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Le Sserafim's teaser for its five-episode documentary series, "Le Sserafim -- Make It Look Easy," released by Source Music on Sunday (Source Music) |
Hybe continues to attempt to take control of the narrative in its ongoing dispute with Ador CEO Min Hee-jin as subsidiary Source Music, already entangled in a defamation lawsuit filed against Min on July 15, plans to release a documentary series depicting Le Sserafim's hardships over the past year.
This move seems aimed at disproving Min's April press conference claims of Hybe's preferential treatment toward Le Sserafim by highlighting their success through hard work. Yet, it underscores the parent company's ongoing struggle to effectively address the controversy.
According to Source Music, the five-episode documentary series, “Le Sserafim – Make It Look Easy,” is set to premiere on Hybe Labels’ YouTube channel on Monday. The series will feature the group’s experiences after debuting, including their first US promotional appearances and world tour last year, showcasing their growth and hard work.
A teaser video released by the K-pop agency Sunday includes a clip where Japanese member Sakura questions her choice to become a K-pop idol, highlighting the intense and challenging experiences the group has faced. While the teaser does not specify the exact reasons for Sakura’s grievance or the frustration of other members, it appears that with the documentary series, Hybe wants to reframe the perception of Le Sserafim's success that Min has pushed to the public and media.
Similar efforts have been made by Hybe subsidiaries previously but were met with backlash from K-pop fans.
In June Hybe subsidiary Belift Lab, also embroiled in the dispute over its rookie girl band Illit for allegedly plagiarizing the style concept of NewJeans, attempted to more directly refute allegations made by Min.
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Le Sserafim (Source Music) |
In a video titled “Belift Lab’s position on plagiarism claims” uploaded to YouTube on June 10, Belift Lab compared the choreography of NewJeans' "Ditto" and JYP Entertainment’s girl band NMIXX's "Love Lily," claiming NewJeans had imitated the latter's moves. However, the timeline was incorrect, as NewJeans released “Ditto” in January last year, whereas NMIXX released “Love Lily” in March. This error, along with the fact that the video involved the group of another K-pop agency not involved in the initial allegations, angered fans.
Moreover, the similarities between NewJeans and Illit had been publicly noted, not only claimed by Min.
Hybe’s attempts to sway public sentiment in favor of the company have had some effect.
Text messages obtained by a local media outlet via Hybe on Thursday revealed that Min had used disparaging language toward a female employee at Ador who had allegedly been the victim of sexual harassment and criticized NewJeans. The leaked text messages seemed to be an attempt to undermine Min’s strong bond with NewJeans as well as her character as the CEO of Ador.
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Illit (Belift Lab) |
Min responded by suing five Hybe officials for obstruction of business, detection of content such as electronic records and defamation, a day after the first of two exclusive reports were published on July 23.
Despite the effectiveness of some of Hybe's rebuttals, culture critic Bae Kook-nam told The Korea Herald that Hybe should stop responding to Min’s provocative claims, which only intensify the conflict.
“Hybe is only worsening the situation (at the moment). It should focus on developing quality content, primarily its K-pop idols. The ultimate goal of the multilabel approach is to create a diverse range of talent, but Hybe is failing to achieve this,” Bae said in an interview last week. “They are losing focus on what is crucial in the current K-pop industry.”
