Allegations of Chart Manipulation by HYBE for BTS: New Evidence Emerges

On December 19, a provocative discussion titled “BTS Digital Chart Manipulation and Blackmail Allegations [Evidence]” surfaced on the Korean forum Instiz, quickly attracting close to 100,000 views. This topic has ignited considerable debate and has since inspired similar threads on other platforms, including ‘theqoo’, accumulating significant engagement as well.

In the initial post, the author alleged that they previously worked with two entertainment entities identified as companies ‘A’ and ‘B’. Both companies were managed by a CEO named Lee, who is now incarcerated due to accusations of marketing misconduct linked to BTS. Notably, company A was responsible for producing the online audition program titled “Crazy Star Audition”(working title), which saw Yang Song-hee, currently renowned for “Miss Trot 3” , as its winner.

Subsequently, company A underwent a rebranding to become company B, which specialized in album marketing. This rebranding included engaging in practices such as manipulating online portal algorithms for enhanced visibility and orchestrating chart manipulations for various artists.

The author further suggested that company B was implicated in a project aimed at executing these manipulative strategies for BTS’s track “I NEED U” back in 2015. However, disputes arose with Big Hit, subsequently leading to CEO Lee’s arrest on charges of extorting Big Hit.

In a dramatic turn of events, CEO Lee directed one of his managers to disclose screenshots from a conversation between himself and representatives from Big Hit on the online forum Ilbe, which remain accessible to this day. These screenshots are said to contain direct admissions from CEO Lee regarding the manipulation of charts for BTS. Additionally, the author claims to possess more robust evidence including employee-accessible documents, such as an email from Big Hit requesting an invoice.

The author included a snapshot of the previously mentioned email, acknowledging its limitations as standalone evidence but encouraging readers to consider it as supplementary data that might validate their claims.

The revelations have stunned many netizens, sparking a wave of concern and reactions in the comments section. Here are some notable responses:

“I’m curious as to why you’re revealing this now… The company you mentioned was real.”
“Please disclose all the artists you collaborated with at that time.”
“HYBE has only engaged in plagiarism and deception, yet they maintain a haughty demeanor.”
“As expected, this company is utterly shameless.”
“Was BTS’s popularity really manipulated?”

As of this moment, HYBE has not issued any official comments addressing these serious allegations.

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