K-pop act ILLIT under Belift Lab's management / Courtesy of Belift Lab
Belift Lab, a subsidiary of HYBE Labels and the agency managing the K-pop group ILLIT, denied allegations of workplace bullying raised by members of NewJeans.
In an official statement released Monday, Belift Lab urged an end to what it described as "baseless accusations."
"Following the unfounded plagiarism claims, we strongly demand an immediate halt to attempts to defame a rookie artist with groundless personnel controversies," the agency said. "ILLIT's managers never instructed anyone to 'ignore' NewJeans members, and the ILLIT members have always greeted NewJeans when passing by."
The denial follows a public statement from Ador artist NewJeans, who, during a surprise live broadcast on Sept. 11, criticized Belift Lab and its parent company, HYBE Labels.
In the live stream, NewJeans' member Hanni recounted an incident that allegedly took place at HYBE's headquarters.
"I was waiting alone in the fourth-floor hallway when another artist and manager walked by. I greeted them, but right in front of me, they blatantly said, 'ignore her.' I could hear and see everything. I don't understand why this happened to me, and I found it absurd," Hanni said.
Ador's K-pop girl group NewJeans / Courtesy of Ador
In response, Belift Lab clarified that the situation was thoroughly investigated after NewJeans' parents raised concerns on June 13. The agency said it reviewed CCTV footage and conducted interviews with managers and artists, concluding that the claims were unfounded.
"The two groups only encountered each other briefly on May 27, when they were in the same area for about five minutes at HYBE headquarters," Belift Lab explained. "The CCTV footage shows ILLIT members bowing at a 90-degree angle to NewJeans member Hanni as they exited the elevator."
The agency noted that when ex-Ador CEO Min Hee-jin reviewed the footage on Aug. 14, her team suggested the alleged incident happened after the recorded scene and there might be more footage. However, the security company confirmed that the video retention period had expired, making it impossible to retrieve additional footage.
Belift Lab said that Min's team then proceeded to accuse HYBE of intentionally deleting the footage, but emphasized that such claims were speculative.
"They are also claiming the footage capturing someone saying 'ignore her' was deleted, but CCTV does not record audio, making this claim invalid," the company added.
This undated file photo shows the logo of K-pop giant Hybe. Yonhap
Belift Lab also took issue with the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee's decision to call NewJeans' Hanni and HYBE's Chief Human Resources Officer as witnesses in an upcoming parliamentary audit.
"Despite providing all necessary explanations, new, unverifiable claims are being made. This raises concerns that an event that never occurred is being dragged into a parliamentary audit due to ulterior motives," the agency stated.
Belift Lab also revealed that the accused parties have suffered from severe emotional distress following NewJeans' accusations.
"We sent two official statements to Ador in August and September regarding this matter," the agency said. "After NewJeans raised the issue in their live broadcast, we requested an apology from the member and Ador, but we have not received any response."
"If this matter continues to damage the reputation of our company, artists, or staff, or disrupt our business, we will take all possible legal action," the label concluded.