K-pop star Hanni of NewJeans tells South Korea lawmakers of workplace bullying

Rising K-pop idols are expected to adhere to their powerful agency’s behaviour and appearance guidelines, with many stars describing receiving extreme backlash from fans over perceived mistakes in their personal lives, for example dating.

Hanni, 20, who is Vietnamese-Australian, testified that she overheard a manager of another idol group linked to her parent agency instructing members of another girl group to spurn her.

“I saw a manager along with three members from another group and said hello… When the manager saw me, she told the members to ‘ignore her as if you didn’t see her’,” she told lawmakers.