While HYBE has had significant successes with its girl groups, there have also been their fair share of tumultuous experiences that spark interest, as detailed below:
GLAM
GLAM was HYBE’s first girl group, having debuted under Big Hit Entertainment before it became HYBE and was co-managed by Source Music. The original GLAM lineup had 5 members and the group made their official debut in 2012.
In 2014, actor Lee Byung-hun reported to police that he was being blackmailed by two women, one of whom was Dahee, a member of the group GLAM. Following the investigation, the female idol received a two-year suspended sentence. Additionally, Big Hit Entertainment and Source Music officially disbanded the group, ending GLAM’s contract.
After the scandal that rocked the entertainment industry involving GLAM, and given the massive success of BTS, Big Hit focused entirely on boy groups. Additionally, the company also transferred its female trainees, including GFriend’s SinB and Eunha, to Source Music. Following the GLAM scandal, Big Hit no longer launched girl groups. Subsequently, HYBE acquired some subsidiaries and launched a few girl groups, but until now, Big Hit Music (now a subsidiary of HYBE) has not launched any female artists.
THE SSERAFIM
In 2022, LE SSERAFIM debuted under HYBE’s Source Music subsidiary. However, less than a month after their debut, member Kim Garam was at the center of controversy for his alleged involvement in accusations of being a school bully.
Many posts on online communities accused the female idol of being a bully during her school years, with allegations including bullying her peers, drinking and smoking while she was underage , etc. In response, Source Music claimed that Kim Garam was a victim, not an aggressor, and had even tried to protect her friend from school bullying. At the same time, the female idol temporarily suspended activities due to heavy public criticism.
The public did not believe Source Music’s claims and Garam eventually left LE SSERAFIM. It was only after his departure from LE SSERAFIM that Kim Garam finally spoke out about his own scandal. As a result, the accusations against Garam were primarily seen as a conflict between students rather than harassment. However, Garam and LE SSERAFIM suffered a serious setback for their image.
THE SSERAFIM have enjoyed significant success since then, but recently came under renewed public criticism due to their performance at Coachella 2024. In particular, due to their limited live vocal skills, THE SSERAFIM became the target of criticism, with different comments calling them “tune-deaf” (musically awkward), “not very talented”, “arrogant”, etc. Although THE SSERAFIM “redeemed” themselves somewhat during the second week of Coachella, the girl group still has a way to go before they can shed their untalented image.
NewJeans and ILLIT
Recently, HYBE’s girl groups NewJeans and ILLIT have been at the center of controversy, following accusations from Min Hee-jin, CEO of NewJeans’ agency ADOR, that ILLIT copied NewJeans.
At the same time, Min Hee-jin was also accused of stealing confidential information, trade secrets, and even leaking personal information of HYBE artists in order to arouse public criticism of HYBE . All with the aim of guaranteeing the independence of ADOR from HYBE. These actions sparked strong criticism of NewJeans and ILLIT, especially when Min Hee-jin mentioned other artists such as FIFTY FIFTY, RIIZE, TWS, and even BTS in her statements.
As a result, accusations aimed at NewJeans and ILLIT also began to emerge, with NewJeans being accused of copying a Japanese girl group and ILLIT’s poor encore performance being brought up again. It seems like every girl group that has debuted under HYBE has led to controversy and even detrimental consequences for the label. This raises questions about whether HYBE is truly cursed when it comes to girl groups.
What do you think?
