HYBE Issues Apology Amid Backlash For Conducting Body Searches At Fansign Event— K-Netizens Express Outrage At Company’s Response

Following backlash surrounding body searches conducted by security at &TEAM‘s offline fan meeting on July 8 in Seoul, Korea, which many fans in attendance felt were inappropriate and considered sexual harassment, HYBE released an official statement, apologizing to fans while explaining their security measures.

In the official statement released via HYBE’s Weverse Shop, they began by apologizing to fans who attended the fansign, and confirmed a female security guard was conducting body searches.

We apologize to the fans who were on the premises of the &TEAM fansign held July 8 where a female security guard was running body searches.

— HYBE

They then explained their safety protocol, detailing why they went to the lengths of conducting these searches.

We’ve always enforced strict rules against bringing in electronic devices to the fansigns, to prevent any audio or video recordings of the private one-on-one conversations between fans and artists from circulating online and potentially causing issues for the parties involved.

— HYBE

HYBE expressed that on the day of &TEAM’s fansign on July 8, “multiple” fans attempted to sneak electronic devices into the venue. Because of this, the company explained that they proceeded with using a female guard to conduct body searches.

On the 8th, however, we ran into multiple cases of fans trying to sneak in electronic devices by hiding them in parts of their bodies. Therefore, a female security guard was placed to run body searches.

— HYBE

HYBE apologized to the fans they offended while clarifying that the body searches were conducted with “good intentions.”

They acknowledged that their safety protocol caused concerns among fans and assured that they’d be exploring “contactless methods” for future events.

In this process, we’ve offended the fans who attended the event with good intentions. We understand that we should not have caused such concerns, even for the sake of safety. We apologize for what happened on site. We’ll look into implementing contactless methods to improve security so that everyone can fully enjoy their time with our artists.

— HYBE

Following the apology, Korean netizens took to a popular online community board to react to the statement, which many felt placed the blame back on the fans and did little to acknowledge the violation many LUNÉs (&TEAM fans) felt about being physically searched without consent.

As many fans who attended the fansign expressed they felt sexually harassed due to the extent of the search, netizens reacted with outrage at what they felt was a lacking apology without accountability.

• “What baffles me is that the apology is trying to blame the fans who are the victims in this situation. Also, HYBE should be the one apologizing. But they’re sneaking their way out of this. Anyway, this apology is sh*t. I don’t get why fans, who spend tons of money on their artists, need to put up with getting literally sexually harassed.”
• “What’s so bad about audio and video recording, though? It’s not like these conversations run hours long. I mean… You might as well give up on running fansigns at all if you can’t even handle the needs.”
• “Apologize for the lack of consent and for the excessiveness. What is this apology?”
• “I think the fans should just sue.”
• “And no mention of “HYBE” anywhere, of course… I wonder if they’ll be able to do the same kind of body searches during fansigns abroad.”
• “Please sue them.”
• “WTF? They keep blaming the fans and bringing up the whole audio recording thing… Must be because they know fans aren’t likely to sue and turn this into a whole legal issue. HYBE is so f*cked up for doing their fans dirty.”
• “I don’t even understand why body searches were needed in the first place. Whose idea was it? Literally insane.”
• “Sounds like crazy talk to me.”
• “Body searches? What the f*ck? Fans better teach them a lesson by taking them to court.”

Read the accounts of fans who attended the fansign below.

HYBE Under Fire For Alleged Sexual Harassment During Fan Undergarment Search Before Fansign Events