"I need him GONE": Netizens furious over Scooter Braun's alleged response to the protest advocating his removal from HYBE Labels

On Wednesday, February 28, HYBE America's CEO Scooter Braun's Instagram post caused quite a stir on the internet. Recently, following the awareness raised about the Palestinian lives lost by those living in the Gaza Strip due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, people have begun to boycott several companies, such as Starbucks, McDonald's, etc., that showcase their support for Israel.

Additionally, K-pop fans have also been boycotting the Big Four Entertainment Agencies in the industry due to their alleged Zionist connections and actions. However, fans believe that HYBE Labels has showcased a concerning amount of Zionist ideals, thereby angering the fans. While netizens have been collectively advocating for a change of actions and ideals from HYBE Labels through various forms of protest, they've also been majorly demanding the removal of Scooter Braun.

The HYBE America CEO has allegedly presented himself as pro-Israel and has also showcased ideals that stand unsupportive and against the Palestinians, thereby leaving a huge number of netizens angered. While fans even sent a protest truck to garner the agency's attention regarding his removal, Scooter Braun took to Instagram to post a picture of him in front of HYBE's headquarters in South Korea and screenshots of articles that boasted the agency's commercial success.

Netizens felt that he was mocking or taking a dig at the protests that have been held advocating for his removal and are therefore angered by his attitude.

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Netizens displeased with Scooter Braun's alleged response to protests of his removal from HYBE

Back in 2021, HYBE Labels connected ties with the American music label, Ithaca Holdings, established by Scooter Braun in 2013, in an effort to expand their K-pop-centric agency. Following the same, Braun has stood as the CEO of HYBE America, which manages Western artists under the record label.

With the recent increase in awareness related to the Israel-Palestine conflict, which resulted in several innocent lives lost in the Gaza Strip, especially women and children, and several others stranded, homeless, and injured, netizens have been actively aiming to contribute to the betterment of the Palestinians. This included a boycott of several famous brands and companies that have showcased their Zionist ties, ideals, and perspectives.

Among the long list of boycotted establishments were also the Big Four of the K-pop industry- HYBE Labels, JYP Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and SM Entertainment, due to their alleged Zionist ties. However, HYBE has been specifically called out for its Zionist actions by trying to promote boycotted and Israel-supporting brands such as Starbucks, Subway, McDonald's, etc., through their artists.

While fans have been actively advocating against these actions executed by HYBE through X trends, online campaigns, etc., one of their major demands has also been the removal of Scooter Braun. Previously, in an interview, the HYBE America CEO spoke about being pro-Israel, which naturally angered and infuriated netizens.

Therefore, many Korea-based netizens joined forces to send a protest truck to the label's headquarters, to better get the agency's attention on the netizens' demands.

The protest truck also majorly advocated for Scooter Braun's removal, and though there hasn't been any response from the agency regarding the protests, it seems that the HYBE America CEO caught a glimpse of the protest trucks. On February 28, he posted a picture of him standing in front of HYBE's headquarters along with a thread of articles that talked about the label's commercial success.

Netizens took the post as his response to the protests by stating that he's still a part of the label regardless of the protests while boasting HYBE's success, speaking from his position as an alleged active contributor. People were not happy with him mocking the netizens' protests and taking credit for the success HYBE Labels has created through its artists.

They also expressed that since fans make most of HYBE's profits, his attitude stands disrespectful to the masses who helped build the label. Many expressed that HYBE would face a downfall due to their connections with Scooter Braun and that his removal needs to take place at the earliest. However, HYBE was seen responding to The Korea Times, regarding its ties with Braun, though not directly addressing the protests.

The label stated that his personal statement about being pro-Israel doesn't align with or involve HYBE.

"It is a personal statement that is separate from company management."

Regardless, netizens expressed that since Scooter Braun's statement was politically charged, HYBE Labels' connections with him would still take a problematic stance and that their relationship can't be understood in isolation.

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While the comments on Scooter Braun's Instagram post have been limited, netizens have still been demanding his removal from HYBE while also calling him out for his allegedly disrespectful attitude.