BTS agency clarifies about ‘rumours of surreptitious chart manipulation’; talks about 'cyber wreckers'

Talking about previous cases, BigHit Music said that ‘multiple cases were forwarded to the prosecutor’s office’, and the ‘suspects are awaiting disposition’.

HYBE has shared a statement on the legal proceedings against those who are involved in malicious activities against their artists, including BTS, TXT, and SEVENTEEN, among others. As reported by Soompi, BTS agency BigHit Music, in its statement, also clarified that "there is no connection between" BTS and Body & Brain.

BTS members consist of Taehyung, Suga, Jin, Jungkook, RM, Jimin and J-Hope.

BTS' statement

The agency also said that the "rumours of surreptitious chart manipulation and unethical marketing are a product of fabrication and completely unconnected to the artist".

A part of the statement read, "We have filed several complaints with the investigative agency... we want to clarify once again that there is no connection between BIGHIT MUSIC and BTS and Body & Brain. Circulating rumours alleging the artist’s or the artist’s lyrics’ association with Body & Brain are fictitious. Upon discovering Body & Brain’s illegal use of BTS’s intellectual property rights, we promptly demanded the removal of the content in question and received a commitment to prevent any future occurrences."

BTS agency talks about ‘manipulation’

It also read, "Should similar issues arise in the future, we will take decisive legal action to uphold and protect the artists’ intellectual property rights in line with our principle. Likewise, in February, we communicated a cease and desist request to Global Cyber University to stop the unauthorized use of BTS’ intellectual property rights. We also want to make clear that rumours of surreptitious chart manipulation and unethical marketing are a product of fabrication and completely unconnected to the artist."

BigHit Music talks about ‘cyber wreckers’

It added, "Apart from the authors of the malicious posts, we are taking separate legal action against those who violated the artist’s privacy. We are also pursuing civil and criminal cases against so-called 'cyber wreckers', including the YouTube channel ‘Sojang'...An additional civil suit was filed earlier this year to seek damages for defamation and other illegal acts committed by ‘Sojang’ and is expected to go to trial soon. As for the previous complaints filed, multiple cases were forwarded to the prosecutor’s office, and the suspects are awaiting disposition. We will endeavour to make sure that the suspects are held accountable regardless of how long it may take."

TXT's statement

A part of TXT's statement read, "Notably, we have identified activities centred around online communities indicating a coordinated effort to spread false information in order to undermine the achievement that TOMORROW X TOGETHER has built with their fans and harm the artist’s reputation. As such, they have been included in our complaints. In addition, we are taking legal action against malicious posts about the artist regardless of the channel, be it social networking platforms or online communities."

Statements were also issued by agencies of NewJeans, SEVENTEEN, Fromis 9, Hwang Minhyun, Baekho, TWS and BoyNextDoor.