With the escalating drama controversy, new allegations emerged from fans that HYBE had actually been sabotaging achievements of its artists, including BTS and NewJeans. But was it true, though? What did the fans say about the issue and how did it end up fueling more controversy in the already heating up drama between HYBE and NewJeans? Find out more about the issue below.
HYBE Allegedly Sabotaging First-Week Sales of Artists, Including BTS and NewsJeans?
Following all the unexpected facts and rumors after HYBE x NewJeans drama escalated, new allegations from Korean fans have triggered more controversy that the company had been sabotaging the achievement of all its artists, including BTS and NewJeans.
A post emerged on Korean online community Nate Pann on September 26 from a netizen claiming to be a BTS fan, ARMY. This post attached a comment claiming that HYBE had been actively sabotaging the first-week sales of its artists, especially NewJeans “How Sweet.”
“You delayed the album deliveries on Weverse to lower the first-week sales for ‘How Sweet.’
The album sold 810k copies on the first day and only reached 880k by the end of the first week.
But the day after, it jumped to 1.08 million copies.
So, in 6 days, only 70k albums were sold, but as soon as the first week ended, 200k more were sold.
Fans were upset and complained on Weverse because you delayed shipments to keep NewJeans from selling over a million copies in the first week.”
Netizens’ comment on Nate Pann.
In addition, the original poster added accusations that HYBE had allegedly been sabotaging BTS solo albums.
“When BTS members started their solo careers, their albums weren’t shipped in Korea, the USA, and Europe until after the first week.
Back then, we joked that HYBE might be trying to mess with their first-week sales, but now I think those accusations are real.
In one case, an order for tens of thousands of albums in China was canceled just a day before it was supposed to be shipped.
If this is true, HYBE has really turned into thugs.”
Nate Pann OP.
Triggering More Controversy in the Escalating Drama
Indeed, it took a few days for this post to gain attention. Apparently, this post not only exposed HYBE alleged shady practices, but also triggered more controversy in the already escalating drama between the company and NewJeans.
In the comment sections, many fans shared that they had in fact experienced the same delayed shipment for different HYBE artists. And the timing of these delayed shipments were too suspicious as they had affected the first-week sale counts of their beloved idols.
- “Yeah, my Weverse order was also shipped more than a week late.”
- “Really? But since it’s HYBE, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve done worse.”
- “If BTS gets treated like crap, there’s no way NewJeans is getting better treatment.”
- “When I used to preorder as ARMY and ENGENE, the albums would start shipping and arrive the next day. Never had a delay. But with NewJeans, I’ve never received an album the day after purchasing.
- “During ‘How Sweet’, they had age restrictions and real-time country restrictions too. LOL.”
- “HYBE also restricted the music video by country for ‘How Sweet’. LOL.”
- “Yeah, it’s true. I also ordered from Weverse, and it came ridiculously late.”
- “It’s true that BTS’s solo albums got orders from China canceled because the company claimed they had no stock. 500,000 units were canceled from the fan group orders, and people had to reorder more expensive versions during the first-week sales period. This has always been how HYBE operates.”
Is HYBE Really Sabotaging BTS, NewJeans, and Its Other Artists?
However, other fans are also condemning the post. They believed that the OP had only dragged BTS name in HYBE and NewJeans drama controversy.
- “ARMY? LOL. You’re trying to drag BTS into this NewJeans issue? If you’re going to lie, at least do it properly. You must think this is like with Min Heejin. LOL. It’s hilarious.”
- “Why are these viral marketers pretending to be ARMY in the comments?”
- “Don’t act like you’re ARMY. Screw off.”
- “It’s gross when people who claim to be ARMY post. Why does it even matter whether you are ARMY or not? Are they just adding that for extra attention because they think no one will care otherwise?”
- “There’s no way an ARMY would write a post defending girl groups or NewJeans. Stop pretending, NewJeans fans.”
A fan also clarified in the comment sections that as a large company, HYBE has a specific shipping process. The company apparently conducts this specific shipping process in three stages. Therefore, the shipping will take unusually longer than other companies.
- “According to the original post, even BTS, HYBE’s biggest artist, went through this three-stage shipping. So why are people pushing conspiracy theories that it was done to NewJeans on purpose? LOL. They did the same thing to BTS.”
- “At the end of the day, the company and the artist will still make steady money from total sales, but only the obsessive fans are fixated on first-week sales.”
Your Thoughts?
Finally, while the post has exposed shocking revelation from both sides, it still remains unclear whether HYBE had been really sabotaging BTS, NewJeans, and other artists on purpose, or it was simply due to the company’s shipping policy.
However, fans believe that the company needs to review these policies if it only brings negative effects to its artists.
What about you, though? Do you think so too? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
In the meantime, here’s NewJeans performance video on “How Sweet.”
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Source: Nate Pann.
