HYBE CEO apologizes for controversial internal document

HYBE CEO Lee Jae-sang, also known as Jason Lee, issued a formal apology on Tuesday for the company's controversial internal documents containing derogatory remarks about K-pop artists.

HYBE headquarters in Yongsan District, central Seoul [YONHAP]

HYBE CEO Lee Jae-sang, also known as Jason Lee, issued a formal apology on Tuesday for the company's controversial internal documents containing derogatory remarks about K-pop artists.

"We sincerely apologize to all artists, staff and fans who have been affected by the controversy surrounding our internal monitoring document," Lee said in an official company statement.

HYBE came under fire after a National Assembly audit on Oct. 24, during which Rep. Min Hyung-bae of the Democratic Party questioned the conglomerate's COO, Kim Tae-ho, about the agency's controversial internal practices. Min revealed an internal HYBE document titled "Weekly Music Industry Report," which included derogatory comments about K-pop idols currently managed under different agencies such as "This agency debuted the members at an age when they all looked ugly," “Their plastic surgery was overdone," and "The members are shockingly unattractive."

Lee, in the statement, took accountability for the incident.

"I take full responsibility for these serious errors," he said. "The inclusion of provocative and crude language to describe K-pop artists, the addition of personal opinions and evaluations and the fact that these remarks were documented in writing are all unacceptable.

"We are particularly sorry and ashamed that these actions have led to unfounded accusations of malicious intent, causing significant harm and misunderstanding to innocent artists and employees."

He explained that the document was "a compilation of public opinions and reactions related to K-pop trends and issues."

"It was shared internally with a limited number of executives for the purpose of analyzing market and fan sentiment, but we admit that the content was highly inappropriate," he said.

HYBE's COO Kim Tae-ho speaks during a National Assembly audit on Oct. 24. [NEWS1]

Lee added that the company is reaching out to other agencies and artists affected by the incident to apologize to them.

"We officially apologize to the artists of different agencies who have been harmed and emotionally hurt by being mentioned in the document," Lee said. "We are reaching out to each agency to make an apology. We are also apologizing to HYBE artists as they are unfairly targeted as a result of our company's oversight.”

“We immediately halted making such monitoring documents. We will introduce guidelines and bolster internal control so that such incidents won't happen again."

Amid the ongoing controversy, local media outlet Ilgan Sports reported on Tuesday that HYBE removed an executive involved in creating the document from their position. HYBE has not yet released an official statement on the reported removal.

Correction, Oct. 29: An earlier version of this article misstated that the executive was laid off.

BY YOON SEUNG-JIN [yoon.seungjin@joongang.co.kr]