HYBE Faces Criticism Despite Bighit's Collaboration with Park Jin Young at Weverse Con Festival
On June 16, HYBE Chairman Bang Si Hyuk and JYP's Chief Producer Park Jin Young surprised audiences with a joint performance at the '2024 Weverse Con Festival' held at Incheon Inspire Arena.
Bang Si Hyuk played a guitar solo, while Park Jin Young danced, culminating in the 'Park Jin Young Tribute Stage' that highlighted their long-standing relationship.
The day before the event, HYBE artists like BOYNEXTDOOR and ILLIT performed with Park Jin Young, and on the day of the festival, other HYBE artists, including fromis_9's Ji-won and Baekho, collaborated with him. The highlight was the joint performance by Bang Si Hyuk and Park Jin Young.
Following the festival, HYBE prominently featured this collaboration in their promotions, with press releases quoting Park Jin Young’s sentiments about the tribute stage and its significance for K-pop’s legacy. HYBE emphasized how this collaboration strengthened the historical symbolism of K-pop.
However, what HYBE should have addressed were the numerous issues that arose during Weverse Con. Despite showcasing their technological innovations like 'Weverse Lens' and 'Weverse Line-up', the event faced significant logistical challenges.
Fans experienced delays in entry and poor crowd control, resulting in chaos as hundreds of attendees rushed in simultaneously. The practice of reselling seats at inflated prices was rampant, and the handling of photo card events drew criticism as number tickets became irrelevant.
Given these problems from the start, HYBE should have focused on apologizing and proposing solutions rather than self-promotion. This approach would have helped restore trust and offered opportunities for improvement.
Additionally, the absence of NewJeans, which HYBE had highly promoted, was notable. Although ADOR cited preparations for a concert in Japan as the reason for NewJeans' absence, HYBE should have worked to support NewJeans’ comeback and ensured their participation at Weverse Con. Instead, other HYBE label artists did not join the NewJeans challenge, and aespa from a rival company participated instead.
The controversy over ILLIT’s video posted by Belift Lab, accused of plagiarism, also sparked significant backlash. The video was criticized heavily, receiving numerous dislikes and upsetting fans.
HYBE failed to mediate these conflicts or provide clear answers, further complicating relations with shareholders and fans. The situation was exacerbated by the unresolved disputes involving ADOR’s CEO Min Hee-jin, with Belift Lab filing additional lawsuits against her.
HYBE’s top decision-makers should have addressed these internal conflicts and responded to the reconciliation efforts by Min Hee-jin, instead of promoting Bang Si Hyuk's guitar performance.
They should have demonstrated responsibility towards shareholders and fans by resolving ongoing issues and safeguarding their artists.
For instance, HYBE’s legal team should have been more proactive in ADOR’s request to disclose the identity of the operator of the YouTube channel '7th Grade Middle School', which defamed NewJeans. ADOR had requested Google to reveal the identity, but HYBE's legal support was inadequate.
This suggests that HYBE’s multi-label system is not functioning effectively.
Moreover, the controversy surrounding BTS Jin's hug event highlighted further problems.
The initial condition requiring new album purchases for event entry led to fan backlash, forcing HYBE to apologize and revise the conditions. This again showed flaws in HYBE's system.
HYBE should prioritize resolving these pressing issues and demonstrating accountability to fans and shareholders, rather than focusing on promoting Bang Si Hyuk's guitar performance.
Only by addressing these challenges can HYBE sustain its growth as a central figure in K-pop.
