On Monday, April 7, BELIFT LAB unveiled the seventh installment of ILLIT’s popular variety show, titled SUPER ILLIT. In this entertaining episode, ILLIT members engaged in a captivating game that required them to navigate the HYBE building, completing various tasks based on clues discovered throughout the premises. Their mission was to complete these activities while evading a member dressed as a tiger mascot.
During the game, Minju, one of the group members, was hilariously caught hiding by the tiger mascot, leading to a significant moment in the episode. The caption accompanying this scene sparked controversy and drawn criticism:
“They say you always meet your enemy in the company hallways.”
As this caption circulated online, many netizens speculated that it was a veiled reference to the ongoing controversy involving NewJeans’ Hanni and a BELIFT LAB staff member. In September 2024, during an emergency livestream, Hanni recounted an uncomfortable incident with a manager from HYBE, who had allegedly made an inappropriate comment about her in passing.
Although BELIFT LAB denied any wrongdoing regarding the situation, the community reacted strongly, with fans expressing disappointment towards the caption, interpreting it as unnecessary shade aimed at NewJeans. Responses from fans reflected the sentiment that such remarks were misguided. For instance, one NewJeans supporter wrote:
“njz has been so professional meanwhile belift is out here referring to njz as enemies… let’s be grown,”
“This proves how that company never liked njz and always saw them as an enemy, cus hanni never mentioned illit, belift themselves did,”commented another fan.
“So when Hanni discusses her experience with a group’s manager, you guys act annoyed and say things like “let it go” but when it comes to a whole label bringing this up again to shade Hanni, you guys eat it up? Make it make sense…,”added a critic.
“They’re only proving that New Jeans were right about the hatred from the company,”remarked another netizen.
With this incident drawing attention, many fans articulated their beliefs regarding BELIFT LAB’s muted but apparent criticism of NewJeans in ILLIT’s recent YouTube content.
“They indirectly spilled the truth. That Hanni was in fact not lying about the situation,”stated a fan.
“Thank you ILLIT and their team for proving that Hanni in fact didn’t lie, not that I ever thought she did but…”added another user.
“This confirms that those managers really were intentionally weird with Hanni in those hallways,”offered a netizen.
The Controversy: NewJeans’ Hanni and ILLIT’s Manager
The tensions surrounding this situation trace back to September 2024 when NewJeans held an emergency livestream on a newly established YouTube channel. During this livestream, Hanni described a troubling encounter on the fourth floor of the HYBE building, where artists typically receive hair and makeup services.
While waiting alone in the corridor, Hanni witnessed a manager and another group walking past her. Initially, there was cordial interaction, but during their second pass, Hanni overheard the manager instruct their team to “ignore her.”Reflecting on this unsettling incident, she shared:
“I was waiting alone in the corridor then, and another group and one of their managers passed by me. We greeted each other well then. But when the group came out again with the manager, the manager said, ‘Ignore her.’ Right in front of me. I can see and hear everything, but the manager said ‘Ignore her.’ I don’t know even now, why I had to go through that. It leaves me speechless.”
As speculation swirled regarding the identity of the implicated HYBE staff member, it was suggested that it might be ILLIT’s manager. In response to these allegations, BELIFT LAB released a statement in October 2024 denying the claims, clarifying that the manager did not instruct anyone to ignore Hanni.
They stated that while they could review visual interactions through CCTV, the absence of audio evidence made it difficult to fully validate claims. They urged the public to refrain from disseminating harmful rumors. Conversely, NewJeans representatives asserted that HYBE had not provided the relevant CCTV footage at the time, claiming it had been deleted.