Fans demanded HYBE to immediately fire the staff who was found out to be an antifan of BTS Jimin
Since many unnecessary problems keep occurring, netizens are getting frustrated by HYPE’s poor management of their staff
Among major entertainment companies, HYBE is often criticized for the way they manage their staff. Accordingly, there have been many times when BTS fans and netizens get outraged at the staff’s manner and how they treat the members. For example, the stylists often make BTS members wear odd outfits that do not fit right, a manager was suspected of bragging and driving his girlfriend around on BTS’s car, some staff secretly took pictures of BTS members like sasaeng, other staff took advantage of the group’s popularity to get free advertising, etc.
These issues have continuously caused fans to send complaints to HYBE, but there is still no improvement. Even Korean netizens have repeatedly expressed their displeasure because BTS is currently a world-class group but how their staff treats them is completely irresponsible and inexcusable. Recently, another controversy arises when a phrase that is often used by netizens as a joke suddenly could be true: ‘Are BTS’s staff actually their anti-fans?‘. What happened to Jimin in a behind-the-scenes video caused fans to trend the keyword ‘HYBE respect Jimin‘ worldwide.
Particularly, on October 28, BTS’s YouTube channel, BANGTAN TV, uploaded a new behind-the-scenes video when the group attended the 76th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) event. The event took place earlier in September and 7 members of BTS were present as special envoys for Korean President Moon Jae In. They also delivered a speech and a performance at UNGA.
Fans are very happy and proud to see behind-the-scenes footage showing BTS’s efforts to record the ‘Permission to Dance’ VCR at the UN headquarters, rehearse their speeches, and share interesting stories backstage. However, a controversy unexpectedly broke out when fans noticed a disturbing Korean subtitle in the video.
During the part where the members were sitting together, Suga mentioned Jimin’s name and jokingly called him ‘Park Jwaemin’. The Korean subtitle of ‘Park Jwaemin’ is supposed to be ‘박최민’, yet it turns into ‘닭 지민’ (Dalg Jimin) – which means ‘Chicken Jimin’. This is a negative nickname that Jimin’s Korean anti-fans often use to mock the male idol. In Korean, this is also a rude word used to offend somebody, meaning ‘pathetic’.
When the incident erupted, several fans speculated that it was most likely a mistake when the staff misheard ‘Park Jwaemin’ as ‘Dalg Jimin’ (Chicken Jimin) when the members were teasing the male idol for waking up early. Many other fans, however, affirmed that the staff could not have misheard because the two words were absolutely different. Furthermore, even if a mistake is made, because the staff is Korean and the subtitles are in Korean, the staff will need to understand that Korean culture is particularly sensitive to words that are used to insult others.
Because this is a term commonly used by antifans of Jimin, supporters instantly wondered if the staff who created the subtitles were also antifans. Fans immediately sent a petition to HYBE, asking that the subtitles be edited and condemning the staff’s disrespect for the artist. Some fans even asked that the company fire this person.
In addition, fans also trended the keyword ‘HYBE RESPECT JIMIN’ (HYBE please respect Jimin) to express their disappointment with HYBE because this company has made so many mistakes. This keyword has reached the top trending globally, in addition, related keywords have also reached the top trending in Korea and many other countries.
In light of this situation, the HYBE side did not give an explanation. However, fans discovered that the company was aware of the controversy and had quietly edited this Korean subtitle to match Suga’s original word ‘박최민’ (Park Jwaemin). This incident once again disappointed fans as BTS continues to not receive respect from HYBE staff.
