On September 29 (KST), Hyein of NewJeans departed for Paris to attend Louis Vuitton’s Women’s Spring-Summer 2025 fashion show. Unlike other popular idols, her airport appearance was captured by only one media outlet, Newsen.
This low level of media attention raised eyebrows among netizens, especially when compared to BLACKPINK’s Jennie and (G)I-DLE’s Minnie, who left South Korea the same day and were photographed by multiple outlets. Jennie’s photos were taken by eight different media companies: Newsen, NEWSCULTURE, The Power News, TOPSTARNEWS, TVDaily, Herald Pop, Osen, MHNSports; while Minnie was captured by five: Newsen, TVDaily, Herald Pop, Osen, MHNSports.
The limited coverage of Hyein led some to speculate that HYBE, NewJeans’ agency, may have influenced the media’s cold reception, given the rumored tensions between the company and the NewJeans members.
Below are some comments from netizens:
“HYBE really gives me the creeps.”
“No, but what is HYBE…?”
“Legendary.”
“No matter how much I think about it, HYBE needs to go to the National Assembly for an audit. Their media control is f*cking concerning.”
“This is daebak.“
“HYBE’s media control wasn’t a lie. Wow.”
Source: Krb