NewJeans' Hanni Admits To Facing Workplace Bullying, Targets HYBE Chairman Bang Si Hyuk

NewJeans’ Hanni bared it all as she opened up about workplace bullying at the National Assembly in Seoul. It was during the parliamentary audit hearing that Hanni was summoned as a reference to share her thoughts on bullying and workplace harassment. Claiming that HYBE had been mistreating the group, Hanni broke down in tears as she shared a personal experience, further stating that she was convinced that HYBE disliked NewJeans.

During her turn, Hanni went on to name HYBE chairperson Bang Si Hyuk, and stated how he never accepted her greeting and that she found him rude. “Chairman Bang Si Hyuk never accepted my greetings. I realise that it is culturally demanded that you show respect to your elders, but seeing how he never accepted my greetings, I found him to be a rude person,” she said at the hearing, as quoted by Koreaboo.

The remarks come at a time when Bang Si Hyuk, the man behind BTS, has been facing criticism for quite some time, especially after his public spat with former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin.

Hanni Opens Up In Workplace Bullying

On the other hand, the NewJeans member made many other astonishing remarks, attacking Kim Joo Young, the new CEO of ADOR. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think you did everything you could. You said you would protect us in the first place, but you didn’t want to protect us or possess the ability to take action,” Hanni directly charged Joo Young, who was called in at the hearing as a witness.

She recalled an incident that took place between her and the manager of some other artist at HYBE. “I have talked about the workplace bullying thing that I experienced during a live broadcast with the members. While preparing for a university festival performance at Busan University, I got my hair and makeup done and was waiting in the hallway. During this time, three members of another team passed by with their female manager, and I greeted them. After some time, the same people came back; however, their manager told the members to ignore me. I didn’t understand the reason, but this wasn’t a one-time thing. Since my debut, I have come across many high-ranking people, but they never acknowledge my greetings,” she shared while referring to the HYBE chairman.

I also saw employees badmouthing the group on the Blind app. I even saw the PR team director trying to lower our Japanese debut score. Seeing that, I came to the realization that this wasn’t just a feeling, but I was convinced that the company hated us

At the same time, Hanni also recalled a recent incident where she found some employees badmouthing NewJeans on an app, further claiming the new ADOR CEO doesn’t want to protect the members from such incidents. “I came to the realisation that this wasn’t just a feeling, but I was convinced that the company hated us,” she added.