In the months since increased attention was placed on the Israel-Palestine Crisis, netizen have raised their voices to show support and try to make a change. Along with a boycott of the “Big 4” (YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, SM Entertainment, and HYBE), fans of groups under HYBE have continually targeted the company using the hashtag #HYBEDivestFromZionism.
The hashtag has included multiple reasons, including what many consider the biggest — Scooter Braun, the CEO of HYBE America. Outside of complaints about his management experience, netizens continually called out his long-time support of Israel.
They also noticed that BTS’s official account promoted Usher‘s song, and it was criticized because he showcased support for Israel.
Despite the constant hashtags, HYBE has yet to respond to netizens.
On February 23, an X account shared that they were going a step further for HYBE to hear the message and were planning to send a protest truck outside of the company building. It was met with a lot of support after netizens realized that the company was not taking notice of the social media campaigns.
Our special tag party starts now! We have arranged a protest truck RIGHT IN FRONT OF Hybe’s entrance in Seoul! Tag k-media accounts and use Korean phrases in your posts, all provided in thread
! Let’s go extra hard! #하이브시오니스트를제거하다 #HYBEDivestFromZionism pic.twitter.com/33kQQbsV9D
— ARMY for Palestine (@ARMY4Palestine) February 23, 2024
A few hours later, videos of the protest truck in front of HYBE were released. On the truck, there were graphic clips of the devastation in Gaza…
Along with a message in both Korean and English saying…
Korean and International ARMY demand HYBE divests from Zionism and Zionists in the industry.
If our demands are not met, ARMY will continue to push for you to meet our demands.
Do not look away when the same thing that happened to your Korean ancestors is to happening to Palestinians.
We ask that you stand for humanity, for the right side of history, and against violence.
While not all of the demands were shown on the video, an OP on X shared the full list of what was written on the truck, focusing on the timeline of what is happening in Gaza along with the specific issues they want the company to address, including Scooter Braun and artist collaborations.
WE HAVE TRUCKS OUTSIDE HYBE!
USE THE FOLLOWING HASHTAGS AND TAG THE MEDIA ACCOUNTS MENTIONED IN THE THREAD BELOW #하이브시오니스트를제거하다 #HYBEDivestFromZionism pic.twitter.com/rEdePwk1jG https://t.co/r6XiQwAzjt— sugawa⁷ (@sugawainscoting) February 23, 2024
this is the video currently playing on a truck at the entrance to hybe. we couldn’t be louder and clearer in our message.
REMOVE!! SCOOTER!! BRAUN!!
DIVEST!! FROM!! ZIONISM!! NOW!! #HYBEDivestFromZionism #하이브시오니스트를제거하다 pic.twitter.com/dQ6ePtnEUq— kelly⁷ (@y00niverse) February 23, 2024
When the videos were shared, netizens praised the action and what they deemed an important and vital use of protest trucks. Netizens hoped that with the message directly outside the building, those who work for the company would take notice and listen to what fans have to say.
the trucks are outside hybe. now is the time to be louder than ever before, armylegends!
HYBE REMOVE SCOOTER BRAUN#하이브시오니스트를제거하다 #HYBEDivestFromZionism
pic.twitter.com/qAOXiASsjs— fajar⁷
(@younivcrse) February 23, 2024
The groups under HYBE have always asked netizens to stand up for what they believe in, and netizens have said they will continue to raise their voices until the company listens to them and addresses the issues.
