MHJ holds press event

[RussianRoulette]

Up until yesterday this woman was only speaking through a legal representative, then yesterday she threw that all away and today she's already holding a solo press event/fan meeting this escalated fast.

Today MHJ held a press conference/fan meeting. I can't find any videos of the event online yet other than a snipit of a NJ demo, but here is as summary of some things you missed:

- The legal fees are so far over 2.3 billion won (Over 1.7 million USD) and MHJ has sold her house to pay for the legal fees. She seems optimistic about this though, claiming she is still innocent in all of this and wonders if it was her destiny to buy a house so she would have the money to pay the legal fees.
- She is determined to become CEO again, in her own words "If management and producing are separated, there is no point in doing this."
- She kept saying she is innocent and Hybe can't create a crime that doesn't exist. She also said when all of this is over she will be filming a documentary about herself and her victory.
- She criticized the KPOP industry saying it pumps stuff out like a machine and it's like a disease. She also said the creators exploits it's employees.
- I am seeing conflicting stories about them staying or leaving. I am seeing some people say New Jeans would leave with her if she had to leave, but i'm also seeing MHJ say both her and the girls are determined to stay in the company.
- She hates that she has become an internet meme. In her own words: ""I became a meme, and it hurt so much. I couldn't accept that my difficult and desperate story was made into a meme and became a meme.
- She claimed to be close friends with Jeff Benjamin and they spend their free time badmouthing HYBE together.
- (A lot of people were wondering why he was interviewing her via Kakao Talk? This might explain why)
- During the Bighit to HYBE transition, she designed the new HYBE logo and coined its current slogan.
- Around this time, on instagram MHJ also shared kakao talk messages of the members showing her support. The trending one is the message from Hanni with an image with the phrase "New Jeans Never Die"
- Here is the demo she shared:


Source (This is a source for parts of the information, other information was from translations from twitter).
Instagram story with Hanni's message.
​

---

My two cents:
- I still find Jeff Benjamin being thrown into all of this drama the most random thing ever.
- I feel like more and more people are no longer showing support for new jeans in the oversea fandom at least. I know the whole "artists are innocent" phrase was trending last week, and to an extent I do feel that everyone still considers new jeans innocent in all of this, but people don't want to support MHJ and the more the girls push their support for her the less people want to support new jeans anymore. Everyday I am seeing a lot of people saying "I love new jeans, but I can't support them anymore if they keep supporting MHJ".
-
- I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we get a netflix documentary on all of this next year or something. I'm also expecting a Kdrama based on this as well in the future ​

 

[heather]

Why... is it a stand-up comedy set?

 

[hatmixx]

- I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we get a netflix documentary on all of this next year or something. I'm also expecting a Kdrama based on this as well in the future

there will probably be dueling netflix docs showing the other side as evil XD

 

[fromisJelly]

"when all of this is over she will be filming a documentary about herself and her victory."


She really think too highly of herself.

We are all tired of these dramas. To the point, I was even considering taking a short break from K-POP

 

[dnb]

- I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we get a netflix documentary on all of this next year or something. I'm also expecting a Kdrama based on this as well in the future [/CENTER]

This will all be covered in the next NewJeans MV.

 

[RussianRoulette]

Why... is it a stand-up comedy set?

Yet she wonders why the internet is calling her a meme

We are all tired of these dramas. To the point, I was even considering taking a short break from K-POP

i’ve honestly been distancing myself from any hybe groups for the time being except for TXT(cause they haven’t really been tied into this drama) and Fromis_9 (though they’ve only had 1 singular comeback during all of this).

I’ll start following and listening to other hybe umbrella group’s music again once this drama stops (or at least until both sides go back on their word that they would be handling this behind closed doors with lawyers).

For my own peace of mind my day and my feed is so much better blocking all of this out and focusing on smaller/other artists.

 

[heather]

I feel like more and more people are no longer showing support for new jeans in the oversea fandom at least. I know the whole "artists are innocent" phrase was trending last week, and to an extent I do feel that everyone still considers new jeans innocent in all of this, but people don't want to support MHJ and the more the girls push their support for her the less people want to support new jeans anymore. Everyday I am seeing a lot of people saying "I love new jeans, but I can't support them anymore if they keep supporting MHJ".​

This, is where it has been alarming to me.

As a 2nd gen fan, the goal was always to protect the artists from the company. Even when fans were attacking other fans the problem was that one member was hindering the career of the other. This transition to supporting a company over an artist is very hard to grasp.

In the previous thread some users mentioned that they will be supporting ILLIT instead of New Jeans. Surely, by the logic of not supporting NJ because of MHJ, you can acknowledge that they are, in a sense, the same entity. Transferring your support to ILLIT is just transferring your support to HYBE? That is just one hot pot to the next?

Fundamentally, I do think MHJ is the lesser of two evils for NJ. I can agree that MHJ is awful on many layers but I can also acknowledge that some things people are bringing up about MHJ are things people have willfully ignored until things blew up. I would also like to point out that there is no neutral ground here - all parties are linked in a severe tension.

I think both MHJ and NJ were working based on some very human emotions but also following a model of the industry that doesn't really exist there.

 

[nuclear]

She also said when all of this is over she will be filming a documentary about herself and her victory.

I was a fan of her work in SME, I didn't read any interviews of her time there tho. However ever since she joined Hybe and started to open her mouth she became more and more unlikeable. I don't doubt that like NJ, but she cares more about herself above all.

wonders if it was her destiny to buy a house so she would have the money to pay the legal fees.

Hybe is shit and I hate them, but she really brought this shit upon herself. She didn't want to deal with the debt and struggles of setting up her own company tried to get her way with Hybe. Atp, I'm sure she had thought of this before even before leaving SME. Since it was said LSM offered her something similar (a sublabel), but I guess she knew she couldn't outscam The Scammer, so she got her chance with Hybe. I couldn't have cared less what she was up to, I even have loved to see Bang pd get screwed over; but I find it annoying that it was her carelessness that ruined her plan and now the NJ members are going through so much stress.

I know some people have a bad image of NJ at the moment, but just because 3 of them are already adults doesn't mean they not gullible. AFAIK, she showed that one word was added to that chat about the harassment of an employer, but I didn't see any clarifications on the messages insulting the members?? just that it was "out of context"
I wouldn't be surprised if she was changing their perspectives on previous normal/harmless interactions with other hybe groups and stuff into something with negative connotations and bad intentions, feeding into their worst fears. The all pretty much know her since they were underage after all, of course they will trust her. Of course, Hybe being a shitty unprofessional company makes it easier.

 

[UMJI MOODS]

I hate her but correctly it was not a press event she held. It is a multi day event sponsored by Hyundai Card where she was invited to speak.

 

[yyShin]

She also said the creators exploits it's employees.

coming from HER?????

 

[OutroTearTheFirst]

She claimed to be close friends with Jeff Benjamin and they spend their free time badmouthing HYBE together.

This part cracked me up

 

[choively]

I love her smile and cap lowkey funny

 

[RussianRoulette]

In the previous thread some users mentioned that they will be supporting ILLIT instead of New Jeans. Surely, by the logic of not supporting NJ because of MHJ, you can acknowledge that they are, in a sense, the same entity. Transferring your support to ILLIT is just transferring your support to HYBE? That is just one hot pot to the next?

If people are supporting illit because they want to support hybe then that’s very ironic cause these are the same people who’ve been boycotting Katseye because they’re under Hybe

I hate her but correctly it was not a press event she held. It is a multi day event sponsored by Hyundai Card where she was invited to speak.

Thank you for the clarification and YouTube link!!!

Tbh I was under the impression it was sort of like a fan meet because the Korean articles were saying MHJ fans were standing outside the venue with “we admire your courage MHJ” signs and the audience were all MHJ fans and it seemed very fan meet-ish to me.

Tbh I wouldn’t put it past MHJ to hold herself a fan meet or include herself in a NJ fan meet, she’s literally included herself in official NJ art before

I love her smile and cap lowkey funny

I forgot to include this because I was in a rush this morning but she picked out an all black outfit and cap for today’s event (I guess to look cool/edgy?) and was very proud of herself. She was encouraging people to take pictures of her cool outfit

 

[Pandaa]

zzzzzzzz this has to be the most boring scandal in korea history

 

[tokki]

Somehow, she doesn't realize that she makes things worse for herself and the girls every time she opens her mouth...

She criticized the KPOP industry saying it pumps stuff out like a machine and it's like a disease. She also said the creators exploits it's employees.

She isn't exactly wrong here, but she was still all too happy to play along in the system for over 20 years until she stopped being told "yes" all the time and getting her way. Nobody forced her to take part in any of this if all she wanted to do is create art through music. There are plenty of indie artists out there who managed to make a great name for themselves and build an audience, even if it is a bit more challenging without big names (SM, HYBE) backing them. Plenty of those artists out there would have been happy to work with someone like her - I'm not a fan of her as a person, but it can't be denied that she does have a unique taste for art and design.

- She is determined to become CEO again, in her own words "If management and producing are separated, there is no point in doing this."

But I thought it was all about the art, not the power or the money? Hm.

 

[Chomiczewska]

She claimed to be close friends with Jeff Benjamin and they spend their free time badmouthing HYBE together.

I'd say this is shocking, but since that man is a fake trash, it honestly isn't lmao

coming from HER?????

Right? Like girl, those are your people!

 

[Polaris_Tae]

It's giving major narcissism vibes

MHJ has sold her house to pay for the legal fees

Anticipating MHJ bankruptcy arc

If management and producing are separated, there is no point in doing this."

This makes zero sense
This is like saying that basically all other groups to ever exist have no point to exist either...
The most similar label under HYBE to Ador, Koz Entertainment, doesn't have their head creatives in the CEO position and they've been performing very well for themselves (as in that they'll likely be out of the red for the first time within the next year or so).

- I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we get a netflix documentary on all of this next year or something. I'm also expecting a Kdrama based on this as well in the future

I would eat this up
I'd like to see a new Stephanie Soo deep dive on it too while we're at it

more and more people are no longer showing support for new jeans in the oversea fandom at least.

She slung shit at both my faves so I have no sympathy for her. Then there's the creepo exploitation of minors behaviors she's constantly displayed throughout her career.

As for NewJeans, their reaction is understandable. They've been thrown into the deep end of a battle of corporate espionage with a wholly uncertain future. While I don't necessarily support what they've been doing re: throwing their support behind MHJ, it's understandable why they've been doing so. She's been with them every step of their careers and they've essentially been led to believe that losing her is tantamount to losing the key to their success since she helped to build them up from debut until now. Meanwhile, HYBE is a massive corporate bureaucracy that is all but foreign to the members of NJ. As for all the adults in this situation -- HYBE, MHJ, ADOR collaborators and even the girls (stage) parents -- they've lost my respect entirely.

 

[RussianRoulette]

Anyway, here is my final words on this:

Spoiler: spoiler