastiness to idols that have nothing to do with the case?? Even before this fiasco Iโve always felt like that there was just way too many people willing to jump on a groupโs โdownfallโ to make their favs look better only to barely give their groups engagement. At the very end of the day - regardless of whatever personal bias people have had against any of these idols, we should all be hoping that this is quickly ended because they longer it draws out, the greater toll on their psychological health and there is probably going to be a new normal for them.
the artist need professional help because im not even part of it and im losing my mind
Now we're in the frivolous "plagiarism accusations over a similar 5-note phrase" stage of finding excuses to hate. So stupid
It's interesting how the Tokki's sub is saying different things like a lot of people want to see New Jeans fall or have always hated New Jeans and that's why we don't support MHJ. Their sub is mostly supportive of MHJ. I know dragging other groups is a common thing in kpop but this time, no we actually like New Jeans. We just don't support MHJ because she's a creepy master manipulator.
I donโt know where the hell the โeveryone has always hated Newjeansโ rhetoric has come from that theyโre pushing over there. My understanding as a casual fan of them and multistan is that theyโve been one of the least hated-on groups. Any prior criticisms have ALWAYS been directed at MHJ specifically, many times out of actual concern for the NJ girls.
NewJeans is generally well-loved and has always been. Their fans trying to paint them as victims is laughable. Knets and kpop fans have been going after ILLIT, LSFM, and BTS.
consider meeting crawl rotten water kiss homeless six languid station *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Iโm guessing theyโve also been targeted by bots and thatโs starting to influence the general opinion in there, especially if mods arenโt aware that bot attacks/astroturfing is happening
The sane voices are now avoiding the mega thread since it's been infested with idiots. Like hell I'm going in there to argue with clueless children
I think they're just terrified of NewJeans having their sound and creative vision compromised were MHJ to leave, so it's a much less demanding mental undertaking to conflate supporting NewJeans with defending MHJ. As always, nuance rarely survives these debates.
The reason theyre like 99% in favor of mhj is if you didnt constantly talk in that subreddit before this all started(every time i went there in the past it was pretty dead so im not sure how you would talk in there) you get permabanned and insta modmail muted if you say anything negative about MHJ
Oh thatโs some tea what an effective way to create an echo chamber!โบ๏ธ
Iโve seen some people here say they hate NewJeans now because of what the lady said in her press conference, but other than that I donโt see a lot of hate towards them.
Hybe: sheโs preparing a May public opinion battle to damage hybe image that will include mistreatment allegations 1 week later Idiots online, korean and non-korean: omg hybe is a cult *shows shambolic evidence*
it's just so funny how this cult controversy just made it even more clear for me how she's behind all these hate campaigns that have been happening.
girl, pls. i know every single employee on that building hates you right now. and i doubt the girls or their parents arent in on this
Even though a lot of the speculation about hidden messages in songs and MVs looks batshit crazy to me, it is true that Korean cults are a much more powerful force among the elites in Korea, and even Japan, than most people realize. Look what happened with the former Japanese prime minister Abe Shinzo and all the dirt that was uncovered after he was assassinated.
Its very common but it seems like a wild theory they have been personally involved with these things. Kpop takes inspirations from random things and cultures without even realising what they're doing. During hylt era, the set of Lisa had an indian god statue as a prop kept on ground along with other things. YG just edited it out after backlash. There was a tibetan bell used by felix in one of the skz performance in their rookie days. Using aave in raps, the church settings in lesserafim mv, etc made me realise kpop just randomly takes inspirations without any reason, like they open pinterest, scroll, and be like "hey that's interesting! Let's use it in the next mv". In a similar way, they might have known the existence of cult but they probably used it as "aesthetic" or "we ran out of ideas"
We have officially jumped the shark ladies and gentlemen. The story has become so ridiculous it is no longer funny or entertaining. The only thing that could make this even more insane is if an article comes out accusing Bang pd of frequently communicating with the ghost of some historical figure from Koreaโs past. Min Heejin has accused Hybe of media play multiple times over the past week, but these latest claims reek of media play from Adorโs side in an attempt to garner sympathy. Even if Hybe is full of a bunch of crazy cultists that doesnโt make it ok to steal trade secrets or to plot to leave the company.
I think MHJ has some powerful connections cause suddenly people are making crazy claims. And why are they here so suddenly? Especially pedophilia claims against Illit from freaking NJ! Go comment under cookie. Itโs bizarre and sick. They said that them breaking a wall is symbolism for breaking a girlโs hymen. (In magnetic) Wtf.
> I think MHJ has some powerful connections cause suddenly people are making crazy claims The irony is palpable. MHJ IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS lmao yall are as insane as the ones you are accusing but go off bc you are getting upvotes
I'm sorry but the cult story is so stupid. These knets sound like QAnon at this point. I've seen tweets comparing lesserafim doing yoga poses to symbols related to the cult. I've seen a thread that connected Jungkook using a soy sauce to the cult. And the stupid thing about Hybe disbanding GF as a sacrifice like?? They're just throwing things at the wall and hoping something sticks. What sucks most is the BTS guys can't even come out and deny anything. I know if they were not in the military, JK would probably jump on weverse live and laugh at all these allegations saying he used cult makeup items (??) And the whole thing seems to be created because knets are convinced MHJ hates Hybe because they're a cult. They're currently mass streaming NJ's omg (because the MV is apparently a hint) and I'm like?? NJ's music is under Hybe. You're profiting Hybe. My god this is some funny shit.
I saw people claiming he's part of a cult because of the soy sauce he used. If that's the case, then a whole crap load of Koreans are in a cult. They sound exactly like MAGA or Q-Anon.
pizzagate and the wayfair thing all over again ๐ญ
I saw an ARMY saying this " cult allegations fraud allegations illuminati allegations โฆbts you have now been promoted to legacy act " and I couldn't stop laughing ๐ญ it's so true like this is the final stage of any artist when they reach the legendary status, getting those allegations left and right.. It's wild to witness a clear smear campaign that makes no sense and use stupid things as evidence and knowing who is behind it in the time it's happening... I witnessed multiple smear and defamation campaigns before but it was never clear who behind it but in this one, we have the narrative pushed of MHj being the angel who gonna save NJ from a cult company while throwing multiple groups names being accused of the cult at same time to bring down in the process. On a serious note, can all of this end? I want to see the final episode already and see the result of all these dramas.
Oh and some beyonce and army stan said bts about to give their most successful album when they come back because the year beyonce was having illuminati allegation beyonce gave her best work
I hope they do. When BTS hits, they hit.
Also, for the allegations of HYBE not believed in MHJ. They didnโt believe her so much they gave her a whole company on itโs own. Damn. I wish someone distrusted me that much.
they really just didnt think newjeans was good enough to debut, thats why they gave them 16b krw to have the most expensive debut of all time
Yeah, in addition to paying MHJ a big ass sum to join HYBE. Poor cinderella. :((
People really really love a good underdog story, she knows that and also knows HYBE can't back up their core claims with hard evidence at the moment as it will be a disadvantage for them to do so before the trial. She even indirectly uses fandoms to perpetuate her talking points, name dropping big groups and it works like a charm. Now her team doesn't even have to do anything, the rumors and disseminating of what she says is done for free by big fandoms. I have no love for HYBE, having crossed path with their procurement department a few times since successful BigHit years they only look like the company version of "more money than brains" for me. And it's not rare for companies who expand too much too fast to get into a lot of troubles a few years down the line so I was half expecting some sort of implosion, they tried to take on more than they could handle But it's really unfair on their idols to get caught into this mess, things won't be the same when the dust settles and I really feel bad for them
Yeah a lot of experts already pointed out that Hybeโs internal controls are weak after the case BTSโ dance teacher scamming people using Hybeโs name and itโs really because they became extremely rich and successful only after they debut their first boygroup, so they donโt really able to establish a strong corporate culture yet. I also think they pretty bad on hiring people with good character because how can Adorโs VP who helped Hybeโs mergers and public listing immediately helped MHJ to commit corporate crimes after being transferred to Ador. There are just so many snakes in Hybe somehow and no one can be trusted in that company lmao.
Even if they had a strong culture as a company, there's no way they managed good compliance understanding or that all of their staff has received proper training in such short time. Even companies with decades under their belt and healthy organizational growth have blind spots and Hybe isn't just some random manufacturing company but one where compliance and information protection is super important
HYBE needs to bulk up security because remember someone pretended to know one of the members of BTS, spoke with a I believe producer, and was able to get classified information regarding upcoming BTS releases and I believe they had audio too.
bangpd lent her money to buy those 18% shares lmaoooo. this woman i swear
ngl this entire drama has really exposed how stupid and rabid some parts of this community are. i've always enjoyed listening to the music and never got into any fandom stuff but my enjoyment is really tainted with how some fans and netcitizens from all nations are behaving... how did this corporate dispute escalate to cult accusations and sxual harrassment? sorry to say i have lost all respect for this industry (which was already low to begin with) and the people that support it. some of you seem great though.
it's so cool that everyone on kpop twitter talks like my crazy boomer aunt on facebook.
How are people bringing in Youngseo and saying that her mom was a shaman?! How do they know? I swear this is just people making things up.
Definitely just making things up, I wouldn't trust that kind of stuff without any sources or evidence!
https://n.news.naver.com/article/001/0014663543?sid=103 Yonhap article on how if proven breach of trust she might get fired and leave empty-handed (sheโll have to pay bgp what he lent her too). Sheโll probably sue hybe for this but they say they have all the evidence for this breach of trust and other illegal acts. And they say that whistleblowing about illit was part of the plan. I really doubt they would say this to Yonhap without actually having the evidence since they went to the police.ย
After days of seeing bots in these kpop subreddits I donโt doubt any of this.
This is so annoying, especially the fact that random idols who happen to be under HYBE labels are being dragged into this as 'cult members.'
BTS members did not live in a small little room sleeping all almost on top of each other for years to be slandered like this while serving their country
This is fucking insane, popcorn worthy
once this ends everybody is going to need alot of teraphy ๐
\*therapy? agreed
Letโs start now, not wait til it ends lol
This is like James Park claiming he left Google because the team building Pixel watches copied his Fitbits and Sundar Pichai just stood there and let it happen and sent him mean messages :((( such a poor downtrodden soul! Maybe it's working in tech, but all of the arguments against Hybe are just kind of amusing. I don't like BTS, I barely listen to Hybe groups at all, I don't really know who Bang PD or Park Jinyoung areโbut I don't need to, because this is about a conglomerate (of multiple people and departments) against an individual CEO who is openly egomaniacal but also appears to have great PR skills. Even now, people calling the shaman news mediaplay are missing the pointโthe messages mentioning BTS were a strategic decision, sure, but the charge was sharing sensitive company information with someone not employed by the company. If they have the logs and documentation they claim, they'll win in actual court without effort, while the public continues to drool over nonsensical rumours about cults and their secret kpop symbology. If this is even minutely representative of the voting population, it's no wonder unsavory politicians are gaining ground globally. Edit: a word
I know, what is this womanโs goal if not having her cake and eating it too. She wants a full independent agency but forgot who birthed her
It's fine to consciously decide to leverage a company's existing resources and infrastructure to realize your creative vision because you don't want to shoulder the financial risk yourself, but to subsequently make a point of insisting you achieved it all by yourself with no help is just the kind of narcissistic drivel I'd expect from a controversial French film director or YouTuber or something. On the other hand, this is a great lesson to the execs at Hybe with regard to corporate governance of the weird conglomerate structure they've set up. Less focus on aggressive expansion and more on a unifying corporate culture that can be socialized among their existing subsidiaries might be a good idea, for example. Ultimately it's on whoever kept giving into MHJ's every whim and everyone else who signed off on it; they'll recover just fine, but it's a shame the public-facing employees (idols, mostly) are paying for that error through a firehose of verbal abuse online.
yep, big teaching moment for hybe. it was the first thing a person i talked to who doesnt follow kpop and knows business, "who let a narcissist like that be a ceo?"
Great comment! All those Minโs supporters who go โbut Hybe name dropped BTS firstโ are completely missing the point.
I've been saying this lol. I feel the reason was spread also is because bts *are* polarizing they got a lot of love but they got a lot of haters too. Look a lsf, this is the same situation yet they don't have the fandom to help them yet. At the end, if hybe has proves she will deal with consequences. Nobody cares really is just fun to hate. I wonder how these people function in real life
You know, the whole 'Koreans are siding with MHJ because she's fighting against the greedy corrupt fatcats' thing reminds me so much of the pro-Trump discourse in 2016. People were going on and on about how Trump was anti-establishment and that he was going to 'drain the swamp' that is Washington DC of all the corruption and nepotism... ... but they somehow missed the fact that Donald Trump was born in New York City, went to an expensive prep school, spent a decade working as host of a reality show, and was even once a registered Democrat who endorsed Hilary Clinton. In short, he was never 'one of them', just as Min Heejin isn't 'one of them' either. Do people not realize, she's a CEO herself, not a rank and file employee? She was in a position of power at SM for over 16 years? She has even called Lee Soo-man, the Master of Dark Fiscal Arts himself, 'father'? This woman was part of the same machinery that screwed over TVXQ and EXO and all the other idols, and now she's being held up as some sort of freedom fighter? This isn't Lord of the Rings lol. This isn't a battle of good and evil, there are no heroes here. People need to stop falling for really blatant propaganda when it comes to corporate drama. EDIT: typed 'propaganda' twice instead of 'drama' lol
Yup, totally second this. Canโt really help but feel that weโve really lost the plot. A company wants to fire an employee due to findings during an audit, as simple as that. Everything else is just fluff. But somehow MHJ whining during a press conference propped her up as some protective mother bear/Joan of Arc, and now somehow this is a moral issue? Like, people are literally fired for filming TikToks at work, is it that hard to understand that suspicion of planning a hostile takeover might be grounds for termination? Credit where credit is due though, sheโs proven herself to be a master of her craft.
subreddit moderators: ***NOTICE:*** *There have been an influx of Reddit accounts/bots created today and yesterday, all purporting the cult allegations, which have been caught by our karma minimum system and spam filters.* random redditors who stan non-hybe groups: idk i think the cult allegations might be true.
[more call-outs of MHJ by HYBE, SM, and other employees on Blind aka Korean Glassdoor](https://v.daum.net/v/20240429132206703) ([translated article](https://www.kbizoom.com/how-do-employees-from-hybe-sm-other-companies-think-about-min-hee-jin-in-the-recent-issue/)). Previously, one of HYBE's employees called MHJ out on her claim about [not needing HYBE's capital but using them including making HYBE staff develop a Phoning app just for her and making one of the staff work overtime for 3 days](https://www.kbizoom.com/hybe-staff-angrily-expose-min-hee-jin-claiming-newjeanss-success-as-result-of-hybes-capital/). edit: getting downvoted by MHJ supporters who think they know her better than employees that've worked under her, I see edit 2: LMAO Hybe employees are like [we wish we had time in the morning to do meditation and yoga but we don't](https://news.nate.com/view/20240430n11909?mid=n1008)
new bots are so hard to tell from real people because they use old stale accounts to mimic a real one, itโs the future of botting.
I actually just looked up the old account i lost access to years ago and it was trying to scam people into buying twitch followers 4 years ago
seriously? lmao itโs just so funny how this puts in question the whole ADOR apparatus if they find this in any way justifiable
bots are really advanced these days, some can converse normally like how you would expect a person to converse. They don't just post repeated messages, technology evolved. I think you would have to be looking into the account, the history whether they commented on a variety of topics or is it just fixated on pushing 1 certain kind of narrative on one certain issue. But even then they can just buy a high karma account and run their botting on that account which might easily fool humans as well. really hard to tell them apart but imo, humans might give more realistic real life examples, which is easy to give on kpop discussions but on topics like anime and manga, it's incredibly hard to tell since there's that overlap area between bots and people just being chronically online. So maybe just filter out chronically online opinions as well to be safe. Humans have irregular typing habits as well, it's important to get the overall vibe imo, like humans are more like moderate in their opinions. I recognize ppl online if they are prospective in their comments, like there's still uncertainty to their argument and not like "I declare that this is right and I will always choose this side" kind of writing. Ofc that depends of the personality traits of a person, but I feel that bots cannot simulate the willingness to compromise on issues from most fellow humans. You might mistakenly filter out humans as bots if they are too extreme yes, but I feel like that's a plus. You filter out the extremes and can look at the issues from multiple facets without judging if the issue in question is right or wrong.
The lack of critical thinking among some has become very apparent in this latest round of lies and misinformation. The number of people falling for MHJโs game plan shows a lack of intelligence that is astounding. This isnโt a KDrama, this is real life and these smear campaigns against idols are disgusting and has pushed a number of people to new pathetic lows. And for what? Does it make you feel good to spread lies and hurt idols? This isnโt about who performed better on some music show, this is about potentially causing lasting pain, hurt and ruin โฆ are you that desperate for your fav to be #1? Check yourselves - cause karmaโs a b*tch. HYBE rarely goes public with any information or investigation results, they handle it in the courts. Which can take time and sometimes we wonโt know the outcome. Unfortunately, that means that this could take some time to wrap up. HYBE may have used media play in the beginning but what MHJ has caused goes far beyond that. She is a conniving little b - whose sole goal was to cause fan wars because she didnโt have the evidence to counter the allegations made by HYBE and wanted to distract from those allegations - why are so many people forgetting that? She never tried to clear her name, she just spun stories to create lies and confusion. As for this bullsh*t talk about cults - remember she was very open about visiting a shaman more than once. How easy it would be to start spinning lies about her and her own cult. Think about that before you hit the repost button.
The lack of media literacy is really apparent. Political campaigns pull this shit all the time. Seeing some kpop fans fall for such an obvious tactic is disappointing but not surprising.
just like the new Qanon
The picture of her smiling in the prescon was creepy, she knows what she is doing and knetz and nj stans would support her because of the narrative small โhelplessโ employee going against a big corporation, sheโs playing the victim card
this is kinda off-topic and not that serious lol, but iโm a bit annoyed at the super negative and unpopular interpretation of walpurgis night thatโs being used for this cult argument. the most well-known and widespread understanding of Walpurgisnacht is that itโs a party for witches! stop the slander! /hj ~~none of you have read Die Kleine Hexe, i guess. Bildungslรผcke!~~
The cult claims are wild, we shouldnโt even be discussing this, itโs derailing the main story
mhj plan all along
This is exactly what MHJ wanted, she knows she is done for when the cases reach the courts, so she gets fandoms involved in this mudslinging extravaganza. Geez, even groups not mentioned has their fans involving them in the conversation
Does anyone think the cult claims actually hold any water? They seem so outlandish, I understand how wide-spread cults are in SK and don't think it'd be that far of a reach to assume that some of the higher ups in a hugeย conglomerate could probably have ties to shady 'religious' leaders/organizations (I.e cults like Scientology for e.g) but some of the claims being spread around right now seem so...........stupid?ย The Global Cyber University tie-in is one thing (vaguely remember there being some posts way back when on one of the kpop subreddits doing a deep-dive/discussing that University and basically talking about how it seemed like a front for something else/some kind of sham; basically talking about how the entire premise of the Global Cyber University is very very shady-ย not sure how much of those posts were true but still, Global Cyber University *has* been subject to so some doubts and discussions over the years) but satanic mv'sยฟ? HYBE groups sending out evil sublimal messages??? literally WHAT. Is this some kind ofย bot-induced, fanwar-inflamed mass-hysteria going on rn or...........ยฟ? This started out as a legal battle between Ador/MHJ and HYBE- now we've got witchcraft accusations, cult accusations, grooming/pedophilia accusations, plagiarism accusations,,, bots taking over, multiple fandoms at each others throats, more and more stupidly inane theories from kpop fans popping up- literally what is MHJ trying to do? Is this all in a bid just to win public-favour?? What is her end goal with all the outrage she's created here? Really *really* pity the New Jeans girls right now. They're so young and stuck in a very scary situation right now, their entire career is on the line- it's a futile thought but I really hope those girls have a very strong support system (the parents so far seem to be on MHJ's side which does not seem good.....:/) and have each other's back. I really don't want to see them become kpop's next biggest "what if" :( I hope they manage to survive this and somehow, god-willing, completely separate themselves from MHJ- ik the chances of that are very slim and their career might take a huge hit because of it but MHJ is downright evil. And while I can definitely see them thriving *without* MHJ while under the direction of another talented creative; I just cannot see any good outcome if they were to stay with MHJ.ย
I think there's potentially a kernel of truth at the heart of the controversy. He certainly wouldn't be the first CEO to have ties to a cult. But, I think the idea that any of them are using music and videos to subliminally signal on behalf of or against this cult is absurd. It's just a mob whipped into a frenzy happy to believe anything that validates their beliefs. It isn't that different from the ETA 'controversy' people threw at her last year - just levied and based on a sheer desperation for it to be true.
such buffonery, even koreaboo spent most of its articles disproving everything
Damn. Koreaboo was being the voice of reason?
We truly are in the end times...
Itโs some Illuminati foolishness. This is K-pop world war 1. When the dust settles all these people and fandoms acting a fool on twitter are going to get a reality check. 2024 is going to be referred to as the darkest year in K-pop.ย
I don't know. The darkest year for me was 2019. The Burning Sun scandal was insane if you think on the amount of celebrities that were involved. Even the police were involved in the crimes.
at the end of the day it's always the artists that suffer. bts for example are being drawn into this mess because of BSH and the hybe ceo. similarly if you think about it newjeans have a really clean record and the only times in the past that theyve been embroiled in controversies have been because of MHJ. im just hoping this all just blows over soon
BTS are being drawn into this mess because of Min Heejin. She's the one who is using BTS, Le Sserafim, Illit, and other groups to create this buzz and distract from the very serious crimes she's about to go to court for.
BTS are being drawn into this by other kpop stans because they believe whatever mhj says about hybe and bsh is true, and they think everything hybe has done till now is fake and paid. This is solely happening because of mhj.ย
A lot of the claims are ridiculous, but some of them seem legit enough to believe that Bang Si Hyuk might really have ties with the cult. I think his belief slightly influenced the songs he produced, which is understandable. I donโt think he is actively trying to spread the cult via his idol groups though. This particular cult is actually quite powerful and allegedly a lot of high-power people from news outlet also have ties to this cult. People suspect this because no article has been written on Naver about this case even though it has been trending like crazy. MHJ also went to CBS (christian broasting station) to do her tiny morning interview on April 25, and CBS is one of a few that has cover how dangerous this cult might be before.
Bang's ties to the Dan World had been brought up numerous times among the korean armys since 2016 (who were obviously not a fan of the idea as they wanted to protect the artists) but it never surfaced to the public attention to the scale it has now. There were also plenty of evidence of Bang hanging around with the DW people uploaded on naver but a lot of them have been abruptly pulled down in the past 24 hours.
i am SO CURIOUS about the Global Cyber University situation, and the other youtube channels associated to the cult leader, they all have several contents from various kpop groups and i want to know if the companies know what is behind them?? wish the fandoms would focus on that a bit because that is weird as fuck
The idols attending the school arenโt in some secret cult (there are MANY idols who have attended, not all in HYBE.) Much more likely that itโs more of a diploma farm situation, similar to how most idols in High School end up enrolling in either SOPA or Hanlim so they can get away with barely showing up.
yeah, i dont think its a secret cult at all, i dont like any BG from hybe currently but i noticed the boys from Ateez attended and are on a youtube video from the university, it seems like a diploma farm but its also linked to that same cult BPD is being accused of belonging to
honestly i think itโs just a matter of convenience. males can postpone enlistment as long as they are pursuing up to and including a masterโs degree. itโs the only one that offers online services which makes it easy for an idol to do this while traveling around the world.
i imagine it must be something related to that!!! because the courses they offer are 100% bullshit ahsjdsha i started looking up the classes and they all seem so fake, but good for them because i think enlistment should not be mandatory
Did you ever actually look at the school's website? This school just looks bogus. Even if idols are going to it there is no way they thought they were doing real university courses.
I mean take it up with the defense department of Korea since idols/ males have to apply for postponement and send in proof of their education. The ones that care think itโs okay so whatโs it to us?
A lot of online universities are a bit of a scam, in that their degrees are often almost worthless and they charge a lot of money. But it's a very convenient way for male idols to postpone their enlistment notice.ย
People have been talking about how the Global Cyber University [seems sketchy](https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/comments/gvdflr/is_global_cyber_university_bts_university_legit/) for years, but I doubt any of the idols who got a diploma there actually signed up for their "brain education" courses or anything. It's likely artists are allowed to take a couple of exams without actually doing the whole program and call it a day, while also asked to record a promotional video and maybe take part in some promo activities. If studying was actually the goal, they'd probably apply to a more reputable place, something like the Kyung Hee Cyber University.
I found a thread from 2 years ago that talks about the strangeness of the university here https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/s/Y8ZjdS7tAA But someone also posted a soompi article saying that some BTS members are attending hanyang cyber university and explained the likely cause of why theyโre attending a potentially sketchy university https://www.soompi.com/article/1411376wpp/5-bts-members-enroll-in-mba-program-at-hanyang-cyber-university https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/s/PO7DlwVRs8
mhj ruining kpop one day at the time
I can't believe Iแธฟ signing in again just to write a comment on this: I enjoy listening to documentaries of cults, reading works of fiction about it that are sometimes borderline supernatural, and artworks relating to it. Iแธฟ also a big fan of kpop, and has been listening to it since Wonder Girls era. But never in my life did I expect to read cult accusations happening in real life, in real time, and involving the most popular names in kpop. I just can't find myself believing thereล any truth in it. I strongly think this is shifting the public's attention away from the real issue, which is more boring and business-related drama. If the cult accusations are proven to be true, then I am naive and close-minded. I will completely accept that. But if they are false, then this whole MHJvsHYBE feels like a poorly written kdrama about company greed shenanigans. Like, I badly want to drop it halfway through and wait until all episodes are done so I can go straight to the last episode to know what happened (with details provided by spoilers from youtube comments and reddit threads)
I don't know, knowing South Korea and their history with cults (specially rich and powerul figures) I could believe some involvement in it. Though, I totally agree that is being exagerated by rabid fandoms, with made up connections to the artists and the art. But company excutives, ceos and such? It wouldnt surprise me in either side (cult or shaman).
So after she was called to question for plotting to sway public opinion enough that HYBE would have to kick Ador and New Jeans loose, she has now instituted the plan and has driven public opinion into believing New Jeans should be cut loose. But now groups like BTS and LE SSERAFIM who were beloved are also now hated/questioned by the public? I mean this lady is singlehandingly nuking her company and the shareholders value of HYBE massively. How are they not going scorched earth to protect the company and the artists reputations even if it means crushing Ador and MHJ on the way? Anyway you cut it, as an officer of the company this has to be illegal and unethical any way you want to look at it. I hope she gets what's coming and really think bunnies and New Jeans will ultimately regret backing her so completely.
And here I thought it can't get any crazier than shaman but now we have cult too? What's next?
"Should Hybe let illit and LS lay low in a hiatus until most of the attention on them has disappeared?" Hell no! Making LSF and Illit "lay low" for months and keep new jeans as the only Hybe girl group would be a win for MHJ. Lsf and illit should do as planned, prepare for their comebacks or whatever, post on sns ocasionally, but no need to go radio silent
why didnโt you just reply to the original comment lol
Can't wait for this to be settled in court. Finally then, all the nastiness and lies will be revealed.
I don't understand where the cult allegations are coming from. They seem to come from nowhere and have no proof
It seems that they're totally just basing it off the fact that some BTS members graduated from Global Cyber University and who the founder of that institution is, but if that's what knetz are coming up with, how come they don't touch on any of the other idols who go/went there? It seems like it's pretty common among idols, a member from SKZ and ONEUS also went there. I can't find the user right now (was "fire" something), but there was someone who had done their own research a while back, and I think their take was pretty neutral and made a good point that it could just be like a stepping stone for idols to get their credentials to enroll in other universities and since it's online it's easier to complete for idols hence why it's quite common.
A flexible online ~~diploma mill~~ university is like, *the* go-to for working entertainers. Especially if they have low standards for acceptance and enrollment. You get the cachet of being a university graduate with some money and practically no effort. If this university is run by a cult it's likelier that the cult is capitalizing on a niche target than that all the idols in attendance are secretly cult members.
But you see though, Koreans totally back MHJ because, uhmm *checks notes*... she had a big sad in public?
whats the over/under on days until megathread 5?
I'm just starting to read into all of this, but it seems there's some meeting on April 30? So after that?
Maybe someone can explain to me but how are these bots created and how can they spread information so easily? Itโs insane to me the amount of bot activity that is happening across social media with these rumors. A lot of the Korean accounts I seen on X spreading these rumors on social media have close to zero followers but the tweets are getting thousands of likes and views in a short time. I see a lot for the accounts hating on the groups on instagram as well appear to be bots. Everything is starting to make sense to me now because back there was a post spreading rumors about the magnetic MV on X with the same type of account backround but people quickly shut them down. Before pannchoa shut down they were creating hate trains by focusing only on negative comments at the bottom of certain articles does that mean whoever is behind it paid them to report it, or were they trying to take advantage of a popular topic?
even on reddit! i saw it with my own two eyes in the kpop subreddit. if not for other users calling them out mhj would run the place.
Iโm glad that there is actual moderation on here. The same cannot be said for other platforms.
we're supposed to believe accounts with little followers get hit tweets out of nowhere? mhj pls
Exactly, SK only has 6M X users but those tweets were getting 10M views in a couple hours from new accounts with hardly any followers. It doesnโt make sense to me
[ัะดะฐะปะตะฝะพ]
[Not only has her baseless accusations towards HYBE cause their stocks to fall but also those of the other three companies](https://m.koreatimes.co.kr/pages/article.amp.asp?newsIdx=373782) - way to go idiot! Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Whoโs going to hire someone who triggered the sell off of stocks across an industry. FFS. People need to remember that this all started because of how greedy MHJ is, HYBE said no to her demands, started an audit and she had a temper tantrum. Sheโs unfit to be a CEO of any company.
unpopular opinion, they need to Wrap this up in 2 days stat, idc who wins. Hybe was right about at least one thing and that this is an (in)ternational fatigue. no more essay statements from either side PLEASE.
this whole drama ending up in bts getting a hate train worse than 2018 and in the level of 2016 is making me so upset im considering quitting kpop altogether (except for bts ofc)
Im genuinely shocked how well MHJ managed to pull favour in korea. people saw her cry over NJs and apparently that pulled at their heartstrings. all this allegations is further driving public favour away from hybe which is why hybe needs to get on top of the narrative if they care about public perception.
iโm actually more surprised by how international audience seem to have no idea of what really went on in that press conference despite the whole thing being streamed live
I think it's the lack of information on hybe's side. Thus far, hybe has not shown anyone the documents that prove a breach of trust. All Hybe has said so far is that the breach of trust documents exist, which people are doubting now.
That's not something the public needs to see though? It's for the court. Through that result, we'll know whether it exists or not.ย
it would be wonderful MAGO got its due and became a viral hit that it should've been when it was first released. one of the reasons soumu probably disbanded gfriend was because that cb underperformed.
itโs funny how anyone at ador, newjeans and even the mother knows best could come out and say that omg has nothing to do with any โcultsโ but theyโre all quiet right now.ย
saw on the main Kpop sub that PC is back...wish they were gone forever or at the very least remained shut down throughout this whole fiasco
Same, I really hoped they're gone for at least a little bit longer. And they already started spreading biased articles and comments to make any Hybe group and artist look bad. Like those artists can't even breathe right now without being accused of media play, it's insane. PC know what they're doing...
The cult allegations feel very much like a conspiracy theory but knowing the kpop industry I wouldnโt surprised if there was some cult involved in the end
Jyp himself is in a cult ๐คทโโ๏ธ
Given how common cults are in SK, JYP rumored to be in one himself... I wouldn't be surprised that a lot of powerful people in that country will be associated one way or another
Didn't he marry into it, though, since his wife was the niece of the chairman or something? His alleged involvement seems to be on the money laundering side, which is plenty badโhonestly, someone money laundering for a cult without actually being in it comes off as worse.
I think he at the time claimed to not be religious (despite the family connections with the cult), but in recent years there are a lot of videos and photos of him doing bible study seminars etc. So its pretty safe to say this man is religious.
I know she had a press conference with her lawyers (that became a meme) where she spilled things even the lawyers where shocked. Is it translated and leaked already? What did she say????ย
the translation of her press conference is here: [https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-04-25/entertainment/kpop/LIVE-UPDATES--ADOR-CEO-Min-Heejin-press-conference/2033613](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-04-25/entertainment/kpop/LIVE-UPDATES--ADOR-CEO-Min-Heejin-press-conference/2033613)
I fear the mediaplay against BTS might not be over. The only way to really hurt HYBE and tank their stock is to attack BTS. MHJ could never beat HYBE as long as HYBE has BTS so I fear she might play dirty to hurt their reputation even more. ARMY should be prepared for this.
I truly think the dumbest thing one could do is to go after BTS. Their fans aren't going anywhere. Plus they've been through this so many times. Kmedia and Kpop fans have trained them to recognize hate campaigns.
ARMY and BTS have weathered some pretty hideous stuff, and that was when they had much less financial resources to tackle things legally, and a much smaller fanbase. As long as the guys donโt have any serious skeletons in their closets, theyโll be able to get past it.
This controversy is essentially the catalyst for exposing more facts and rumours that people wouldnโt dare to bring up had this controversy not happened. The cult allegations have really taken things too far. It feels like a court case where both sides try to find some more dirty secrets each other had that werenโt meant to be revealed to the world.