On their fourth anniversary, designer Park Si-young, who had publicly supported NewJeans in the past, left sharp criticism directed at the group, which released a new special film as a four-member formation, drawing attention.
Today (22), NewJeans released a fourth anniversary special film on the team's official YouTube channel. This is the first content presented by the four members together in about 2 years since the Japanese debut single "Supernatural," released in the summer of 2024.
The released video, set against a summer night, shows members gathering one by one starting with Min-ji, smiling brightly, holding hands and staring side by side at somewhere. The members' more mature visuals drew attention.
However, Park Si-young, a designer who has created many famous movie posters including "The Face Reader," "The Wailing," "House of Hummingbird" and "Our Sons" and has built a unique position in the industry, revealed an unfiltered critical review of this fourth anniversary content on his social media on the 22nd.
He posted on his social media, "No, NewJeans' new thing popped up so I went to see it as soon as I opened my eyes and it's cheesy." He then harshly criticized the four-member formation and the new planning, saying, "What kind of sensibility is this, it's not even the Ga-yo Top Ten days.. talentless kids put their spoons on it and scraped it all away... what are the four NewJeans?"
Park the designer also evaluated, "The 'attack' is gone from 'Attack on Titan'," and continued with blunt criticism.
Park's reaction is drawing more attention because it contrasts with his actions during the NewJeans incident in the past. When NewJeans declared termination of their exclusive contracts against ADOR and the conflict arose in 2024, he actively defended the members on social media, saying, "Men my age criticize these young kids saying they don't know how to work in society, but they seem to be confusing social life with slave life."
Earlier, NewJeans went through a lawsuit to confirm the validity of their exclusive contracts, but after about a year of litigation, ADOR won the first trial. Haerin and Hye-in then decided to return first, and Hanni also agreed to return after sincere talks with the agency. Min-ji was also reported to be in discussions with ADOR, and with the group officially celebrating Min-ji's birthday in May and releasing the special film featuring Min-ji, four-member activities were effectively confirmed.
Meanwhile, ADOR notified Danielle of termination of her exclusive contract and is currently pursuing a damages suit seeking about 43.1 billion won against former CEO Min Hee-jin and Danielle and others.
On the other hand, Park the designer, who had actively defended the members during the past exclusive contract dispute, left completely opposite cutting remarks about NewJeans' first comeback content as a four-member formation, and public opinion viewing this is divided. Some accept it as an honest and critical perspective from a visual design expert on the video's planning and direction, while others express regret at the extreme expressions containing blunt words and say it crosses the line into criticism indistinguishable from malicious comments, and such voices coexist.
[photo] ADOR (HYBE)
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