I'm Boycotting Adore, Hybe and the rest of the k-pop industry
Idk what the most popular position over the current situation is, but this is mine.
i became a k-pop fan back in 2014, i was 14 year old then. Since then i have seen time and time again proof that the many k-pop agencies don't see their idols as people, but just as assets.
i saw how Jessica was kicked out of the most popular girl group at the time, snsd, without explanation or care for the many years she invested into that group. I saw and industry that failed to protect Sulli from F(x), Jonghyun from Shinee, and Goo Hara from KARA to the point that all 3 ended themselves. Go Eun-bi and Kwon Ri-sae from Ladies Code were victims of a car accident for reckless driving due to a tight schedule. I have seen many idols, mostly female, pass out performing live onstage due to exhaustion. Many idols have openly spoken about developing depression, anxiety and food eating disorders, extreme starving diets and public body-shaming on tv is normalized. Female idols being constantly sexualized by their own companies, including minors. Ignore or even hide instance when male established idol have use their fame to abuse women (Burning Sun). This are just the few examples at the top of my head, but i'm sure i'm forgetting a lot more, and there's probably more situations i was never aware of due to this type of violence (physical, psychological and economical) being so normalized in this industry.
So about the NewJeans situation. I think the NewJeans members are just workers, like you and me. Workers should have the right to decide if they want to work for a company or not. The fact that they are being force to stay on Adore is a offense on their rights as workers and as people. Whether they were misguided or manipulated or fully aware of what they were doing, it doesn't matter, their rights as people and workers are being ignored, that's reason enough to support them, lets have some class consciousness, as i assume most of you, like me, are working class.
To the argument that boycotting won't work as it did on the bbc/loona situation. I don't care if it doesn't work, i have being a kpop fan for more than 10 years and it feels like it hasn't change a bit. Im tired of supporting an industry that profits from sexualizing minors, abusing the very people(idols) that they make us love.
I will stop listening to kpop trough official channels (spotify oficial YT channel, etc.), and stop following official group accounts on social media.
Instead i will get the new content trough re-uploads on fan-sites, and listen to the music trough not official means iykwim.
This is my opinion, it makes me feel better with my own morality. I would encourage you to do the same, or at least to question your role as a consumer in this violent industry. Because it is a violent industry, they are being violent towards the idols we love.
Posted Jul 25, 2026, 11:34 PM UTC