Previously on December 19, a topic titled “BTS Digital Chart Manipulation and Blackmail Allegations [Evidence]” was published on the Korean forum Instiz, attracting almost 100,000 views as of date.
Similar topics have since popped up on other Korean forum, such as ‘theqoo’, garnering massive numbers of views.
Meanwhile, in the original post, the author claimed that they worked for 2 entertainment companies ‘A’ and ‘B’, led by CEO Lee, who was jailed for BTS’s alleged marketing malpractice. Among those, A organized the online audition program “Crazy Star Audition” (tentative title), which was won by Yang Song-hee, who is gaining attention via “Miss Trot 3”.
Later on, A was rebranded into B, a company specialized in album marketing, which means manipulating portal algorithms for exposure and orchestrating chart manipulations for various artists
According to the author, B worked on a project to perform the aforementioned manipulations for BTS’s “I NEED U”, back in 2015. However, there were conflicts with Big Hit and CEO Lee, leading to the latter being arrested for blackmailing Big Hit.
As a result, CEO Lee instructed a manager to publish screenshots of a conversation between him and Big Hit representatives via internet forum Ilbe, and the screenshots remain until today.
These screenshots include CEO Lee’s direct testimony of manipulating the charts for BTS, and the topic’s author also stated that they have further evidence, including documents accessible to employees at the time, such as an email from Big Hit requesting an invoice.
They attached a photo of the aforementioned email, adding, “I know that that one photo is not evidence in any way. I hope you view it as data regarding the reliability of my writing”.
On the other hand, the topic’s author also revealed that they wrote this post after contacting all domestic media channels, but received no positive response.
Upon seeing the alleged evidence, many netizens were shocked and expressed their distress. Below are some comments from netizens:
- I’m curious as to why you’re suddenly revealing it now… The company you mentioned was real..
- Please expose all the singers you worked with at the time.
- HYBE has done nothing but plagiarism and fabrication, but they are so arrogant.
- As expected, this company is shameless
- So it was a manipulated popularity for BTS??
So far, HYBE has released no official statement regarding these claims.
The post HYBE Committed Chart Manipulation for BTS? Alleged Evidence Surfaces appeared first on KBIZoOm. KBIZoOm – Breaking news about K-pop, K-drama, Anime/Manga and worldwide entertainment KBIZoOm – Breaking news about K-pop, K-drama, Anime/Manga and worldwide entertainment
