LONG BUT IMPORTANT THREAD: Music companies use hundreds of fake fan...
HYBE censors gay people@mariniste
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Aug 27, 2026
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LONG BUT IMPORTANT THREAD:
Music companies use hundreds of fake fan accounts to control public opinion. A former HYBE employee confirmed it, western PR firms admit it, and legal cases prove it.
▶️ Watch this fansign clip. The first option this "fan" reads is "I get paid by HYBE to run my account." Without listening to the other options, the idol confidently picks that statement as true.
Why? Because he knows that most "fan" accounts in HYBE fandoms are controlled by HYBE — as I show in this thread. 🧵
Music companies use hundreds of fake fan accounts to control public opinion. A former HYBE employee confirmed it, western PR firms admit it, and legal cases prove it.
▶️ Watch this fansign clip. The first option this "fan" reads is "I get paid by HYBE to run my account." Without listening to the other options, the idol confidently picks that statement as true.
Why? Because he knows that most "fan" accounts in HYBE fandoms are controlled by HYBE — as I show in this thread. 🧵
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⚠️ NOTE BEFORE YOU SCROLL ⚠️
If you got to my posts because another account linked them to mock me, you've already been told what to think before seeing any evidence. That's an intentional propaganda strategy.
Accounts paid by HYBE call me delusional, refuse to engage with my posts, and pretend the evidence doesn't exist. It's peer pressure designed to shut off your brain.
All I ask is that you look at the evidence with an open mind and decide for yourself.
If you got to my posts because another account linked them to mock me, you've already been told what to think before seeing any evidence. That's an intentional propaganda strategy.
Accounts paid by HYBE call me delusional, refuse to engage with my posts, and pretend the evidence doesn't exist. It's peer pressure designed to shut off your brain.
All I ask is that you look at the evidence with an open mind and decide for yourself.
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📍 Purpose of this thread:
To expose how companies like HYBE manipulate social media by hiring people to run accounts posing as ordinary fans. While everyone knows about bots, most people don't know how convincing fake fan accounts can look. It is deceptive marketing, illegal in many countries, and needs to be widely known.
I also want people to read my other threads with an open mind, without letting paid HYBE accounts dictate if my arguments are worth taking seriously.
📍 What this thread covers:
➤ How social media manipulation works (aka 'astroturfing').
➤ Documented evidence in the Korean music industry.
➤ Billboard and PR professionals confirming music labels use fake fan accounts.
➤ Proof that HYBE hires fake fans for fansigns and runs fake fan accounts online.
➤ Specific TXT fan accounts run by HYBE.
➤ HYBE's relationship with TAG PR, which runs online smear campaigns.
➤ How I identify paid HYBE accounts.
To expose how companies like HYBE manipulate social media by hiring people to run accounts posing as ordinary fans. While everyone knows about bots, most people don't know how convincing fake fan accounts can look. It is deceptive marketing, illegal in many countries, and needs to be widely known.
I also want people to read my other threads with an open mind, without letting paid HYBE accounts dictate if my arguments are worth taking seriously.
📍 What this thread covers:
➤ How social media manipulation works (aka 'astroturfing').
➤ Documented evidence in the Korean music industry.
➤ Billboard and PR professionals confirming music labels use fake fan accounts.
➤ Proof that HYBE hires fake fans for fansigns and runs fake fan accounts online.
➤ Specific TXT fan accounts run by HYBE.
➤ HYBE's relationship with TAG PR, which runs online smear campaigns.
➤ How I identify paid HYBE accounts.
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📍 Key definitions:
Astroturfing — When organizations manufacture the appearance of widespread support or backlash.
Astroposter/astroturfer — A real person paid to post content to manipulate public opinion. Real people can maintain convincing long-term personas; bots can't.
Sock puppet — A fake account run by someone with a separate online identity. One astroposter can run dozens of fake "fan" accounts.
UGC (user-generated content) — Content that looks fan-made rather than company-made. Companies prize it because it looks organic and trustworthy.
NDA — A contract prohibiting disclosure of confidential info. Fake fans hired by HYBE are under NDAs and will deny being paid. That's why specific paid accounts are hard to prove with certainty even when their behavior seems obvious.
Fandom engineering — When companies shape a fanbase's internal culture using fake fan accounts. They can dictate which opinions seem popular, what feels taboo, which ships get pushed, what fanworks get made, etc. Some paid accounts even write fanfics, post selfies and meet up with other fans.
Bot — An automated account. Inflates follower counts, floods comments, and algorithmically boosts posts. Most people know bots exist. What's less understood is that sophisticated astroturfing uses real humans roleplaying as ordinary fans.
Astroturfing — When organizations manufacture the appearance of widespread support or backlash.
Astroposter/astroturfer — A real person paid to post content to manipulate public opinion. Real people can maintain convincing long-term personas; bots can't.
Sock puppet — A fake account run by someone with a separate online identity. One astroposter can run dozens of fake "fan" accounts.
UGC (user-generated content) — Content that looks fan-made rather than company-made. Companies prize it because it looks organic and trustworthy.
NDA — A contract prohibiting disclosure of confidential info. Fake fans hired by HYBE are under NDAs and will deny being paid. That's why specific paid accounts are hard to prove with certainty even when their behavior seems obvious.
Fandom engineering — When companies shape a fanbase's internal culture using fake fan accounts. They can dictate which opinions seem popular, what feels taboo, which ships get pushed, what fanworks get made, etc. Some paid accounts even write fanfics, post selfies and meet up with other fans.
Bot — An automated account. Inflates follower counts, floods comments, and algorithmically boosts posts. Most people know bots exist. What's less understood is that sophisticated astroturfing uses real humans roleplaying as ordinary fans.
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📍 A senior writer at Billboard confirmed fake fan accounts are widespread:
💬 "Record labels are posing as fans online and creating fan pages to promote the artists they work with."
💬 "Although this might sound like a conspiracy theory to someone outside the music business, this is talked about very freely in music. I'd say it's the go-to digital marketing strategy. Almost every artist I've ever heard of in an album cycle within the last year has done it."
💬 Artist manager Jamie Skinner (worked with Zara Larsson and others) said: "Gathering UGC by hiring people to attend in-person events is essential for running fake fan accounts right now."
(UGC = content that looks fan-made)
💬 "Once the hired fans/micro-influencers provide their high res files from in-person events, the marketers start reposting it over and over on these fake fan pages."
Source: tiktok.com/@wordsbykristi…
‼️ This is also what HYBE does:
1. Hires fake fans to attend fansigns and record clips as UGC (as I show below).
2. Uses fake fan accounts to spread those clips online.
💬 "Record labels are posing as fans online and creating fan pages to promote the artists they work with."
💬 "Although this might sound like a conspiracy theory to someone outside the music business, this is talked about very freely in music. I'd say it's the go-to digital marketing strategy. Almost every artist I've ever heard of in an album cycle within the last year has done it."
💬 Artist manager Jamie Skinner (worked with Zara Larsson and others) said: "Gathering UGC by hiring people to attend in-person events is essential for running fake fan accounts right now."
(UGC = content that looks fan-made)
💬 "Once the hired fans/micro-influencers provide their high res files from in-person events, the marketers start reposting it over and over on these fake fan pages."
Source: tiktok.com/@wordsbykristi…
‼️ This is also what HYBE does:
1. Hires fake fans to attend fansigns and record clips as UGC (as I show below).
2. Uses fake fan accounts to spread those clips online.
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▶️ A PR agency for major global artists recently admitted to running thousands of fake fan accounts.
The marketing agency Chaotic Good explained their astroturfing in a Billboard interview. They use tons of iPhones to run thousands of fake accounts on TikTok, X, etc. Those fake accounts do stuff like "post 100 times saying 'that was the best performance of the year'" as soon as content releases.
Their clients include Justin Bieber, Sombr, Chappell Roan and Childish Gambino.
Quotes:
💬 CHAOTIC GOOD: "A big part of what we're doing is posting with enough volume across enough accounts with enough impressions to try to simulate the idea that the song is trending."
💬 BILLBOARD: "How do you run all these accounts? Do you just have a bunch of cell phones somewhere?"
💬 CHAOTIC GOOD: "Yeah, we have a large network of employees and contractors, and a lot of phones. We have a rep at Verizon (telecom provider); we're like a VIP customer. Our office is overrun with iPhones."
‼️ On controlling fandom discourse:
💬 "For most people, the first comment they see becomes their opinion, even when they haven't heard the whole album. Controlling the narrative is really important... So the second that content drops, you should post 100 times saying, 'That was the best performance of the year.'"
💬 "I view it as an arms race. One artist hires us and we run 20 pages for them; someone else will run 25... We've trained this army of people, and they've driven over 500 million views on TikTok."
(Note: That includes smaller artists. These PR agencies may be running hundreds of accounts for popular artists.)
__________
Chaotic Good had recent controversy for marketing the indie band Geese as an apparent "psy-op." After this was confirmed in viral articles in April 2026, the agency removed references to Geese and "narrative campaigns" from their website. That's the strategy where their employees pretend to be fans and post fake discourse online.
Articles:
1. billboard.com/pro/digital-ma…
2. wired.com/story/geese-ch…
3. wordsfromeliza.com/p/fake-fans
The marketing agency Chaotic Good explained their astroturfing in a Billboard interview. They use tons of iPhones to run thousands of fake accounts on TikTok, X, etc. Those fake accounts do stuff like "post 100 times saying 'that was the best performance of the year'" as soon as content releases.
Their clients include Justin Bieber, Sombr, Chappell Roan and Childish Gambino.
Quotes:
💬 CHAOTIC GOOD: "A big part of what we're doing is posting with enough volume across enough accounts with enough impressions to try to simulate the idea that the song is trending."
💬 BILLBOARD: "How do you run all these accounts? Do you just have a bunch of cell phones somewhere?"
💬 CHAOTIC GOOD: "Yeah, we have a large network of employees and contractors, and a lot of phones. We have a rep at Verizon (telecom provider); we're like a VIP customer. Our office is overrun with iPhones."
‼️ On controlling fandom discourse:
💬 "For most people, the first comment they see becomes their opinion, even when they haven't heard the whole album. Controlling the narrative is really important... So the second that content drops, you should post 100 times saying, 'That was the best performance of the year.'"
💬 "I view it as an arms race. One artist hires us and we run 20 pages for them; someone else will run 25... We've trained this army of people, and they've driven over 500 million views on TikTok."
(Note: That includes smaller artists. These PR agencies may be running hundreds of accounts for popular artists.)
__________
Chaotic Good had recent controversy for marketing the indie band Geese as an apparent "psy-op." After this was confirmed in viral articles in April 2026, the agency removed references to Geese and "narrative campaigns" from their website. That's the strategy where their employees pretend to be fans and post fake discourse online.
Articles:
1. billboard.com/pro/digital-ma…
2. wired.com/story/geese-ch…
3. wordsfromeliza.com/p/fake-fans
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▶️ Jesse Cannon, music marketer with 17 years in the industry, says hiring fake fan accounts is now widespread:
➤ Companies "throw some money to some cheap 20-year-old living in Nebraska" since they have low cost of living and can post all day.
➤ For bad press, companies "pay 20 to 60 accounts for a few hours a day" to create counternarratives.
➤ There's an "arms race" between labels to increase fake fan account networks to stage fanwars and insult each others' artists.
Video: youtube.com/watch?v=jEBoZL… ("How Major Labels MAKE YOU Talk About Their Artists: Fan Accounts & Astroturfing")
Quotes:
💬 "It could be a 2Hollis fan account called Too Horned Up for 2Hollis 24/7, and it posts every single time a fan catches Hollis serving a look. Or it may be one for Mk.gee called 'I Want Mk.gee' that reposts the little content he makes and news about him..."
"If you look at these accounts — which you can do by searching your favorite artist name with a stan, army, HQ, Crave, or Heads at the end — you're probably going to find someone running these types of accounts. Is that person a fan or being paid by a management company? You can't always tell easily."
💬 "Many times these accounts are making up lies they know will create conversations. Because let's just say, I may have been in the meeting where we came up with some topics your friends are discussing."
"It's easy to believe this is all being spread by a teenage girl in her bedroom... But the accounts paid by companies do an inauthentic behavior that takes off. And the next thing you know, we're all discussing the stupidest shit you've ever heard."
💬 "Labels love this because they can control the narrative around their artists. Internet sentiment can make or break a record. So a label may pay 20 to 60 accounts for a few hours a day of work to post about their artist, creating counternarratives when things go wrong."
💬 "Big artists don't want to post everything they do, like who they're dating or 50 clips from a 1-hour interview, because it feels cheesy. But a fan doing it just seems enthused. It creates an 'aura' around the artist and makes people care because of the praise heaped on them."
💬 "This is becoming an arms race for the labels over who can get their fake fan accounts more followers, since they're now using this psy-op shit to insult each other's artists. They need to make sure to have their own propaganda arms be long enough to dunk on each other."
➤ Companies "throw some money to some cheap 20-year-old living in Nebraska" since they have low cost of living and can post all day.
➤ For bad press, companies "pay 20 to 60 accounts for a few hours a day" to create counternarratives.
➤ There's an "arms race" between labels to increase fake fan account networks to stage fanwars and insult each others' artists.
Video: youtube.com/watch?v=jEBoZL… ("How Major Labels MAKE YOU Talk About Their Artists: Fan Accounts & Astroturfing")
Quotes:
💬 "It could be a 2Hollis fan account called Too Horned Up for 2Hollis 24/7, and it posts every single time a fan catches Hollis serving a look. Or it may be one for Mk.gee called 'I Want Mk.gee' that reposts the little content he makes and news about him..."
"If you look at these accounts — which you can do by searching your favorite artist name with a stan, army, HQ, Crave, or Heads at the end — you're probably going to find someone running these types of accounts. Is that person a fan or being paid by a management company? You can't always tell easily."
💬 "Many times these accounts are making up lies they know will create conversations. Because let's just say, I may have been in the meeting where we came up with some topics your friends are discussing."
"It's easy to believe this is all being spread by a teenage girl in her bedroom... But the accounts paid by companies do an inauthentic behavior that takes off. And the next thing you know, we're all discussing the stupidest shit you've ever heard."
💬 "Labels love this because they can control the narrative around their artists. Internet sentiment can make or break a record. So a label may pay 20 to 60 accounts for a few hours a day of work to post about their artist, creating counternarratives when things go wrong."
💬 "Big artists don't want to post everything they do, like who they're dating or 50 clips from a 1-hour interview, because it feels cheesy. But a fan doing it just seems enthused. It creates an 'aura' around the artist and makes people care because of the praise heaped on them."
💬 "This is becoming an arms race for the labels over who can get their fake fan accounts more followers, since they're now using this psy-op shit to insult each other's artists. They need to make sure to have their own propaganda arms be long enough to dunk on each other."
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‼️ Those astroturfing tactics match the strategy that made BTS popular.
Bang Sihyuk (HYBE's Chairman) on BTS in their first 2-3 years after debut:
💬 "I decided to use the 'famous for being famous' strategy. The strategy was to spread the idea of BTS's fame so even if people don't know BTS, they'll want to know them. We started planning this very early with our US staff."
💬 "By the time we reached LA, the vibe was: 'I don't really know why BTS got big. Honestly, I don't really know BTS — but apparently they're famous! So I should share this experience to seem trendy.'"
Video: youtube.com/watch?v=k6YP66… (You Quiz on the Block, Nov 1, 2023)
Staging fanwars and paying underemployed 20-year-olds to insult rival artists is clearly a tactic HYBE used from the start. BTS fans (aka ARMY) are notoriously aggressive.
BTS fans' cult-like behavior is perfectly explained by many of them being hired to run fake accounts and spread propaganda from the beginning.
Bang Sihyuk (HYBE's Chairman) on BTS in their first 2-3 years after debut:
💬 "I decided to use the 'famous for being famous' strategy. The strategy was to spread the idea of BTS's fame so even if people don't know BTS, they'll want to know them. We started planning this very early with our US staff."
💬 "By the time we reached LA, the vibe was: 'I don't really know why BTS got big. Honestly, I don't really know BTS — but apparently they're famous! So I should share this experience to seem trendy.'"
Video: youtube.com/watch?v=k6YP66… (You Quiz on the Block, Nov 1, 2023)
Staging fanwars and paying underemployed 20-year-olds to insult rival artists is clearly a tactic HYBE used from the start. BTS fans (aka ARMY) are notoriously aggressive.
BTS fans' cult-like behavior is perfectly explained by many of them being hired to run fake accounts and spread propaganda from the beginning.
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📍 Legal proof for Korean music industry astroturfing: the Kakao Entertainment case.
In March 2025, Korea's FTC fined Kakao Entertainment for doing undisclosed music promotions through fake fan accounts for over 8 years, with employees writing fan-style posts. Kakao is the biggest music distributor in Korea.
▶️ FTC findings:
• Kakao ran music channels/fanpages with 4.11 million combined followers on Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, etc.
• They made at least 2,353 promotional posts without disclosing their connection.
• Posts used casual language like "a song that appeared in my algorithm today" to look like personal recommendations.
• Kakao instructed employees to write fan-style posts on Korean online communities like TheQoo, Ppomppu, Instiz, etc.
• 860 million won was spent through 35 ad agencies for undisclosed social media posts.
💬 An FTC official said: "Music is strongly subject to bandwagon effects (where people's demand is influenced by others), word-of-mouth (success driven by public discussion), and fandom effects. Whether the author of a post is an ordinary consumer or advertiser has a significant influence on consumer choice, and concealing this fact is deception."
It amounts to fraud and is illegal in Korea and many other countries.
‼️ The FTC only punished behavior it knew about. Most companies doing astroturfing (like HYBE) try VERY hard to hide it from the public and government.
Article: yna.co.kr/view/AKR202503…
In March 2025, Korea's FTC fined Kakao Entertainment for doing undisclosed music promotions through fake fan accounts for over 8 years, with employees writing fan-style posts. Kakao is the biggest music distributor in Korea.
▶️ FTC findings:
• Kakao ran music channels/fanpages with 4.11 million combined followers on Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, etc.
• They made at least 2,353 promotional posts without disclosing their connection.
• Posts used casual language like "a song that appeared in my algorithm today" to look like personal recommendations.
• Kakao instructed employees to write fan-style posts on Korean online communities like TheQoo, Ppomppu, Instiz, etc.
• 860 million won was spent through 35 ad agencies for undisclosed social media posts.
💬 An FTC official said: "Music is strongly subject to bandwagon effects (where people's demand is influenced by others), word-of-mouth (success driven by public discussion), and fandom effects. Whether the author of a post is an ordinary consumer or advertiser has a significant influence on consumer choice, and concealing this fact is deception."
It amounts to fraud and is illegal in Korea and many other countries.
‼️ The FTC only punished behavior it knew about. Most companies doing astroturfing (like HYBE) try VERY hard to hide it from the public and government.
Article: yna.co.kr/view/AKR202503…
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📍 HYBE's cheap astroturfing can be easy to spot. They utilize this for one-time events and specific PR campaigns, using accounts not deeply embedded in fandoms.
▶️ Before BTS's Gwanghwamun concert, multiple paid accounts posted pro-BTS propaganda too early.
In the first example, Yang Henry (@.yanghr103) praised the concert as having "concluded perfectly without any incidents" — three days BEFORE the concert (scheduled for March 21 at 8pm KST).
Professional's explanation:
💬 "When something goes viral, the company prepares multiple phrases in advance and distributes them to part-timers. People who don't know how things work or are too lazy just copy-paste the sample phrases without checking the date. That's exactly what happened here."
__________
This sloppy astroturfing is likely done by PR agency subcontractors. The stakes are lower, so workers can be careless.
In comparison, fake fan accounts deeply embedded in idol fandoms are more sophisticated and controlled. They almost never give themselves away. To fool long-time fans, they also need stable, deep knowledge of specific idols.
That's why dedicated "fan" accounts like the TXT ones I show below are likely managed directly by HYBE's internal PR department rather than PR agencies. It would give HYBE tighter control over each group's fandom culture.
▶️ Before BTS's Gwanghwamun concert, multiple paid accounts posted pro-BTS propaganda too early.
In the first example, Yang Henry (@.yanghr103) praised the concert as having "concluded perfectly without any incidents" — three days BEFORE the concert (scheduled for March 21 at 8pm KST).
Professional's explanation:
💬 "When something goes viral, the company prepares multiple phrases in advance and distributes them to part-timers. People who don't know how things work or are too lazy just copy-paste the sample phrases without checking the date. That's exactly what happened here."
__________
This sloppy astroturfing is likely done by PR agency subcontractors. The stakes are lower, so workers can be careless.
In comparison, fake fan accounts deeply embedded in idol fandoms are more sophisticated and controlled. They almost never give themselves away. To fool long-time fans, they also need stable, deep knowledge of specific idols.
That's why dedicated "fan" accounts like the TXT ones I show below are likely managed directly by HYBE's internal PR department rather than PR agencies. It would give HYBE tighter control over each group's fandom culture.
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📍 Former HYBE Production Director Kim Seoyeon revealed that k-pop staff pretend to be ordinary fans and follow real fans' private accounts.
Quotes from this former HYBE employee:
💬 "K-pop artists and entertainment staff are looking at all of your private accounts and fandom accounts on Twitter. There's a reason your search-blocking tactics don't work."
💬 "For Twitter, a staff member creates a fan account, pretends to be a fan of that idol, does Twitter activities, and follows all the other fan accounts. So they can just check their following timeline and see everything."
💬 "Whether you post without naming anyone or block searches — none of that matters. They see all of it. I probably shouldn't be telling you this..."
Video: youtube.com/watch?v=hJKDIW… (Q&A, April 22, 2026)
This former HYBE PD was asked about how staff "monitor" online trends — yet she revealed that staff actively pretend to be fans, do fandom Twitter activities, and follow fans' private accounts.
Normal people only let others follow our private accounts if those people engage with us and seem trustworthy.
‼️ That means HYBE staff accounts must look indistinguishable from real fans.
Quotes from this former HYBE employee:
💬 "K-pop artists and entertainment staff are looking at all of your private accounts and fandom accounts on Twitter. There's a reason your search-blocking tactics don't work."
💬 "For Twitter, a staff member creates a fan account, pretends to be a fan of that idol, does Twitter activities, and follows all the other fan accounts. So they can just check their following timeline and see everything."
💬 "Whether you post without naming anyone or block searches — none of that matters. They see all of it. I probably shouldn't be telling you this..."
Video: youtube.com/watch?v=hJKDIW… (Q&A, April 22, 2026)
This former HYBE PD was asked about how staff "monitor" online trends — yet she revealed that staff actively pretend to be fans, do fandom Twitter activities, and follow fans' private accounts.
Normal people only let others follow our private accounts if those people engage with us and seem trustworthy.
‼️ That means HYBE staff accounts must look indistinguishable from real fans.
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📍 Fansigns are filled with hired fake fans who run social media accounts spreading scripted PR content.
▶️ As reported by the media, a fansite for AHOF revealed in March 2026:
💬 "Nowadays, there are very few genuine fans attending fan sign events. Most of the attendees are people hired by the company to pretend to be fans."
💬 "Many of those who initially participated as paid 'fake fans' end up developing an interest in certain members, and continue to attend sign events without spending money by relying on certain connections. This has been happening for a long time."
Article: koreaboo.com/news/fansite-e…
📍 Why companies hire fake fans for fansigns:
➤ To create PR material that looks like genuine UGC (fan-made content). For example, companies can post scripted flirty idol-fan interactions as marketing material. Companies can also spread PR narratives through fake UGC, since idols seem more genuine in "spontaneous" fan interactions than if they said it in official content.
➤ To manufacture consumer demand. Fansign spots can cost thousands of dollars. Hired fake fans run accounts for years, attend events regularly, and share their clips. This normalizes extreme spending for real fans.
➤ To squeeze more money from real fans. Companies cut real fans from fansigns to make them spend more next time, and fill the spots with fake fans.
▶️ As Koreaboo reported in Nov 2025 about manipulated fansigns:
💬 "If 30 winners are chosen, they have to line up 30 people, but the agency creates its own standard and eliminates any fans who bought less than that amount, because they assume those eliminated will buy more albums at the next fan sign."
💬 "Agencies sometimes hire part-timers to act as fake fans to compensate for the empty seats."
Article: koreaboo.com/news/dkb-fan-s…
▶️ As reported by the media, a fansite for AHOF revealed in March 2026:
💬 "Nowadays, there are very few genuine fans attending fan sign events. Most of the attendees are people hired by the company to pretend to be fans."
💬 "Many of those who initially participated as paid 'fake fans' end up developing an interest in certain members, and continue to attend sign events without spending money by relying on certain connections. This has been happening for a long time."
Article: koreaboo.com/news/fansite-e…
📍 Why companies hire fake fans for fansigns:
➤ To create PR material that looks like genuine UGC (fan-made content). For example, companies can post scripted flirty idol-fan interactions as marketing material. Companies can also spread PR narratives through fake UGC, since idols seem more genuine in "spontaneous" fan interactions than if they said it in official content.
➤ To manufacture consumer demand. Fansign spots can cost thousands of dollars. Hired fake fans run accounts for years, attend events regularly, and share their clips. This normalizes extreme spending for real fans.
➤ To squeeze more money from real fans. Companies cut real fans from fansigns to make them spend more next time, and fill the spots with fake fans.
▶️ As Koreaboo reported in Nov 2025 about manipulated fansigns:
💬 "If 30 winners are chosen, they have to line up 30 people, but the agency creates its own standard and eliminates any fans who bought less than that amount, because they assume those eliminated will buy more albums at the next fan sign."
💬 "Agencies sometimes hire part-timers to act as fake fans to compensate for the empty seats."
Article: koreaboo.com/news/dkb-fan-s…
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📍 TXT's recent fansign clips referencing "fake fans hired by BigHit/HYBE" prove the accounts that posted them work for HYBE.
Six suspicious interactions occurred across two fansign events on April 15 and April 20, 2026. In all six, members were asked to evaluate if the "fan" was paid by HYBE.
▶️ What indicates they were scripted:
🔹 Members' reactions show they knew they were likely interacting with hired fake fans — see next posts.
🔹 All six involved different accounts with long histories posting TXT content and attending fan events, with their UGC being reposted widely.
🔹 Each used the same format with a "fake fan hired by BigHit/HYBE" option. The format has been used with other idols recently (e.g. Yoonchae of KATSEYE, Ni-ki of ENHYPEN), but it isn't popular enough to explain why 6 different TXT fans asked it across 2 events.
🔹 All six clustered around only 2 out of 7 fansign events during TXT's comeback.
‼️ The timing of these fansigns is too suspicious to be a coincidence:
- 6 "fans" came with similar scripted questions to 2 specific events
- There were NO such questions posted from the other 5 events
- Both of Yeonjun's happened on 4/15, both of Beomgyu's on 4/20, with Taehyun's and Kai's split on 4/15 and 4/20 — so 3 interactions per event, with Yeonjun's both on 4/15 and Beomgyu's both on 4/20.
These fansign interactions being pre-planned and scheduled is the only believable explanation for that timing.
These "fans" deny being paid in their posts, but those denials carry no weight. They would all be under NDAs. The actual evidence is the members' reactions, the timing of the interactions and the coordination across 6 different accounts.
(You can search and correct me if you find a clip from another TXT event. Attached is a screenshot from @.txt_book listing the offline fansigns. But note that clips posted after this thread aren't good counter-evidence, since HYBE staff read my posts and try to muddy the evidence.)
Six suspicious interactions occurred across two fansign events on April 15 and April 20, 2026. In all six, members were asked to evaluate if the "fan" was paid by HYBE.
▶️ What indicates they were scripted:
🔹 Members' reactions show they knew they were likely interacting with hired fake fans — see next posts.
🔹 All six involved different accounts with long histories posting TXT content and attending fan events, with their UGC being reposted widely.
🔹 Each used the same format with a "fake fan hired by BigHit/HYBE" option. The format has been used with other idols recently (e.g. Yoonchae of KATSEYE, Ni-ki of ENHYPEN), but it isn't popular enough to explain why 6 different TXT fans asked it across 2 events.
🔹 All six clustered around only 2 out of 7 fansign events during TXT's comeback.
‼️ The timing of these fansigns is too suspicious to be a coincidence:
- 6 "fans" came with similar scripted questions to 2 specific events
- There were NO such questions posted from the other 5 events
- Both of Yeonjun's happened on 4/15, both of Beomgyu's on 4/20, with Taehyun's and Kai's split on 4/15 and 4/20 — so 3 interactions per event, with Yeonjun's both on 4/15 and Beomgyu's both on 4/20.
These fansign interactions being pre-planned and scheduled is the only believable explanation for that timing.
These "fans" deny being paid in their posts, but those denials carry no weight. They would all be under NDAs. The actual evidence is the members' reactions, the timing of the interactions and the coordination across 6 different accounts.
(You can search and correct me if you find a clip from another TXT event. Attached is a screenshot from @.txt_book listing the offline fansigns. But note that clips posted after this thread aren't good counter-evidence, since HYBE staff read my posts and try to muddy the evidence.)
14
Beomgyu × @.beomzzi (260420 Weverse Fansign)
👤 Beomgyu, one of these four options is true. Guess which one.
🧸 Okay.
👤 1. I get paid by HYBE to run my account.
🧸 Number 1!
(He didn't even listen to the other options.)
👤 2. My favorite isn't Beomgyu, but Soobin.
👤 3. Everything I say to Beomgyu was written by ChatGPT.
👤 4. I simultaneously like other idols.
🧸 I don't want to pick... They're all bad...
🧸 It's Number 1! I'll pick Number 1 anyway!
Beomgyu immediately picked "I get paid by HYBE to run my account" and stuck with it after hearing every alternative. Options 2 and 4 would seem more plausible to most people, but he picked Option 1 without even hearing how plausible the other options were.
He would only react that way if he already knew @.beomzzi is paid by HYBE.
Skim of her profile is attached. Her account is highly active posting official TXT content and fan event videos, as you'd expect from a hired fan account.
👤 Beomgyu, one of these four options is true. Guess which one.
🧸 Okay.
👤 1. I get paid by HYBE to run my account.
🧸 Number 1!
(He didn't even listen to the other options.)
👤 2. My favorite isn't Beomgyu, but Soobin.
👤 3. Everything I say to Beomgyu was written by ChatGPT.
👤 4. I simultaneously like other idols.
🧸 I don't want to pick... They're all bad...
🧸 It's Number 1! I'll pick Number 1 anyway!
Beomgyu immediately picked "I get paid by HYBE to run my account" and stuck with it after hearing every alternative. Options 2 and 4 would seem more plausible to most people, but he picked Option 1 without even hearing how plausible the other options were.
He would only react that way if he already knew @.beomzzi is paid by HYBE.
Skim of her profile is attached. Her account is highly active posting official TXT content and fan event videos, as you'd expect from a hired fan account.
15
Beomgyu × @.bg_memoriz (260420 Weverse Fansign)
Options:
1. I'm actually a fake fan hired by BigHit.
2. My bias actually isn't Beomgyu.
3. During performances, I only look at the other members.
4. Everything I said to Beomgyu was written by ChatGPT.
💬 Caption: "Beomgyu ranked them 2-4-3-1, so option 1 came in last. He was shocked by number 4, but the fact that he chose number 2 is so cute."
‼️ Beomgyu ranked "fake fan hired by BigHit" as the LEAST upsetting option, but was shocked by the idea of ChatGPT-written messages. This lines up with him picking the "hired fake fan" option as the only "true" statement with @.beomzzi.
Beomgyu seems to already know he's interacting with fake fans.
@.bg_memoriz's profile shows the same pattern: consistent fan event content for years.
Options:
1. I'm actually a fake fan hired by BigHit.
2. My bias actually isn't Beomgyu.
3. During performances, I only look at the other members.
4. Everything I said to Beomgyu was written by ChatGPT.
💬 Caption: "Beomgyu ranked them 2-4-3-1, so option 1 came in last. He was shocked by number 4, but the fact that he chose number 2 is so cute."
‼️ Beomgyu ranked "fake fan hired by BigHit" as the LEAST upsetting option, but was shocked by the idea of ChatGPT-written messages. This lines up with him picking the "hired fake fan" option as the only "true" statement with @.beomzzi.
Beomgyu seems to already know he's interacting with fake fans.
@.bg_memoriz's profile shows the same pattern: consistent fan event content for years.
16
Yeonjun × @.190111ing (260415 BDM Fansign)
👤 Pick which thing would upset Yeonjun the most.
👤 1. The things I said were all made by ChatGPT.
🦊 Ah, I don't care.
👤 2. I applied for another male idol's fansign.
🦊 This one.
👤 3. It turns out I was a fake fan hired by BigHit.
(Caption added over Yeonjun's reaction: "Is this one kind of ambiguous/tricky?")
👤 4. My bias was actually Taehyun. I've been acting this whole time.
🦊 Ah, number 2, number 2.
👤 5. Today is my last fansign.
🦊 Still, number 2.
👤 Why?
🦊 It's better to like our maknae Taehyun than some other male idol.
🦊 And... (*pointing at "fake fan hired by BigHit"*) Even if you were fake, I still had fun!
‼️ Two things stand out. First, the fan's own caption described the fake fan option as potentially "ambiguous/tricky," which is strange phrasing if she's a genuine fan and Yeonjun had no reason to suspect her of being hired.
Second, Yeonjun's response ("Even if you were fake, I still had fun") reads naturally if he already knows she's paid, and reads oddly if the option is supposed to be implausible.
Either way, the option didn't surprise him. Like Beomgyu, Yeonjun already knows he's interacting with fake fans.
👤 Pick which thing would upset Yeonjun the most.
👤 1. The things I said were all made by ChatGPT.
🦊 Ah, I don't care.
👤 2. I applied for another male idol's fansign.
🦊 This one.
👤 3. It turns out I was a fake fan hired by BigHit.
(Caption added over Yeonjun's reaction: "Is this one kind of ambiguous/tricky?")
👤 4. My bias was actually Taehyun. I've been acting this whole time.
🦊 Ah, number 2, number 2.
👤 5. Today is my last fansign.
🦊 Still, number 2.
👤 Why?
🦊 It's better to like our maknae Taehyun than some other male idol.
🦊 And... (*pointing at "fake fan hired by BigHit"*) Even if you were fake, I still had fun!
‼️ Two things stand out. First, the fan's own caption described the fake fan option as potentially "ambiguous/tricky," which is strange phrasing if she's a genuine fan and Yeonjun had no reason to suspect her of being hired.
Second, Yeonjun's response ("Even if you were fake, I still had fun") reads naturally if he already knows she's paid, and reads oddly if the option is supposed to be implausible.
Either way, the option didn't surprise him. Like Beomgyu, Yeonjun already knows he's interacting with fake fans.
17
Yeonjun × @.b1uefffox (260415 BDM Fansign)
Options:
1. I'm a fake fan hired by HYBE.
2. Everything I've said to Yeonjun was written with ChatGPT.
3. Someone other than Yeonjun is my bias.
4. I go to another concert instead of his solo music show performance.
💬 Caption: "Yeonjun said number 4 would be the most upsetting, then 3, then 1."
‼️ Same pattern here: "Fake fan hired by HYBE" ranked as less upsetting than skipping his music show. The average person would find skipping to attend another concert more plausible and easier to accept than being a hired fake fan.
Based on how he reacted to @.190111ing ("Even if you were fake, I still had fun!"), Yeonjun clearly already knows many of his "fans" are hired by HYBE.
Options:
1. I'm a fake fan hired by HYBE.
2. Everything I've said to Yeonjun was written with ChatGPT.
3. Someone other than Yeonjun is my bias.
4. I go to another concert instead of his solo music show performance.
💬 Caption: "Yeonjun said number 4 would be the most upsetting, then 3, then 1."
‼️ Same pattern here: "Fake fan hired by HYBE" ranked as less upsetting than skipping his music show. The average person would find skipping to attend another concert more plausible and easier to accept than being a hired fake fan.
Based on how he reacted to @.190111ing ("Even if you were fake, I still had fun!"), Yeonjun clearly already knows many of his "fans" are hired by HYBE.
18
Taehyun × @.ktaehyun0205 (260415 BDM Fansign)
👤 Which would upset you more?
👤 1. I accidentally call Taehyun "Kai."
👤 2. I am actually a fake fan hired by BigHit.
👤 3. It turns out Taehyun isn't my bias.
🐿️ If it's number 2, I'll sue the company... I'm assembling a legal team.
‼️ Taehyun's the only member who singled out the fake fan option as negative — but he aimed his response at HYBE specifically ("I'll sue the company"). Possibly hinting at his real feelings about an unethical practice he knows is happening.
After all, if Beomgyu and Yeonjun know about it, then it'd be strange for Taehyun to be unaware.
👤 Which would upset you more?
👤 1. I accidentally call Taehyun "Kai."
👤 2. I am actually a fake fan hired by BigHit.
👤 3. It turns out Taehyun isn't my bias.
🐿️ If it's number 2, I'll sue the company... I'm assembling a legal team.
‼️ Taehyun's the only member who singled out the fake fan option as negative — but he aimed his response at HYBE specifically ("I'll sue the company"). Possibly hinting at his real feelings about an unethical practice he knows is happening.
After all, if Beomgyu and Yeonjun know about it, then it'd be strange for Taehyun to be unaware.
19
Kai × @.dear_huening (260420 Weverse Fansign)
👤 Pick what would upset you most.
👤 1. During a performance, I never look at Kai and only film the other members.
👤 2. Actually, I'm a "showcase fan" hired by BigHit. I'm a fake fan. Everything until now was fake.
👤 3. Everything I've done for Kai, I've done the same for someone else — and that person is my actual bias.
🐧 Isn't it obviously number 3?
👤 Ah, why?
🐧 I'd feel jealous... It would feel strange. I'd be thinking like, "Was it all a lie? Everything until now?"
👤 But number 2 is also fake, I'm a fake fan.
🐧 Ah, that's true. After hearing number 2 I thought "that's the worst..?" but number 3 really hit home.
‼️ Like Yeonjun, Kai ranked "I'm a hired fake fan" as less upsetting than "secretly biases another idol." The members aren't shocked or particularly upset by the idea they're talking to fake fans hired by the company — they already know and accept it's a common practice.
Note the use of the term "showcase fan" here (쇼윈도팬, literally "show window fan"; like a product displayed in a store window). This points to the role of these fake fans in marketing fansigns by performing scripted interactions spread as UGC.
👤 Pick what would upset you most.
👤 1. During a performance, I never look at Kai and only film the other members.
👤 2. Actually, I'm a "showcase fan" hired by BigHit. I'm a fake fan. Everything until now was fake.
👤 3. Everything I've done for Kai, I've done the same for someone else — and that person is my actual bias.
🐧 Isn't it obviously number 3?
👤 Ah, why?
🐧 I'd feel jealous... It would feel strange. I'd be thinking like, "Was it all a lie? Everything until now?"
👤 But number 2 is also fake, I'm a fake fan.
🐧 Ah, that's true. After hearing number 2 I thought "that's the worst..?" but number 3 really hit home.
‼️ Like Yeonjun, Kai ranked "I'm a hired fake fan" as less upsetting than "secretly biases another idol." The members aren't shocked or particularly upset by the idea they're talking to fake fans hired by the company — they already know and accept it's a common practice.
Note the use of the term "showcase fan" here (쇼윈도팬, literally "show window fan"; like a product displayed in a store window). This points to the role of these fake fans in marketing fansigns by performing scripted interactions spread as UGC.
20
📍 SUMMARY OF THESE FANSIGNS:
Proof these 6 accounts are run by hired fake fans:
1. The members' unsurprised reactions (and Beomgyu picking it as a true statement).
2. The suspicious timing, which indicates coordination with all 6 accounts.
Proof these 6 accounts are run by hired fake fans:
1. The members' unsurprised reactions (and Beomgyu picking it as a true statement).
2. The suspicious timing, which indicates coordination with all 6 accounts.
21
📍 Two QR code incidents provide evidence that TXT "fan" accounts get content directly from HYBE.
INCIDENT #1:
Soobin shared photobooth pics over Weverse DMs on Feb 25, 2026. The pics had a blurry QR code in the corner that seems impossible to scan, even with image correction tools.
Within an hour, @.yenntxt shared the video at the QR code link without explaining how she got it. Then @.hourlyyeonbin posted a clear, scannable version of the QR code itself.
I tried recovering a usable QR code with multiple correction techniques and scanners. I had no success. If anyone can scan the original, let me know. Until then, my position is that producing a usable QR code from that public image is physically impossible.
INCIDENT #1:
Soobin shared photobooth pics over Weverse DMs on Feb 25, 2026. The pics had a blurry QR code in the corner that seems impossible to scan, even with image correction tools.
Within an hour, @.yenntxt shared the video at the QR code link without explaining how she got it. Then @.hourlyyeonbin posted a clear, scannable version of the QR code itself.
I tried recovering a usable QR code with multiple correction techniques and scanners. I had no success. If anyone can scan the original, let me know. Until then, my position is that producing a usable QR code from that public image is physically impossible.
22
INCIDENT #2:
A TXT fan account supposedly scanned the QR code from the No Labels photobooth pic Taehyun shared over Weverse on Nov 5, 2025. This QR code is even blurrier. I didn't bother trying to clean it up.
Full resolution crop attached. Judge for yourself.
A TXT fan account supposedly scanned the QR code from the No Labels photobooth pic Taehyun shared over Weverse on Nov 5, 2025. This QR code is even blurrier. I didn't bother trying to clean it up.
Full resolution crop attached. Judge for yourself.
23
‼️ These TXT accounts shared content despite the QR codes being unreadable from the public images. This indicates they got the links directly from HYBE.
The "behind-the-scenes" framing for the videos was also perfect PR material. These "fans" accessed content the idols didn't share directly, which made it feel like an "interactive, fan-obtained secret."
@.hourlyyeonbin's QR code post got 34 million views, which is very high visibility for TXT content. HYBE's PR tactic clearly worked.
Both @.yenntxt and @.hourlyyeonbin are highly active TXT content accounts that consistently post UGC. Their profiles look exactly like what you'd expect from staff paid to market official content.
The "behind-the-scenes" framing for the videos was also perfect PR material. These "fans" accessed content the idols didn't share directly, which made it feel like an "interactive, fan-obtained secret."
@.hourlyyeonbin's QR code post got 34 million views, which is very high visibility for TXT content. HYBE's PR tactic clearly worked.
Both @.yenntxt and @.hourlyyeonbin are highly active TXT content accounts that consistently post UGC. Their profiles look exactly like what you'd expect from staff paid to market official content.
24
Some of you may be wondering, why would TXT accounts provide evidence they work for HYBE? Why would they script obviously suspicious fansigns or share content from impossibly blurry QR codes?
The reason is that TXT members, other idols, and friendly HYBE staff have been working to expose HYBE's deceptive practices and astroturfing.
If you research this topic, you'll see that evidence of fake fans at fansigns only started surfacing around Sept/Nov 2025. The question format including "I'm a fake fan hired by the company" started trending from Sept 2025.
That timing is significant, because I got widely cancelled by TXT "fan" accounts in August 2025 when I asserted Soobin staged a fancall with a hired fan, and that many TXT "fan" accounts get paid by HYBE (). Everyone claimed that hired fans asking scripted questions at fancalls was impossible. That's because no public evidence for it existed in August 2025.
Starting in Sept 2025, TXT and friendly staff collaborated with industry insiders to create publicly available evidence that fake fans are hired to attend fansigns and ask scripted questions. The popularized question format including "I'm a fake hired fan" also gave TXT members plausible deniability to script their own suspiciously-timed fansigns as evidence in April 2026.
I think it's important to share this context, since otherwise it might seem strange why HYBE would stage suspicious fansigns or let paid accounts expose themselves via QR codes. The reason is because some HYBE idols and staff are trying to help me expose this.
I know it might sound unbelievable. You can check my pinned post for more details. All I ask is that you assess the evidence with an open mind.
The reason is that TXT members, other idols, and friendly HYBE staff have been working to expose HYBE's deceptive practices and astroturfing.
If you research this topic, you'll see that evidence of fake fans at fansigns only started surfacing around Sept/Nov 2025. The question format including "I'm a fake fan hired by the company" started trending from Sept 2025.
That timing is significant, because I got widely cancelled by TXT "fan" accounts in August 2025 when I asserted Soobin staged a fancall with a hired fan, and that many TXT "fan" accounts get paid by HYBE (). Everyone claimed that hired fans asking scripted questions at fancalls was impossible. That's because no public evidence for it existed in August 2025.
Starting in Sept 2025, TXT and friendly staff collaborated with industry insiders to create publicly available evidence that fake fans are hired to attend fansigns and ask scripted questions. The popularized question format including "I'm a fake hired fan" also gave TXT members plausible deniability to script their own suspiciously-timed fansigns as evidence in April 2026.
I think it's important to share this context, since otherwise it might seem strange why HYBE would stage suspicious fansigns or let paid accounts expose themselves via QR codes. The reason is because some HYBE idols and staff are trying to help me expose this.
I know it might sound unbelievable. You can check my pinned post for more details. All I ask is that you assess the evidence with an open mind.
HYBE censors gay people@mariniste
3️⃣ TXT's first attempt at validating my explanations failed, and Kai's scandal is a substitute way to give me credibility.
CONTEXT FOR MY SOOBIN "SEXUAL HARASSMENT" FANCALL THREAD:
TXT were censored from releasing HELLO STRANGERS Ep.3, likely because I had been posting about its existence. Thus, TXT's initial backup/redundancy plan for revealing the conspiracy was to validate my explanations of the conspiracy.
______
TXT's plan was to:
1. Create a fandom uproar over Soobin's supposed "sexual harassment" fancall.
2. Have me post a thread arguing that Soobin wasn't actually sexually harassed, because he scripted that fancall and told the fan to ask him about the "bottom Yeonjun sex tape" as part of TXT's plan to reveal the YeonBin conspiracy.
3. Make my thread get reverse viral treatment as people condemned me for being insane and delusional.
4. Afterwards, publicly upload what is likely to have been an actual YeonBin sex tape.
This would have revealed the existence of YeonBin's relationship and also confirmed my explanation of the conspiracy.
_____
I posted my thread about Soobin's fancall on my old account (@.atlemise) in August 2025. You may have seen me get cancelled over it by TXT fandom accounts, most of which are actually run by HYBE employees and contractors.
Unfortunately, HYBE blocked the release of the content that was meant to validate me.
That meant TXT had to come up with yet another backup plan to reveal the YeonBin conspiracy.
Side note about the blocked content:
My understanding is that HYBE pressures idols to sell sex tapes to ultra wealthy fans/"sponsors" to make money, and one or more YeonBin sex tapes were sold and circulated among Chinese fans. If a sex tape were uploaded, the responsibility for its release could be dispersed among a larger group of people. This would give some plausible deniability to TXT members. I believe that had been the original idea, but the content's release was still blocked at the last minute.
CONTEXT FOR MY SOOBIN "SEXUAL HARASSMENT" FANCALL THREAD:
TXT were censored from releasing HELLO STRANGERS Ep.3, likely because I had been posting about its existence. Thus, TXT's initial backup/redundancy plan for revealing the conspiracy was to validate my explanations of the conspiracy.
______
TXT's plan was to:
1. Create a fandom uproar over Soobin's supposed "sexual harassment" fancall.
2. Have me post a thread arguing that Soobin wasn't actually sexually harassed, because he scripted that fancall and told the fan to ask him about the "bottom Yeonjun sex tape" as part of TXT's plan to reveal the YeonBin conspiracy.
3. Make my thread get reverse viral treatment as people condemned me for being insane and delusional.
4. Afterwards, publicly upload what is likely to have been an actual YeonBin sex tape.
This would have revealed the existence of YeonBin's relationship and also confirmed my explanation of the conspiracy.
_____
I posted my thread about Soobin's fancall on my old account (@.atlemise) in August 2025. You may have seen me get cancelled over it by TXT fandom accounts, most of which are actually run by HYBE employees and contractors.
Unfortunately, HYBE blocked the release of the content that was meant to validate me.
That meant TXT had to come up with yet another backup plan to reveal the YeonBin conspiracy.
Side note about the blocked content:
My understanding is that HYBE pressures idols to sell sex tapes to ultra wealthy fans/"sponsors" to make money, and one or more YeonBin sex tapes were sold and circulated among Chinese fans. If a sex tape were uploaded, the responsibility for its release could be dispersed among a larger group of people. This would give some plausible deniability to TXT members. I believe that had been the original idea, but the content's release was still blocked at the last minute.
25
📍 More legal proof of HYBE's astroturfing — their PR agency.
The Agency Group (TAG PR) is at the center of multiple lawsuits alleging coordinated online smear campaigns. Court documents show TAG PR uses sock puppets and bots to manipulate opinions on Reddit, X, and other platforms. They create fake untraceable accounts, post threads pushing client narratives, and amplify them with bots.
TAG PR was owned by HYBE and is alleged in US court documents to have run a smear campaign against Min Heejin, tied to HYBE's legal battle with her and NewJeans.
‼️ This connection shows HYBE's business model has deeply relied on astroturfing and online smear campaigns for years.
▶️ Proof HYBE used TAG PR against Min Heejin:
➤ Evidence comes from US court documents filed Dec 2025 by Stephanie Jones (Jonesworks PR) against TAG PR. Min Heejin was one of seven named victims.
➤ Korean media reported HYBE activated TAG PR shortly after NewJeans members held a Sept 11, 2024 livestream demanding her reinstatement.
➤ Billboard's Jeff Benjamin emailed HYBE for comment after the livestream, then texted Min Heejin saying HYBE's US PR firm had sent him attack materials. When she asked which firm, Benjamin replied: "TAG PR."
➤ A website, minheejin.net, was registered Sept 27, 2024, with content like "MHJ Criminal" and false abuse claims. An X account spreading similar content was registered using SM Entertainment's HQ address — making the attacks appear to come from SM (MHJ's previous employer).
➤ Forensic analysis cited in the lawsuit found minheejin.net shared the same "digital fingerprint" as smear sites targeting Stephanie Jones and Blake Lively, meaning they were all produced by TAG PR.
Court evidence thread: x.com/Expatriarch_uk…
Articles:
1. hani.co.kr/arti/culture/m… (Hankyoreh)
2. newtamsa.org/news/mugId1 (NewTamsa)
3. koreaboo.com/news/hybe-susp…
▶️ TAG PR was deeply integrated with HYBE:
Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings (sold to HYBE in 2021, renamed HYBE America) is listed as co-owner on TAG PR's January 2024 registration documents. Since all Ithaca entities were 100% HYBE-owned in 2024, HYBE was legally responsible for TAG PR's creation and operation. And TAG PR is only one of many PR agencies paid by HYBE, which likely use similar tactics.
Evidence: x.com/luenacore/stat…
Documents also suggest HYBE may have sold its TAG PR stake to David Bolno (former HYBE America COO, Scooter Braun's business partner). This indicates the relationship between all these parties likely continued past the formal sale.
Evidence:
1. x.com/Expatriarch_uk…
2.
Attached: translations of NewTamsa's report ⬇️
The Agency Group (TAG PR) is at the center of multiple lawsuits alleging coordinated online smear campaigns. Court documents show TAG PR uses sock puppets and bots to manipulate opinions on Reddit, X, and other platforms. They create fake untraceable accounts, post threads pushing client narratives, and amplify them with bots.
TAG PR was owned by HYBE and is alleged in US court documents to have run a smear campaign against Min Heejin, tied to HYBE's legal battle with her and NewJeans.
‼️ This connection shows HYBE's business model has deeply relied on astroturfing and online smear campaigns for years.
▶️ Proof HYBE used TAG PR against Min Heejin:
➤ Evidence comes from US court documents filed Dec 2025 by Stephanie Jones (Jonesworks PR) against TAG PR. Min Heejin was one of seven named victims.
➤ Korean media reported HYBE activated TAG PR shortly after NewJeans members held a Sept 11, 2024 livestream demanding her reinstatement.
➤ Billboard's Jeff Benjamin emailed HYBE for comment after the livestream, then texted Min Heejin saying HYBE's US PR firm had sent him attack materials. When she asked which firm, Benjamin replied: "TAG PR."
➤ A website, minheejin.net, was registered Sept 27, 2024, with content like "MHJ Criminal" and false abuse claims. An X account spreading similar content was registered using SM Entertainment's HQ address — making the attacks appear to come from SM (MHJ's previous employer).
➤ Forensic analysis cited in the lawsuit found minheejin.net shared the same "digital fingerprint" as smear sites targeting Stephanie Jones and Blake Lively, meaning they were all produced by TAG PR.
Court evidence thread: x.com/Expatriarch_uk…
Articles:
1. hani.co.kr/arti/culture/m… (Hankyoreh)
2. newtamsa.org/news/mugId1 (NewTamsa)
3. koreaboo.com/news/hybe-susp…
▶️ TAG PR was deeply integrated with HYBE:
Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings (sold to HYBE in 2021, renamed HYBE America) is listed as co-owner on TAG PR's January 2024 registration documents. Since all Ithaca entities were 100% HYBE-owned in 2024, HYBE was legally responsible for TAG PR's creation and operation. And TAG PR is only one of many PR agencies paid by HYBE, which likely use similar tactics.
Evidence: x.com/luenacore/stat…
Documents also suggest HYBE may have sold its TAG PR stake to David Bolno (former HYBE America COO, Scooter Braun's business partner). This indicates the relationship between all these parties likely continued past the formal sale.
Evidence:
1. x.com/Expatriarch_uk…
2.
Attached: translations of NewTamsa's report ⬇️
Expatriarch@Expatriarch_uk
As big as the HYBE/TAG story is... It gets worse.
Melissa Nathan appears to have allegedly been involved in cleaning up PR for Scooter Braun's business partner, David Bolno, when a singer Bolno was trying to sign was found dead in his hotel room.
Melissa Nathan appears to have allegedly been involved in cleaning up PR for Scooter Braun's business partner, David Bolno, when a singer Bolno was trying to sign was found dead in his hotel room.
26
▶️ How TAG PR conducts astroturfing for clients like HYBE, based on court filings.
TAG PR's services include "starting threads with theories the team approves of," "changing the overall narrative and helping keep it on track," and "engaging directly with communities to adjust or influence the conversations taking place in real time" on Discord, Reddit, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, etc.
A court exhibit from Blake Lively's lawsuit against Justin Baldoni and TAG PR proves TAG PR astroturfed comments across platforms. They worked with Jed Wallace, an alleged expert at algorithm manipulation using untraceable bots and AI-operated sock puppets.
Court document: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
▶️ TAG employees claimed credit for writing fake comments from "ordinary user" accounts. This is based on subpoenaed internal employee chats.
➤ EXAMPLE 1: Intern Zoey Cate sent a comment from @.aeriniedbetter190 reading "I think part of it is they didn't want to romanticize Lily and Ryle by having them do a ton of PR together." Senior Director Katie Case replied "the comments are working excellent." Zoey mentioned people claiming the client was traveling with family, and Katie replied: "That's all us lol."
➤ EXAMPLE 2: Zoey shared a TikTok comment from @.KeilaniHope reading "It feels like a certain peoples PR team got ahead and leaked the story to the daily mail to justify them trying to take over the film" and said "comments are all defending him." Senior Director Katie replied, "that's us lol."
➤ EXAMPLE 3: Katie screenshotted a comment from a user defending Justin Baldoni ("Daily mail broke a story saying Blake calling Justin abusive. I don't buy it I think it's a way for her to get more control and attention of the movie") and said: "Thank the lord for Jed."
Many more examples exist in the court filings.
__________
‼️ What this proves:
Comments from supposed "ordinary users" were actually written by TAG PR staff (💬 "that's all us lol"). Others came from bots/astroposters mobilized by Jed Wallace (💬 "Thank the lord for Jed").
The fake accounts used by HYBE's PR agency look like ordinary internet users. Corporate manipulation of online conversations is more sophisticated and widespread than most people imagine.
TAG PR's services include "starting threads with theories the team approves of," "changing the overall narrative and helping keep it on track," and "engaging directly with communities to adjust or influence the conversations taking place in real time" on Discord, Reddit, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, etc.
A court exhibit from Blake Lively's lawsuit against Justin Baldoni and TAG PR proves TAG PR astroturfed comments across platforms. They worked with Jed Wallace, an alleged expert at algorithm manipulation using untraceable bots and AI-operated sock puppets.
Court document: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
▶️ TAG employees claimed credit for writing fake comments from "ordinary user" accounts. This is based on subpoenaed internal employee chats.
➤ EXAMPLE 1: Intern Zoey Cate sent a comment from @.aeriniedbetter190 reading "I think part of it is they didn't want to romanticize Lily and Ryle by having them do a ton of PR together." Senior Director Katie Case replied "the comments are working excellent." Zoey mentioned people claiming the client was traveling with family, and Katie replied: "That's all us lol."
➤ EXAMPLE 2: Zoey shared a TikTok comment from @.KeilaniHope reading "It feels like a certain peoples PR team got ahead and leaked the story to the daily mail to justify them trying to take over the film" and said "comments are all defending him." Senior Director Katie replied, "that's us lol."
➤ EXAMPLE 3: Katie screenshotted a comment from a user defending Justin Baldoni ("Daily mail broke a story saying Blake calling Justin abusive. I don't buy it I think it's a way for her to get more control and attention of the movie") and said: "Thank the lord for Jed."
Many more examples exist in the court filings.
__________
‼️ What this proves:
Comments from supposed "ordinary users" were actually written by TAG PR staff (💬 "that's all us lol"). Others came from bots/astroposters mobilized by Jed Wallace (💬 "Thank the lord for Jed").
The fake accounts used by HYBE's PR agency look like ordinary internet users. Corporate manipulation of online conversations is more sophisticated and widespread than most people imagine.
27
📍 Clarifying the legal context: using fake fan accounts for PR is illegal in most jurisdictions, despite being widespread.
The U.S. FTC explicitly banned fake user reviews, including AI-generated ones, along with "testimonials written by company insiders that fail to clearly and conspicuously disclose the giver's material connection," and "selling or buying fake indicators of social media influence."
This rule clearly applies to corporate astroturfing where companies pay people to pose as fans.
FTC Rule: ftc.gov/news-events/ne…
US law firm AGG LLP said Chaotic Good's practices are illegal:
💬 "Undisclosed fake-fan marketing is the kind of conduct the FTC's endorsement rules were designed to prevent. The legal risk is real, and the reputational risk may be even greater."
Article: agg.com/news-insights/…
Note: Jesse Cannon and an Oct 2024 Billboard article (archive.is/PqF92) called music astroturfing a "gray area" because the FTC declined to comment. That's inaccurate. The FTC declines comment on specific cases for many reasons, including ongoing investigations. The practice is clearly illegal under US law, Korean law, and in many other countries.
The U.S. FTC explicitly banned fake user reviews, including AI-generated ones, along with "testimonials written by company insiders that fail to clearly and conspicuously disclose the giver's material connection," and "selling or buying fake indicators of social media influence."
This rule clearly applies to corporate astroturfing where companies pay people to pose as fans.
FTC Rule: ftc.gov/news-events/ne…
US law firm AGG LLP said Chaotic Good's practices are illegal:
💬 "Undisclosed fake-fan marketing is the kind of conduct the FTC's endorsement rules were designed to prevent. The legal risk is real, and the reputational risk may be even greater."
Article: agg.com/news-insights/…
Note: Jesse Cannon and an Oct 2024 Billboard article (archive.is/PqF92) called music astroturfing a "gray area" because the FTC declined to comment. That's inaccurate. The FTC declines comment on specific cases for many reasons, including ongoing investigations. The practice is clearly illegal under US law, Korean law, and in many other countries.
28
📍 Astroturfing by governments is the most documented form. The mechanics are worth knowing for reference.
1️⃣ CHINESE GOVERNMENT ASTROTURFING:
Leaked 2014 emails from a Zhanggong propaganda department showed employees getting scripts, talking points, and quotas.
For one specific 2014 event, Zhanggong astroposters were given seven "discussion points" to focus on in their comments. Some lazy employees pasted these suggestions word-for-word. For another event, each "internet commenter unit" was told to "repost 200 or more times" using a specific hashtag on Weibo by a deadline.
A more sophisticated Chinese astroposter explained: "Netizens are used to seeing unskilled comments that simply say the government is great or someone is a traitor... Going off-topic is very effective. I don't directly praise the government or criticize negative news."
Article: qz.com/311832/hacked-…
2️⃣ RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT ASTROTURFING:
A former government astroturfer described 24/7 shifts, quotas of "135 comments per shift," and departments organized by online platform.
The most interesting mechanic — employees had to roleplay multiple sides of the same issue:
💬 "We did it by dividing into teams of three. One of us would be the 'villain' who disagrees with the forum post and criticizes the authorities, to bring a feeling of authenticity. The other two enter into a debate with him: 'No, you're wrong.' One provides a graphic, the other provides a link. Villain, picture, link."
‼️ HYBE fandoms operate similarly. Fake fan accounts get assigned personas and niches (e.g. dedicated solo fan, fanfic writer, "girlfriend" fan, etc.). HYBE accounts often stage internal fanwars, especially between employees roleplaying as different solo fans and shippers.
Article: rferl.org/a/how-to-guide…
3️⃣ SOUTH KOREAN ASTROTURFING:
In the 2012 NIS comment scandal, Korea's intelligence agency was found to have used coordinated online activity to influence the presidential election. Internal findings later showed the NIS created up to 30 teams of staff and "internet-savvy citizens" to push political content for two years before the election, using macros to amplify content across thousands of Twitter accounts.
Article: las.illinois.edu/news/2019-10-3…
‼️ All three cases used similar mechanics. The K-pop version is the same, with higher sophistication for accounts embedded in specific fandoms.
1️⃣ CHINESE GOVERNMENT ASTROTURFING:
Leaked 2014 emails from a Zhanggong propaganda department showed employees getting scripts, talking points, and quotas.
For one specific 2014 event, Zhanggong astroposters were given seven "discussion points" to focus on in their comments. Some lazy employees pasted these suggestions word-for-word. For another event, each "internet commenter unit" was told to "repost 200 or more times" using a specific hashtag on Weibo by a deadline.
A more sophisticated Chinese astroposter explained: "Netizens are used to seeing unskilled comments that simply say the government is great or someone is a traitor... Going off-topic is very effective. I don't directly praise the government or criticize negative news."
Article: qz.com/311832/hacked-…
2️⃣ RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT ASTROTURFING:
A former government astroturfer described 24/7 shifts, quotas of "135 comments per shift," and departments organized by online platform.
The most interesting mechanic — employees had to roleplay multiple sides of the same issue:
💬 "We did it by dividing into teams of three. One of us would be the 'villain' who disagrees with the forum post and criticizes the authorities, to bring a feeling of authenticity. The other two enter into a debate with him: 'No, you're wrong.' One provides a graphic, the other provides a link. Villain, picture, link."
‼️ HYBE fandoms operate similarly. Fake fan accounts get assigned personas and niches (e.g. dedicated solo fan, fanfic writer, "girlfriend" fan, etc.). HYBE accounts often stage internal fanwars, especially between employees roleplaying as different solo fans and shippers.
Article: rferl.org/a/how-to-guide…
3️⃣ SOUTH KOREAN ASTROTURFING:
In the 2012 NIS comment scandal, Korea's intelligence agency was found to have used coordinated online activity to influence the presidential election. Internal findings later showed the NIS created up to 30 teams of staff and "internet-savvy citizens" to push political content for two years before the election, using macros to amplify content across thousands of Twitter accounts.
Article: las.illinois.edu/news/2019-10-3…
‼️ All three cases used similar mechanics. The K-pop version is the same, with higher sophistication for accounts embedded in specific fandoms.
29
NewJeans fans have done great work cataloguing HYBE-sponsored disinformation across online platforms.
This thread covers HYBE-paid accounts smearing NewJeans specifically:
This thread covers HYBE-paid accounts smearing NewJeans specifically:
NmixxAndChill@Melix313
EXPOSING T*G PR/H*BE ACTIVITY ON TWITTER - a long exposé (will be worth the read, though, all sources in the thread)
Over the last weeks I’ve been harassed, threatened and silenced. For the past days I was under review - mass reported from outside sources. I guess the things I said held some truth after all, who would have guessed? I’m not letting myself be silenced. But this is why the relevant parties are being censored to reduce harassment.
Over the past months, I’ve been heavily researching T*G and its strategies, worked closely with allies of other victims and got a picture of how they operate on social media. Through this, I’ve found out that T*G or other PR can be linked to more than just NewJeans, but most other K-Pop groups as well. Are you a fan of groups like Blackpink, Stray Kids, Seventeen, Aespa, IVE, Big Bang, Babymonster, ADP and more? Stay tuned.
In December 2025, U.S. court evidence revealed that T*G PR, a former subsidiary of H*BE, a PR company linked to dozens of vile smear campaigns, was targeting Min Hee-Jin. The site used as evidence, put through the Wayback Machine, also spread lies, misinformation and hate about the NewJeans members and even their fandom. T*G is involved in K-Pop, and we have proof of that.
H*becels will try to convince you it’s not proof, but this is U.S. court documents, gained through digital forensics, proven by specialists and experts, documents that were accepted by the court and now even led to new lawsuits and discovery processes. It’s 10000% more credible than any out-of-context Kakaotalk could ever be.
Is that it? A website? No. Through the discovery processes of the cases of Blake Lively and Stephanie Jones, we know how T*G operates. And they don’t stop at one website, they wage full-out war through social media control and public opinion manipulation.
T*G PR, which was bought by H*BE on August 1st, 2024, is linked to dozens of smear campaigns. It was bought for $25 million, 25 times its value, and then sold one year later at less than 1/6th, a heavy loss. But The Hollywood Reporter revealed H*BE as a client months before the company was bought - and very likely months after it was sold too. Their presence is still visible.
Their founder worked for H*ltzik Str*tegies, a company known for the same strategies that worked with Epstein, Weinstein and other male abusers. Their goal: to discredit female victims who are speaking out.
Smear campaigns to manipulate public perception don’t just hurt the victim, they target family, friends, associates and even fans. They destroy careers, harm mental health and even end lives - of millions of people.
Everything that follows is me connecting the dots. I am not a digital forensics specialist, just someone who studied T*G and its effects on society. It might not be 100% accurate, but maybe reading through it makes sense and gives you a hint on how dangerous they are.
How does T*G work, and how does it look like in the K-Pop scene?
T*G uses a multitude of approaches to change public opinion. Paid articles, Social Media manipulation, bought influencer videos, tabloids. From the obvious T*G targets, I mainly follow NewJeans, but the accounts used here can be linked to many other smear campaigns.
Through a hate-subreddit directed at NewJeans, most likely created by T*G, you can see all the associates that are very likely to be working for H*BE in one way or another. And once again, it’s tabloids, influencers, social media accounts. None of them are actual reporters.
Reddit: Reddit is T*G’s heaven. An echo-chamber so easy to control, it’s become their main tool. In the words of a contractor of T*G: “We’re crushing it on Reddit.” This explains why groups like NewJeans, Blackpink, aespa, Stray Kids, etc. are so hated on there and it’s basically only used by three certain fandoms anymore. T*G was successful.
Strategy: Create posts that spread misinformation, have support-accounts agree to the post and create “discussions”, then other T*G-related accounts reply and agree as well. Vote manipulation and report abuse through bots make sure all debunking comments from fans of said group are silenced, actual sources get buried and only their view, their lies, are visible. Over time, they create an echo chamber unlike any before, and haters of said group will feel welcome to join, because no one calls them out, strengthening the effect.
Paid articles: In Blake Lively’s case, they allegedly frequently paid tabloids or other smaller news outlets to spread misinformation, same thing that’s happening in K-Pop. Allkpop, Koreaboo, even dispatch are all tabloids that live on spreading misinformation and hate, easy to take advantage of that. Whether it’s T*G or H*BE, it’s pretty clear what is happening.
YouTube: Rumor-based influencers and cyber-wreckers, in NewJeans’ case Lee Jin-Ho, H*BE BOY and The Haniverse can easily be linked to that smear campaign through that. LJH is a cyber-wrecker and even cyber-murderer, named as one of the leading causes of KSR’s death. He was even court-ordered to stop harassing her, an order that he broke without consequences. He allegedly is paid and protected by companies of his victims, allegations that happen every time he finds a new target. KSR, Ablume, now NewJeans. H*BE BOY and Hanniverse spend 24/7 on spreading false information and hate. H*BE BOY as a source with a name like that is funny, yet he is consistently named as source by accounts that can be linked to T*G. Around the time H*BE withdrew funding from T*G, Hanniverse lost her job. Coincidence? Maybe, but let’s check the other platforms.
New addition: The K-Pop Spy - new account immediately linkable to T*G, spreading hate against multiple groups like BaeMon, NewJeans, ADP.
Strategy: Pay influencers to spread T*G’s misinformation. Very effective. Examples were revealed in BL’s case. Much likely more than just these three, as other influencers are used to spread hate against other groups.
Now for the créme de la créme: Twitter/X:
Oh boy, this is a mess. All of them are large accounts, recently created, supported by a large network of bots. They all dedicate their time to hate 24/7, spend more time on Twitter than in real life, focus H*BE-competitors exclusively, mostly follow and quote/rt each other, spread the same lies without proof, and all rely on each other or previously named accounts for “proof”. They all have their designations, but the overlap in bots/followers and the way they frequently quote each other shows they‘re connected. Most of them sit in the U.S., with people like Yoongina and snper even going so far to lie about their location to seem less suspicious, but they’re all very likely contractors of T*G. They follow their strategies to a T, move exactly like the contractors hired in other smear campaigns by T*G and rarely speak about K-Pop outside of hate.
Most of them include the famous “I don’t spread misinformation / I don’t hate“ in their bio, but one look shows it’s pure hate. The main accounts frequently use their notes to fabricate evidence and post it, a very poor attempt to seem credible, but the note app alone doesn’t make it a source.
I mostly know about the NewJeans campaign but the accounts can be linked to other campaigns as well:
Snper22 - Main T*G account against NewJeans, also shooting against other groups like BP or Seventeen. A pdf incel, revealed to be posting dozens of lewd tweets about minor idols. Other tweets showed he’s far-right and misogynistic. A perfect vessel to spread hate against women. Targets: Mainly NewJeans, but also BP, Seventeen, Stray Kids and more. No affiliated groups.
Has multiple alt-accounts that serve as setups for other K-Pop groups like NMIXX.
aespann_jeans/karinafan123412 - Another incel and best friend of Snper22, his location is Korea for some reason, but T*G is known for hiring contractors from other countries, or he could be working with a Korean PR firm and just decided to work with the other T*G accounts because goals align. Setup is 1:1 that of Snper, they use the same non-credible sources like LJH, HB, etc. They frequently quote/rt each other and use each other as source. Funny. Main targets: NewJeans, aespa, BP, Seventeen, Stray Kids and more
During New Year, aespann went into a drunk rant and basically revealed that he was working for H*BE. A grave mistake and that tweet is now deleted: in summary, when it was announced that Hanni was returning, H*BE apparently contacted him and told him to stop shooting against NewJeans. That’s when he completely lost it and attacked H*BE, complaining that they’re going after their own. This is the danger of hiring highly unstable incels to do your dirty work. They get addicted to it.
Kpop insider - An account that’s been terrorising Kpop X lately, and the same strategies, same targets, how hard it is to take them down and their mutuals all hint to one thing - they’re linked to the entire campaign. They’re situated not in the U.S., but in Eastern Europe, where bot farms are cheap. They use multiple alt accounts and boosted likes. Targets: Jennie, BP, Skz, Svt, Danielle and basically any group that’s not H*BE-affiliated.
Fandom-targeting accounts:
Snper, Kpop insider and aespann_jeans are “neutral” accounts, meaning they don’t claim to like any groups, they just spread hate and misinformation. But T*G and H*BE quickly found out instead of bots and paid labor, they can weaponise K-Pop fandoms who LOVE to fight.
Here are some big setups used to create fan wars between groups / used to weaponise H*BE fandoms:
vavawonyoung - a setup “Wonyoung” fan used to hate and spread misinformation about other GGs. Links to Kpop insider and other T*G affiliated accounts. Goals: to spread tensions between aespa and IVE, the biggest 4th gen GGs and competitors to H*BE.
ONCExTWICEu - Big Twice fan account, most likely sold by the previous owner. Now used 24/7 in fan wars. Targets: Skz, Danielle and more. Goal: Spread tensions between Twice and Skz, spread lies about Danielle (that’s a recurring theme in ALL these accounts. Danielle is currently H*BE’s biggest target, their scapegoat, they absolutely need to silence her for their plan to work)
yaoillit - a setup for ILLIT who somehow doesn’t know anything about ILLIT. Didn’t even recognise their debut choreography. Mainly used to spread hate against NewJeans and Babymonster, and to weaponise the ILLIT fandom.
lesserallittt - a smaller account who spends 24/7 camping under rival groups tabloid/news articles and frequently invades K-Pop fandom spaces of groups who are competitors to H*BE. This is one example of a set-up failing, but the account is still used, without ever speaking about the groups they like, but used as a supporter account to spread the lies to other fandoms.
Yoonginapuppy2 - set-up to weaponise a large fandom against multiple groups. Linked to snper, aespann and other main core T*G contractors. Once again, rarely talks about their own faves apart from meaningless retweets or fan wars. Used against: BP, Big Bang, Svt, Skz, Njz, ADP…
HxG Coalition - an attempt to set-up and weaponise the Katseye fandom. Clearly failed, so now they’re just used as a support account against Danielle, basically like lesserallittt.
Kpop_Divaj8mw - mix between Yoongina or Kpop insider. Clearly doesn’t care about the set-up group and is solely used for fan wars against a plethora of groups - mainly used against BP, Skz, Svt, Big Bang….
Now bear in mind that these are the accounts I found, most of them related to NewJeans and it’s not even close to all of them. Snper and aespann were the successful versions, but many more accounts who mimicked them 1:1 were created at the same time. The failed ones now mostly retweet or comment under the successful accounts.
If you find more, or suspect a certain account, please let me know.
Twitter summary: All of these accounts match multiple of the common links to T*G: Created since April 2024, locationed in the U.S., heavy bot-activity, botted posts, same mutuals, spreading the same lies, using the same non-credible sources linked to T*G, mutuals with each other, currently spreading lies and hate against Danielle (main target), don’t care about their own pretend-to-like groups, only used to weaponise fandoms as pawns.
Some of these are confirmed, some might not be part of the campaign and just completely unhinged haters. But what’s worse? Getting paid for spreading hate or doing it for free because you’re jobless?
Fact is, H*BE didn’t just spend $25 million on the world’s most infamous smear campaign machine. They also potentially hired other companies, and indirectly may have forced other companies to retaliate, as bot activity has reached new heights over the last years. The amount of money spent makes it clear: K-Pop is facing the potentially largest smear campaign in human history. This is actively destroying K-Pop.
Over the last weeks I’ve been harassed, threatened and silenced. For the past days I was under review - mass reported from outside sources. I guess the things I said held some truth after all, who would have guessed? I’m not letting myself be silenced. But this is why the relevant parties are being censored to reduce harassment.
Over the past months, I’ve been heavily researching T*G and its strategies, worked closely with allies of other victims and got a picture of how they operate on social media. Through this, I’ve found out that T*G or other PR can be linked to more than just NewJeans, but most other K-Pop groups as well. Are you a fan of groups like Blackpink, Stray Kids, Seventeen, Aespa, IVE, Big Bang, Babymonster, ADP and more? Stay tuned.
In December 2025, U.S. court evidence revealed that T*G PR, a former subsidiary of H*BE, a PR company linked to dozens of vile smear campaigns, was targeting Min Hee-Jin. The site used as evidence, put through the Wayback Machine, also spread lies, misinformation and hate about the NewJeans members and even their fandom. T*G is involved in K-Pop, and we have proof of that.
H*becels will try to convince you it’s not proof, but this is U.S. court documents, gained through digital forensics, proven by specialists and experts, documents that were accepted by the court and now even led to new lawsuits and discovery processes. It’s 10000% more credible than any out-of-context Kakaotalk could ever be.
Is that it? A website? No. Through the discovery processes of the cases of Blake Lively and Stephanie Jones, we know how T*G operates. And they don’t stop at one website, they wage full-out war through social media control and public opinion manipulation.
T*G PR, which was bought by H*BE on August 1st, 2024, is linked to dozens of smear campaigns. It was bought for $25 million, 25 times its value, and then sold one year later at less than 1/6th, a heavy loss. But The Hollywood Reporter revealed H*BE as a client months before the company was bought - and very likely months after it was sold too. Their presence is still visible.
Their founder worked for H*ltzik Str*tegies, a company known for the same strategies that worked with Epstein, Weinstein and other male abusers. Their goal: to discredit female victims who are speaking out.
Smear campaigns to manipulate public perception don’t just hurt the victim, they target family, friends, associates and even fans. They destroy careers, harm mental health and even end lives - of millions of people.
Everything that follows is me connecting the dots. I am not a digital forensics specialist, just someone who studied T*G and its effects on society. It might not be 100% accurate, but maybe reading through it makes sense and gives you a hint on how dangerous they are.
How does T*G work, and how does it look like in the K-Pop scene?
T*G uses a multitude of approaches to change public opinion. Paid articles, Social Media manipulation, bought influencer videos, tabloids. From the obvious T*G targets, I mainly follow NewJeans, but the accounts used here can be linked to many other smear campaigns.
Through a hate-subreddit directed at NewJeans, most likely created by T*G, you can see all the associates that are very likely to be working for H*BE in one way or another. And once again, it’s tabloids, influencers, social media accounts. None of them are actual reporters.
Reddit: Reddit is T*G’s heaven. An echo-chamber so easy to control, it’s become their main tool. In the words of a contractor of T*G: “We’re crushing it on Reddit.” This explains why groups like NewJeans, Blackpink, aespa, Stray Kids, etc. are so hated on there and it’s basically only used by three certain fandoms anymore. T*G was successful.
Strategy: Create posts that spread misinformation, have support-accounts agree to the post and create “discussions”, then other T*G-related accounts reply and agree as well. Vote manipulation and report abuse through bots make sure all debunking comments from fans of said group are silenced, actual sources get buried and only their view, their lies, are visible. Over time, they create an echo chamber unlike any before, and haters of said group will feel welcome to join, because no one calls them out, strengthening the effect.
Paid articles: In Blake Lively’s case, they allegedly frequently paid tabloids or other smaller news outlets to spread misinformation, same thing that’s happening in K-Pop. Allkpop, Koreaboo, even dispatch are all tabloids that live on spreading misinformation and hate, easy to take advantage of that. Whether it’s T*G or H*BE, it’s pretty clear what is happening.
YouTube: Rumor-based influencers and cyber-wreckers, in NewJeans’ case Lee Jin-Ho, H*BE BOY and The Haniverse can easily be linked to that smear campaign through that. LJH is a cyber-wrecker and even cyber-murderer, named as one of the leading causes of KSR’s death. He was even court-ordered to stop harassing her, an order that he broke without consequences. He allegedly is paid and protected by companies of his victims, allegations that happen every time he finds a new target. KSR, Ablume, now NewJeans. H*BE BOY and Hanniverse spend 24/7 on spreading false information and hate. H*BE BOY as a source with a name like that is funny, yet he is consistently named as source by accounts that can be linked to T*G. Around the time H*BE withdrew funding from T*G, Hanniverse lost her job. Coincidence? Maybe, but let’s check the other platforms.
New addition: The K-Pop Spy - new account immediately linkable to T*G, spreading hate against multiple groups like BaeMon, NewJeans, ADP.
Strategy: Pay influencers to spread T*G’s misinformation. Very effective. Examples were revealed in BL’s case. Much likely more than just these three, as other influencers are used to spread hate against other groups.
Now for the créme de la créme: Twitter/X:
Oh boy, this is a mess. All of them are large accounts, recently created, supported by a large network of bots. They all dedicate their time to hate 24/7, spend more time on Twitter than in real life, focus H*BE-competitors exclusively, mostly follow and quote/rt each other, spread the same lies without proof, and all rely on each other or previously named accounts for “proof”. They all have their designations, but the overlap in bots/followers and the way they frequently quote each other shows they‘re connected. Most of them sit in the U.S., with people like Yoongina and snper even going so far to lie about their location to seem less suspicious, but they’re all very likely contractors of T*G. They follow their strategies to a T, move exactly like the contractors hired in other smear campaigns by T*G and rarely speak about K-Pop outside of hate.
Most of them include the famous “I don’t spread misinformation / I don’t hate“ in their bio, but one look shows it’s pure hate. The main accounts frequently use their notes to fabricate evidence and post it, a very poor attempt to seem credible, but the note app alone doesn’t make it a source.
I mostly know about the NewJeans campaign but the accounts can be linked to other campaigns as well:
Snper22 - Main T*G account against NewJeans, also shooting against other groups like BP or Seventeen. A pdf incel, revealed to be posting dozens of lewd tweets about minor idols. Other tweets showed he’s far-right and misogynistic. A perfect vessel to spread hate against women. Targets: Mainly NewJeans, but also BP, Seventeen, Stray Kids and more. No affiliated groups.
Has multiple alt-accounts that serve as setups for other K-Pop groups like NMIXX.
aespann_jeans/karinafan123412 - Another incel and best friend of Snper22, his location is Korea for some reason, but T*G is known for hiring contractors from other countries, or he could be working with a Korean PR firm and just decided to work with the other T*G accounts because goals align. Setup is 1:1 that of Snper, they use the same non-credible sources like LJH, HB, etc. They frequently quote/rt each other and use each other as source. Funny. Main targets: NewJeans, aespa, BP, Seventeen, Stray Kids and more
During New Year, aespann went into a drunk rant and basically revealed that he was working for H*BE. A grave mistake and that tweet is now deleted: in summary, when it was announced that Hanni was returning, H*BE apparently contacted him and told him to stop shooting against NewJeans. That’s when he completely lost it and attacked H*BE, complaining that they’re going after their own. This is the danger of hiring highly unstable incels to do your dirty work. They get addicted to it.
Kpop insider - An account that’s been terrorising Kpop X lately, and the same strategies, same targets, how hard it is to take them down and their mutuals all hint to one thing - they’re linked to the entire campaign. They’re situated not in the U.S., but in Eastern Europe, where bot farms are cheap. They use multiple alt accounts and boosted likes. Targets: Jennie, BP, Skz, Svt, Danielle and basically any group that’s not H*BE-affiliated.
Fandom-targeting accounts:
Snper, Kpop insider and aespann_jeans are “neutral” accounts, meaning they don’t claim to like any groups, they just spread hate and misinformation. But T*G and H*BE quickly found out instead of bots and paid labor, they can weaponise K-Pop fandoms who LOVE to fight.
Here are some big setups used to create fan wars between groups / used to weaponise H*BE fandoms:
vavawonyoung - a setup “Wonyoung” fan used to hate and spread misinformation about other GGs. Links to Kpop insider and other T*G affiliated accounts. Goals: to spread tensions between aespa and IVE, the biggest 4th gen GGs and competitors to H*BE.
ONCExTWICEu - Big Twice fan account, most likely sold by the previous owner. Now used 24/7 in fan wars. Targets: Skz, Danielle and more. Goal: Spread tensions between Twice and Skz, spread lies about Danielle (that’s a recurring theme in ALL these accounts. Danielle is currently H*BE’s biggest target, their scapegoat, they absolutely need to silence her for their plan to work)
yaoillit - a setup for ILLIT who somehow doesn’t know anything about ILLIT. Didn’t even recognise their debut choreography. Mainly used to spread hate against NewJeans and Babymonster, and to weaponise the ILLIT fandom.
lesserallittt - a smaller account who spends 24/7 camping under rival groups tabloid/news articles and frequently invades K-Pop fandom spaces of groups who are competitors to H*BE. This is one example of a set-up failing, but the account is still used, without ever speaking about the groups they like, but used as a supporter account to spread the lies to other fandoms.
Yoonginapuppy2 - set-up to weaponise a large fandom against multiple groups. Linked to snper, aespann and other main core T*G contractors. Once again, rarely talks about their own faves apart from meaningless retweets or fan wars. Used against: BP, Big Bang, Svt, Skz, Njz, ADP…
HxG Coalition - an attempt to set-up and weaponise the Katseye fandom. Clearly failed, so now they’re just used as a support account against Danielle, basically like lesserallittt.
Kpop_Divaj8mw - mix between Yoongina or Kpop insider. Clearly doesn’t care about the set-up group and is solely used for fan wars against a plethora of groups - mainly used against BP, Skz, Svt, Big Bang….
Now bear in mind that these are the accounts I found, most of them related to NewJeans and it’s not even close to all of them. Snper and aespann were the successful versions, but many more accounts who mimicked them 1:1 were created at the same time. The failed ones now mostly retweet or comment under the successful accounts.
If you find more, or suspect a certain account, please let me know.
Twitter summary: All of these accounts match multiple of the common links to T*G: Created since April 2024, locationed in the U.S., heavy bot-activity, botted posts, same mutuals, spreading the same lies, using the same non-credible sources linked to T*G, mutuals with each other, currently spreading lies and hate against Danielle (main target), don’t care about their own pretend-to-like groups, only used to weaponise fandoms as pawns.
Some of these are confirmed, some might not be part of the campaign and just completely unhinged haters. But what’s worse? Getting paid for spreading hate or doing it for free because you’re jobless?
Fact is, H*BE didn’t just spend $25 million on the world’s most infamous smear campaign machine. They also potentially hired other companies, and indirectly may have forced other companies to retaliate, as bot activity has reached new heights over the last years. The amount of money spent makes it clear: K-Pop is facing the potentially largest smear campaign in human history. This is actively destroying K-Pop.
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📍 Brief notes on how I identify accounts paid by HYBE.
While it can be hard to tell fake accounts from real fans, a few behaviors suggest an account is paid by HYBE:
🔹 Strong aversion to questioning the official narrative or calling anything "scripted" or "staged." (One exception: in ship wars, HYBE accounts often accuse other ships of being scripted fanservice.)
🔹 Motivated reasoning defending company-approved narratives at all costs, even when evidence reasonably contradicts those views.
🔹 Unusually high posting frequency over long periods, especially when claiming to have full-time jobs/school (e.g., accounts like @.translatingTXT, @.astrozzn, @.twelve05cm).
🔹 Similar messages across different accounts, often with similar wording or using the same clips.
🔹 Aggressively asserting beliefs that an ordinary person wouldn't reasonably hold if they weren't being paid to.
Example: every TXT "fan" account that claimed my evidence of Soobin dating BAE173 Yoojun only showed them being "friends" — even though any unbiased person would agree their relationship looked romantic ().
HYBE accounts often express hate for the company, so that isn't a good way to distinguish paid accounts. HYBE knows fans hating the company doesn't stop their spending, and criticism makes paid accounts look more authentic. When checking if a belief would be "company-approved" or not, consider if HYBE would view it as harmful to their bottom line.
Remember: astroturfers know they need to look like real fans who aren't paid by HYBE!
HYBE knows that real people have other interests, criticize companies, post inconsistently, fight with other fans, talk about IRL issues, say unprofessional things about idols, etc. The most sophisticated HYBE accounts intentionally make themselves look like they couldn't possibly be paid by HYBE. That's what makes them so hard to identify and so effective at propaganda.
While it can be hard to tell fake accounts from real fans, a few behaviors suggest an account is paid by HYBE:
🔹 Strong aversion to questioning the official narrative or calling anything "scripted" or "staged." (One exception: in ship wars, HYBE accounts often accuse other ships of being scripted fanservice.)
🔹 Motivated reasoning defending company-approved narratives at all costs, even when evidence reasonably contradicts those views.
🔹 Unusually high posting frequency over long periods, especially when claiming to have full-time jobs/school (e.g., accounts like @.translatingTXT, @.astrozzn, @.twelve05cm).
🔹 Similar messages across different accounts, often with similar wording or using the same clips.
🔹 Aggressively asserting beliefs that an ordinary person wouldn't reasonably hold if they weren't being paid to.
Example: every TXT "fan" account that claimed my evidence of Soobin dating BAE173 Yoojun only showed them being "friends" — even though any unbiased person would agree their relationship looked romantic ().
HYBE accounts often express hate for the company, so that isn't a good way to distinguish paid accounts. HYBE knows fans hating the company doesn't stop their spending, and criticism makes paid accounts look more authentic. When checking if a belief would be "company-approved" or not, consider if HYBE would view it as harmful to their bottom line.
Remember: astroturfers know they need to look like real fans who aren't paid by HYBE!
HYBE knows that real people have other interests, criticize companies, post inconsistently, fight with other fans, talk about IRL issues, say unprofessional things about idols, etc. The most sophisticated HYBE accounts intentionally make themselves look like they couldn't possibly be paid by HYBE. That's what makes them so hard to identify and so effective at propaganda.
HYBE censors gay people@mariniste
▶️ At the outset, it is obvious that HYBE staged this scandal as an attempt to distract fans from Soobin's gay dating rumor with Yoojun from BAE173. I explain the reasons below.
If you aren't aware, Soobin's dating rumor with Yoojun is Soobin's only dating rumor with enough direct, publicly-available evidence to convince most people that these two idols were actually dating. Or rather, that Soobin wanted all his fans to think they were dating. It wasn't just a joke rumor or delusional shipper theory. There was actually a lot of evidence presenting Soobin and Yoojun’s relationship in a specifically romantic context, to the point that only heteronormative or irrationally biased people would dismiss this particular dating rumor.
I explained all the evidence for Soobin and Yoojun's dating rumor in this thread: x.com/mariniste/stat…
If you aren't aware, Soobin's dating rumor with Yoojun is Soobin's only dating rumor with enough direct, publicly-available evidence to convince most people that these two idols were actually dating. Or rather, that Soobin wanted all his fans to think they were dating. It wasn't just a joke rumor or delusional shipper theory. There was actually a lot of evidence presenting Soobin and Yoojun’s relationship in a specifically romantic context, to the point that only heteronormative or irrationally biased people would dismiss this particular dating rumor.
I explained all the evidence for Soobin and Yoojun's dating rumor in this thread: x.com/mariniste/stat…
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Wonderful, this issue is being exposed more widely now:
However, HYBE has been doing this since BTS debuted in 2013 (back when the company was called Big Hit Entertainment). HYBE is one of the worst offenders in the industry, and they started doing it earlier than almost everyone else.
Anyone who's been exposed to BTS and its "fans" online in the past 13 years should recognize they're one of the most obviously fraudulent and astroturfed fanbases. K-pop and music as a whole have slowly caught up in recent years, but BTS abused this tactic first.
Western music PR agencies like Chaotic Good, by their own admission in their Billboard interview, only started widely using fake fan accounts in the past year. (They said they learned to massively astroturf to make Childish Gambino's "Letter Home" go viral on Tiktok, and it went viral about 8 months ago.)
NYMag Article Link: archive.is/363Vh
However, HYBE has been doing this since BTS debuted in 2013 (back when the company was called Big Hit Entertainment). HYBE is one of the worst offenders in the industry, and they started doing it earlier than almost everyone else.
Anyone who's been exposed to BTS and its "fans" online in the past 13 years should recognize they're one of the most obviously fraudulent and astroturfed fanbases. K-pop and music as a whole have slowly caught up in recent years, but BTS abused this tactic first.
Western music PR agencies like Chaotic Good, by their own admission in their Billboard interview, only started widely using fake fan accounts in the past year. (They said they learned to massively astroturf to make Childish Gambino's "Letter Home" go viral on Tiktok, and it went viral about 8 months ago.)
NYMag Article Link: archive.is/363Vh
New York Magazine@NYMag
Joe Lim estimates that 90 percent of what you see on the internet is advertising in disguise, and he should know. For three years, Lim ran a company called Floodify, which at its peak operated 65,000 dummy social-media accounts used to drum up attention on behalf of paying clients.
The point of this kind of marketing is that nobody is supposed to notice it. But lately, the machinery has started to show.
In April, Justin Bieber headlined two consecutive weekends at Coachella. Coachella is the biggest stage in pop music save only for the Super Bowl, the kind of event that in theory generates its own attention. And yet on both weekends, a Discord server writer Lane Brown had been monitoring hosted paid campaigns for Bieber’s Coachella performances, offering clippers — people who are hired to turn a song, trailer, interview, stump speech, or whatever into short, social-media-friendly fragments — as much as a dollar per thousand views.
“On social media, popular opinion is being formed, measured, and manipulated all at once, and every signal the platforms produce — a trending song, a backlash, a talking point, the feeling that ‘everybody’ is suddenly talking about the same thing — can now be fabricated by unseen actors with hidden agendas,” writes Brown.
“Everybody is doing this now,” Lim says. “And if you’re not, you’re behind.”
Brown reports on how the same techniques are now being used to fool people on every app they go to in order to find out what other people think, not just in music but across entertainment, politics, consumer products, and celebrity gossip: nymag.visitlink.me/w6Bu9N
The point of this kind of marketing is that nobody is supposed to notice it. But lately, the machinery has started to show.
In April, Justin Bieber headlined two consecutive weekends at Coachella. Coachella is the biggest stage in pop music save only for the Super Bowl, the kind of event that in theory generates its own attention. And yet on both weekends, a Discord server writer Lane Brown had been monitoring hosted paid campaigns for Bieber’s Coachella performances, offering clippers — people who are hired to turn a song, trailer, interview, stump speech, or whatever into short, social-media-friendly fragments — as much as a dollar per thousand views.
“On social media, popular opinion is being formed, measured, and manipulated all at once, and every signal the platforms produce — a trending song, a backlash, a talking point, the feeling that ‘everybody’ is suddenly talking about the same thing — can now be fabricated by unseen actors with hidden agendas,” writes Brown.
“Everybody is doing this now,” Lim says. “And if you’re not, you’re behind.”
Brown reports on how the same techniques are now being used to fool people on every app they go to in order to find out what other people think, not just in music but across entertainment, politics, consumer products, and celebrity gossip: nymag.visitlink.me/w6Bu9N