Controversy sparked by the meeting scene in the documentary

In the documentary 'BTS: The Return' released on Netflix, a meeting scene between Hive Chairman Bang Si-hyuk and BTS members is causing great controversy among fans. The documentary contains the production process of BTS's comeback album 'Arirang', released after a long hiatus.

The video included scenes of the seven members, Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, and Hive officials discussing the album concept and details. Although it looked like a professional meeting on the outside, domestic fans are pouring out strong criticism on Chairman Bang Si-hyuk's attitude and the way he handles the members' opinions.

Fandom’s anger spreads to SNS and communities

One domestic fan criticized through social media, "They call a meeting to hear opinions, but they act cold and awkward. Even if someone talks about a good idea, they cut it off and criticize it. In the end, they say it's up to you to make the decision. That's ridiculous."

Another fan said, "What's even more horrifying is that they didn't recognize that this kind of oppressive behavior is a problem and captured it in the documentary," and added, "They pretend to be democratic, but ultimately enforce their own opinions. I hate that our artists are still in that place."

The video also became a hot topic on 'TheQoo', a large domestic online community, and netizens continued to criticize Chairman Bang Si-hyuk's attitude. Some fans pointed out, "He's already made a decision and gets annoyed when people raise opposing opinions, but later he pretends to be democratic, saying, 'The choice is yours.' This is the type of leader that is often seen in companies that are slowly going bankrupt."

Signs of deepening conflict between BTS and Hive

This controversy is further worsening the already growing tension between the BTS fandom ARMY and Hive. According to previous industry reports, it was reported that BTS members had a conflict of opinion with Hive over the proportion of Korean lyrics in the 'Arirang' album. Fans have been criticizing Hive for including excessive English lyrics in the album, and some netizens are raising their voices calling for the members to leave the agency.

One fan analyzed, “If it’s that much that’s shown in the documentary, it would have been more oppressive and subtle in reality,” adding, “But I can sense a hint of embarrassment from them somewhere.”