K-pop fans boycott Korean entertainment company HYBE Corporation spreading hashtags #HYBEDivestFromZionism and #HYBEOutWithZionism on social media. Twitter/X accounts such as @hybeboycotts, @ARMY4Palestine, and @CARAT4Palestine are posting information on how to boycott the K-pop entertainment company, raising donations to help people and families in Rafah, information regarding student protests in universities, and information from the Boycott Divestment Sanction (BDS) website.
Image courtesy: Twitter/X
Image courtesy: Twitter/X
Image courtesy: Twitter/X
Image courtesy: Twitter/X
On March 26, Universal Music Group announced a 10-year partnership deal with HYBE. In the deal, Universal has exclusive distribution rights to all of HYBE artists’ music, and artists under Universal are allowed access to Weverse, a mobile app known in the Kpop community for live fan-to-artist communication. It also provides content subscriptions, multimedia content, and selling artist-related merchandise. People were divided on the transaction; some favored it, some opposed it and others were unsure. Some people were fascinated by how Western musicians promoted themselves and found new fans in South Korea.
For example, American pop singer Max Schneider, well-known as MAX, often collaborates with multiple K-pop artists. He featured on BTS’s Suga’s album D-2 on the song “Burn It” in May 2020 and collaborated in September for MAX’s single, “Blueberry Eyes.” On February 9, MAX released “Stupid in Love” with Huh Yunjin of LE SSERAFIM.
There are significant differences between South Korea's and America's music scenes and celebrity culture. Although K-pop is becoming increasingly popular in recent years, it is still a less popular, niche genre compared to Latin music or Afrobeats.
One Redditor wrote, “What they are missing is the fact that people who like non-idol music LARGELY enjoy an artist for their music (Steve Lacy, Harry Styles, Lewis Capaldi, Wave to Earth, Dua Lipa). They are fans of the artist but not to the extent of K-pop stans. If an artist's music is bad the fans will say it and won’t listen which is the opposite of K-pop fans of the Big 4 who will listen to anything and sales pretty much go up no matter what.”
However, dissent of the 10-year deal is largely due to HYBE’s association with Scooter Braun. Scooter Braun, former manager to Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, and Ariana Grande, holds the CEO position of the HYBE America division. Braun showed his admiration of the Israeli nation on social media. From May 4 to 17, 2017, he posted on Instagram about his trip to Israel, highlighting his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
After October 7, 2023, Braun expressed his support of Israel and condemnation of Hamas on his social media accounts, interviewing (presumed) hostages’ family members, and clips of his interview with Noa Tishby. K-pop fans, primarily of HYBE artists, are calling for HYBE to remove Scooter Braun from its American subsidiary as well as divest from other Zionist entities.
Image Courtesy: Instagram
Image Courtesy: Instagram
Image Courtesy: Instagram
Image Courtesy: Instagram
Image Courtesy: Instagram
Editor- Ayantika Ghosh