“Hangout With Yoo” Edited Caption Claiming HYBE Building Being Built By SEVENTEEN After Facing Criticism
MBC’s “Hangout With Yoo” eventually edited the teaser for SEVENTEEN’s episode due to a controversial caption
On April 20th, MBC’s entertainment program “Hangout With Yoo” released a new teaser at the end of its broadcast hinting at SEVENTEEN’s guest appearance in next week’s episode. However, after the release of the teaser, the program faced a harsh backlash from viewers, especially BTS fans.
In particular, the production team introduced SEVENTEEN with the caption, “Welcome to HYBE’s new building built up by SEVENTEEN”. Upon seeing the caption, ARMYs (BTS’s fandom) expressed frustration, claiming that it was not true. Claiming that BTS contributed the most to HYBE’s success and that it was BTS who helped HYBE grow this significantly, fans complained about the program disrespected BTS.
Many ARMYs even provided evidence to prove that BTS accounted for the biggest proportion of HYBE’s revenue. In particular, BTS’s share in HYBE’s 2018 revenue was 98% (nearly 100%). The figures were 97% in 2019, 92% in 2020, 70% in 2021 (the year when HYBE moved to the new building), and 67% in 2022. Especially in 2023, the estimated figure is 60% even though BTS members are all inactive because of their military service.
As the controversy and criticism intensified, “Hangout With Yoo” hurriedly changed the controversial caption. In the new teaser video, the caption has been changed to “Welcome to HYBE’s new building. The level of the new building that amazes the members”. The program already replaced their videos on Naver and Nate TV with the new version of the teaser.
In addition, fans also discovered that HYBE rents this building, located in Yongsan, monthly and the building’s owner is someone else, not HYBE.
