On tonight's episode:

We begin the NewJeans Saga. Join us for a brief look at the history of the major players in the scandal, as well as the opening volleys of a feud that could alter the landscape of pretty ricefoids shaking their hips on stage for ever.

Who is MHJ?

What exactly is, a NewJeans?

Why do I keep using Twice for the OP?

Find the answers to all of this and more, right after these messages from our sponsor:

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programing.

Christmas Thread Theme

Introduction

On the morning of November 28th, 2024, an official representative of the superstar Kpop group NewJeans announced that the members would be holding a press conference to address the ongoing dispute with their record label, ADOR. Two weeks prior, on November 13th, the group sent a letter notifying ADOR of numerous issues that they considered to be breaches of their contract. Per a (standard) clause in the contract, ADOR had 14 days to respond to and ameliorate these breaches. If it failed to do so, NewJeans would have the option to terminate their exclusive contract, without penalty. With the 14 day deadline set to pass at 12:00 AM KST, November 29th, it seemed premature to call a press conference. However, the group was planning to board a plane to Japan in preparation for promotional activities later that evening, and expressed their wish to update their fans on the situation before ADOR could take advantage of their travel to control the media narrative.

They know what they did

And so, at 8:30 PM, the members of NewJeans and a PR representative met with the press to announce their response to ADOR's failure to rectify the alleged contract breaches. What followed was a bizzare press conference that saw members claim their contract was terminated and that they:

• were no longer under contract with ADOR after midnight

• would not need to pay a termination penalty

• would begin seeking other oppurtunities while finishing scheduled events with ADOR

And the really bizarre part...

• would not seek to confirm the termination of their contract via legal action.

This, of course, raised numerous questions amongst the entertainment reporters present who have a solid grasp on how contract terminations work. I'm sure the dramatards in the audience who understand contract law, or are capable of tying their own shoes, have many of the same questions. Thankfully, the girls took some time to take questions from the press.

An excerpt from the press conference. Did you understand?

Always a good idea to check the specifics after terminating the contract

Leaving the world with more questions than answers, the members of NewJeans boarded a plane to Japan to resume promotional activities, setting the internet ablaze with discussion of what was in the future for NewJeans. Well, in order to predict the future, one must first understand the past.

And that past can only be found...

...In the K-Hole.

The Main Players

HYBE

The illegitimate love child of Kim Jong-Un and Xi Jinping Bang Si-Hyuk

HYBE Corporation, initially founded by Bang Si-hyuk in 2005 as Big Hit Entertainment, is the largest of the big 4 record companies in Kpop, with a market capitalization almost 4x greater than that of their next largest competitor, JYP Entertainment. Their success is directly tied to that of their most popular group, BTS, who during their heyday, generated more GDP for South Korea than the Korean domestic airline industry. This great financial success provided Big Hit Entertainment with the opportunity to acquire numerous smaller record labels including Source Music, which would later go on to debut the girl group Le Sserafim, in 2019 and Pledis Entertainment (Seventeen and Formis9) in 2020

With these new labels under their belt, Big Hit Entertainment restructured itself as HYBE Corporation in 2021, structuring all of their various sub-labels underneath the new Hybe Label division. During the years proceeding the re-structuring, HYBE developed plans to debut numerous gril groups, and leading these plans was the former Visual Director for SM Entertainment, Min Hee-jin (MHJ).

Min Hee-Jin

Born in 1979, MHJ began her career in Kpop as a graphic designer for SM Entertainment (one of the other big 4 companies in Kpop) in 2003. Eventually she was promoted to creative director, where she oversaw all visual branding for a number of SM's gril groups, including Girls Generation, Red Velvet, and f(x). Her impact on the industry in this role was massive, as she shifted artistic direction within the industry towards the idea of more experimental "concepts".

You can think of a group's concept as the overarching theme of the group, impacting everything from album art, photoshoots, music videos, and costumes to public behavior and even the type of music the group produces. The concept of an artist can remain static for years on end (think of how Motley Crue have always been party boy rockstars), or change over time (compare the early music and style of The Beatles to their later work.)

Leaving SM in 2018 due to burnout, it wasn't long before she found herself hired by Big Hit Entertainment to oversee the rebranding to HYBE Corporation. It was also announced that MHJ would be the creative lead for multiple new girl groups, as well as the producer for a label that HYBE would launch in the next few years. MHJ took part in initial planning for a new girl group with Source Music, but in 2021 HYBE established the ADOR sub label and named her as the CEO. The first act to debut under ADOR would be the girl group MHJ had begun developing with Source Music, NewJeans.

NewJeans

Upcoming January 2025 Vogue Korea cover featuring NewJeans

Auditions for Mhj's new girl group began in 2019 under Source Music. Initially planning to debut in 2021, this was pushed back to 2022, ostentibly due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Officially debuting on July 22nd of 2022, NewJeans quickly became one of the biggest acts in all of Kpop. Their achievements speak for themselves:

• First idol group in history to occupy the #1, #2 and #3 spot on every chart in Korea for 3 consecutive months with Ditto, OMG, and Hype Boy

• NewJeans surpassed 5 billion total points on Circle Digital Chart in only 64 weeks, second only to BTS (53 weeks)

• First girl group to ever chart 5 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in the same calendar year in K-Pop history

• Set a Guinness record for fastest artist to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify and also became the fastest Korean act in history to reach 3 billion streams

Newjeans debut single and MV, Hype Boy, released July 22nd, 2022.

This groups massive success on the charts led them to become one of the most sought after brand endorsements in the advertising industry , with them eventually going on to work with Nike, Coca- Cola, McDonald's, Apple, Levi's, and Calvin Klein. NewJeans was so successful on this front that In April 2024, Forbes Korea reported that the group had earned ₩30 billion (~$20 million) in advertising in the course of a single year. to put this in perspective, Patrick Mahomes had total estimated off-the-field earnings of $25 million in 2024.

You know you've made it big when even your slop meal gets to go on tour.

Hanni

The Vietnamese-Australian member of a Korean girl group's English male name is Harry.

Born to Vietnamese parents in Melbourne, Australia, Phạm Ngọc Hân's (20) first experience in the entertainment industry was as a member of the Australian kpop dance cover group AEMINA. In late 2019, she was the only person to pass the Plus Global Auditions, the first set of auditions for the girl group that would become NewJeans. Hanni is widely considered to be the best vocalist in the group

Minji

Marcus the Cleanup Queen

Born in Chuncheon, South Korea in 2004, Kim Min-ji began training with Source Music in 2017. She was likely the first member selected for NewJeans, as she was the anonymous face of the Plus Global Auditions that selected Hanni. Often acting as the de facto leader, Minji is the oldest member and one of the best dancers in the group.

Dani

Her male English name is Demitree.

In 2005, Danielle Marsh was born to an Australian father and Korean mother in Newcastle, Australia. Moving back and forth between Australia and South Korea as a child, Dani's first experience in show business was as a child actor in South Korea. She began her kpop career as a trainee at YG Entertainment ( the last of the big four Kpop companies), leaving the company and joining Source Music in July 2020. Probably the most popular member internationally, Dani is a talented vocalist who provided the Korean dub of Ariel for the live action Little Mermaid movie.

Haerin

This Kang's name is Stephen

Originally from Seoul, South Korea, Kang Hae-rin dropped out of middle school in 2020 at the age of 13 to begin training with Source Music, later earning her GED. A taleented singer and dancer, Haerin is also a global ambassador for Dior.

Hyein

(Male name) Collin is the reason we need pedobear.

Lee Hye-in was born in Incheon, South Korea in 2008, making her the youngest member, or maknae, of NewJeans. Getting her start as a child model, she also was a member of a kid's group called U.SSO Girl from 2017-2018. She later went on to star on a YouTube children's channel called PocketTV. She eventually joined ADOR as a trainee in 2021. Despite being the youngest member of the group, Hyein has the most showbiz experience in the group.

Now that we've had a chance to meet the stars of our story, we are finally able to see where the NewJeans/ADOR drama truly began. But first, it's time for a...

Cookie Break

After the success of their debut single Hype Boy, NewJeans quickly followed up with the lead single of their self-titled debut EP, Cookie. As @0BS3SS10N mentioned in the comments of our previous episode, there was something a little off about this song.

With most of the song in Korean, the lyrics, once translated into English, are something else:

Now, these lyrics wouldn't be too bad in and of themselves, at least compared to western music, save for one small problem; the majority of the group was underage when the song was released. At the time of release, Dani and Hanni were 17, Haerin was 16, and Hyein was 14(!). Only Minji was over the age of 18 at the time. This generated a great deal of controversy in western markets due to the sexual tone of the lyrics.

https://old.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/wdclrx/newjeans_cookie/

https://old.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/comments/wdd6bg/new_jeans_just_officially_debut_with_the_release/

Link

A solid summary of the drama

As @ftincel touched on above, the scandal was complicated by a report of a pattern of weird, borderline pedophilic behavior surrounding MHJ. She had numerous pictures of underage girls and a 15 year old Brooke Shields on her Instagram, and had also been accused of over sexualizing underage idols while at SM Entertainment.

Link

HYBE, ADOR, and NewJeans themselves argued the song was actually about burning a CD for someone (to bake a CD is a euphemism for burning a CD in Korea) and that the translator who worked on the MV above had mistranslated the lyrics. Most Westerners didn't buy this, pointing out that two of the people in the group (Dani and Hanni) were native English speakers. However, as is common with scandals related to Kpop idols, there were plenty of fans who were ready to eat up the cover story.

Link

https://old.reddit.com/r/unpopularkpopopinions/comments/wrsspn/cookie_by_new_jeans_isnt_as_sexual_as_people_make/

https://old.reddit.com/r/NewJeans/comments/wkle0q/serious_discussion_thread_the_cookie_and_min/

Let's see what /mu/ had to say at the time:

You know it's bad when even 4chan thinks you've gone too far

I think this is a compilation of translated comments from Korean sites. If not, someone needs to investigate this guy.

With all of that background info and the Cookie drama out of the way, we can begin our story in earnest.

The Beginning of the End

The Audit

On April 22nd, 2024, bombshell news dropped that HYBE would be launching an internal audit of ADOR and it's executives, due to concerns that MHJ was trying to attract investors to take the label independent. At the time, HYBE owned about 80% of ADOR, with the remaining 20% being held by ADOR executives, predominantly MHJ.

HYBE alleged that MHJ and a VP at ADOR, identified only as Mr. L, were working in collaboration to "free" ADOR from HYBE. The scheme included Mr. L passing classified info about HYBE to MHJ. Mr. L had previously worked with HYBE, most relevantly during its IPO, before being transferred by the company to ADOR. Once HYBE became aware of the plan, the audit was triggered, executives electronics were examined, and plans to remove MHJ as CEO of ADOR were initiated.

Illit

For her part, MHJ released a statement alleging that the audit was an illegal attempt to oust her as CEO In retaliation for her accusing Illit, a new Kpop group under HYBE's sub-label, Belift Labs, and their producers of "copying" NewJeans.

https://www.koreaboo.com/news/min-hee-jin-official-statement/

April 23rd and 24th

The next day, April 23rd, HYBE responded that it had clear evidence that MHJ had been planning to take ADOR independent long before Illit had debuted. The main piece of evidence for this was an unreleased internal document detailing MHJ's plans.

https://m-en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20240423006400315

On the 24th, various ADOR executives tried to distance MHJ from the discovered internal document, but a report from Dispatch (basically the Korean TMZ) revealed that she had almost $73 million in put options on HYBE.

Link

April 25th

The Next day, April 25th, HYBE made public it's initial findings from the audit and stated it's intention to report MHJ to the police.

A leaked conversation between MHJ and another ADOR executive, A

In response MHJ called her own press conference that day, which ran for almost 2 hours.

the entire press conference summed up by mhj lawyers pic.twitter.com/3qrfngiz3H

— 𝓪⁷ (@JlNSONYEONDAN) April 25, 2024

During this press conference MHJ touched on a number of topics, including:

• Reiterating that the only cause of the audit was an internal complaint she filed over Illit's "plaigerism"

• Complaining that her shareholders agreement that she signed with HYBE was unfair and currently being renegotiated.

• Alleging that she was promised NewJeans would be the first of HYBE's new girl groups to debut. Instead Le Sserafim was allowed to debut first. (Remember this one, it will be important later on)

• Claiming that she would take legal action against HYBE for seizing her and other executive's electronics

• Stating that all of ADOR's internal discussions about seeking outside investors and breaking away from HYBE were merely jokes

• Tacitly admitting that she would consult a Korean Shaman to help make business decisions (again, more on this at a later date)

The entire press conference is a trip, and this all is just a snippet. We'll do a deep dive into the press conference and it's after effects next week, but for now, let's see how the internet reacted:

Reddit Reacts

Warning:: May contain spoilers for future parts of the saga.

https://old.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/1ca2gc4/hybe_launched_audit_into_ceo_of_newjeans_agency/

https://old.reddit.com/r/kpop_uncensored/comments/1ccn2j5/my_takes_from_the_min_heejin_press_conference/

https://old.reddit.com/r/popheads/comments/1ca90ty/hybe_initiates_audit_of_adors_management/

https://old.reddit.com/r/popheads/comments/1ca90ty/hybe_initiates_audit_of_adors_management/

/mu/ Reacts

That's all the time we have for this week, but I hope that I was able to whet your whistle for the drama we have ahead, because theres quite a bit of it.

On next week's "In the K-Hole"

• A deep dive into MHJ's April 25th press conference and auxiliary accusations!

• The parents of NewJeans speak up!

• New legal challenges!

• And much, much more, all next week!

I hope you enjoyed this episode, as well as your upcoming holidays. A very merry Christmas to you all and yours...

... From the bottom...

... Of the K-Hole.

Young men in New Zealand are all done with the rainbow parades.pic.twitter.com/q3NG2uhUqV

— Billboard Chris 🇨🇦🇺🇸 (@BillboardChris) February 15, 2025

EDIT: OP IS A MOID!

No drama but it just seemed funny to me, like why are you humblebragging on Reddit to a bunch of minimum wage wagies?

Also what the frick is up with that house? Why does it have two garages?

https://old.reddit.com/r/Homebuilding/comments/1hgjwyz/we_are_almost_there/

OP also sucks at parking:

https://old.reddit.com/r/HummerEV/comments/1g343jk/i_pulled_the_trigger_this_weekend/

She posts to /r/ebayselleradvice so I assume she's a stay at home wife with a rich husband.

She really loves humblebragging

And she has some Karen story that I didn't read:

https://old.reddit.com/r/Diesel/comments/1eb968p/i_know_we_all_have_had_bad_experiences_at/

Now he's forcing them back into the office AND to accept the brave and valid innoculations. Reminder that was a massive supporter of le covid vaccines

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-publicly-defends-covid-19-vaccines-slams-mandates/story?id=81914671

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-nightly/2021/12/23/trump-still-likes-the-trump-vaccine-495540

even praised him for getting the vaccines done

https://nypost.com/2021/12/21/biden-praises-trump-for-operation-warp-speed-getting-covid-booster/

also part of the $500billion AI "stargate" project is going to be for devoloping vaccines

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-mrna-vaccine-cure-cancer-ai-2018701

and in shambles

https://old.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1i83n25/trump_revokes_biden_executive_order_that_had/

!kino !r-slurs !khive

The shamrock shake is back at Mcdonald's before it's even valentine's day along with Grimace's Uncle O'Grimacey who hasn't been seen since the '80s. He seems like a chill guy (see image below) and I'm happy Grimace has been united with his beloved uncle.

I got one today and it was sweeter than I remember but maybe they just put too much mysterious green syrup in mine. 7.5/10 but I wonder how it'll taste after I put it in the freezer.

!goyslopenjoyers

El*n’s baby mamas need to unionize

— RFH🦎👁‍🗨🪐🌘 ⬛️ (Doctor) (@hollowearthterf) February 20, 2025

honestly it's kinda mindblowing hearing stories about japanese teenagers like, ages 12~14 just. quitting school, leaving home, and just traveling the country following their favourite bands, being supported by their online friends and other people in the community, and just spending their time faking their age hanging out at bars and adult clubs that they aren't supposed to be at. cause it's like. from an american perspective the immediate reaction is "holy shit how are these kids not in serious peril" but then it's like. "how are they so lucky and so safe that they get to just do this without their lives getting ended in some way. how are they so lucky that doing this has actually improved their physical and mental health cause they're no longer stuck at home or stuck at school, and can instead find the places where they belong at and just thrive in those spaces". like kids literally stop being suicidal because they get to live their lives the way they want to

it's just mindblowing cause this kinda shit would straight up never work in the usa. and like, japan is by no means a country where crimes against minors are uncommon, and yet that kind of lifestyle is still possible for them, and it's just like, man.

PLTR dropped 10% today lol

The Rapport had been the premier Afriaans newspaper for over 50 years, but like so many physical media over the world, they've taken a nosedive when confronted with the competition of instant access digital media,

which could broadcast stories instantly, and for no physical printing costs. Newspapers all over the world have also struggled with the competition in terms of people having become used to "free" news sites (with banner ads) versus a weekly/daily paper's upfront cost.

Additionally a lot of faith have been lost in mainstream media, of all countries - where the predominant pattern appears to be that ground level plebs tend to be more conservative/right-wing than than the more liberally oriented Journ*list class which had some hand in influencing national or international conversations.

This divide between liberal journ*lists and more conservative/rightoid laymen is hilariously apparent for ALL the fricking races in Safrica, but not in the way you would expect, or as similar as you would think as in Burgerland lol

Examples:

For black peeps, like the Zulus especially ( the largest ethnic tribe/group of the country), there has been decisive differences in public perception between the everyman, and the more liberal Zulu Upper Class.

Foreigners would make the mistake that because of the dominacy of the ANC, that liberalism/leftism is the dominant train of thought amongst black peeps, when in reality the conservative Zulus and Xhosas only support these parties/policies because it benefits them personally, like land grabs and gins, and BEE affirmative action.

But liberal notions like pan+African racial unity gets thrown out of the window 🪟 when competition, when foreigners from middle Africa, like Zimbabweans, Mozambicans and Angolans are often frequently attacked by Zulus in xenophobic attacks, due to the desperation in a country where there's a near 30% unemployment since COVID.

The Zulu king got "in trouble" from the black national newspapers, because he had invited xenophobia and violence unto Zimbabwean refugees and migrants, yet the consensus amongst Zulus, those amongst the majority poor rural class shared in his opinion, stark contrast to the liberal journ*lists who condemned him.

https://www.npr.org/2015/04/26/402400958/south-africas-xenophobic-attacks-vile-says-zulu-king-accused-of-inciting-them

=====

For the just under 1 million Indians in SA, they are the most self-segregating and anti-black demographic, with their upfront racism towards blacks going relatively unnoticed because majority of social capital spent against whites

For reference, look at @Sneedman's recent sneed about Indian racism

https://rdrama.net/post/321001/south-africa-and-the-indian-question

Oh yes, in Safrica, Indians are upper middle class, and look down on black peeps, the way Canadians look on sexy Indian dudes.

=====

For Boer whites you guys don't need introduction on how we are out of sync with the dominant global liberal orthodoxy, it's more Bongs in general whom are usually one standard deviation more liberal than average that's interesting 🤔

The fabled harmonious racially peace 🕊️ ✌️ ful Rainbow 🌈 nation of past Mandela's dream, has failed to realize these past 30 years, due to entrenched ANC corruption and even these Bongs on average are now much more right wing than the average than the usual English journ*list.

Additionally English journ*lists have themselves been in the forefront with exposing systemic government corruption

====

For coloureds, the coloured dominant Cape Town based media, like magazines and Newspapers, were utterly shocked this year's May 2024 election

When a monumental upset occured, with the ANC losing its supermajority, to the new Zulu Ultranationalist party MP, and the DA getting decent numbers, yet also being similarly cucked in the Cape Town municipality

By losing large blocs of coloured votes to the PA (Patriotic Alliance) a Coloured ethnic nationalist group.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_South_African_general_election

Who felt that neither black nor white dominant parties of ANC/DA represented them. They often feel they were too brown for Apartheid and too light skinned for the ANC, as they get shafted by BEE - a legalized affirmative action legislation which can only exist in a nation state where one racial group vastly outnumbers the others.

The breaking and thus weakening of the DA caused intense sneed amongst coloured journ*lists who wanted a unified front against Anc corruption, and that they were surprised by those events are symptomatic of how out of sync their respective journos are with their ground level peeps.

====

Point is every conceivable demographic in SA is hilariously more chuddy in some unique fashion, than the journ*list class from that demographic in SA.

As is similar in Burgerland and Europe, but what has made the divide between the global modern liberal orthodoxy even more extreme has been social media, especially Facebook which dominated Southern Africa, compared to twitter in the West.

Many dramatards here are likely more Reddit addicts than Facebook, which has a more boomer/3rd world demographic

In Facebook, even with so much banning and censorship, chudthink rise to whatever counts as the front page, in spite of jannies or Facebook sexy Indian dude mods

In these insane slapfiights, with people often under their ACTUAL IRL identity 🆔, you'll find opinions which make 4chan and 9gag look meek ,and you'll find how decisively the everyman of Indians/coloureds/Boers/sothos/pedis/Khoisan/Zulus/Xhosas are all just one ragebait post away from chipping out and showing the veneer of civilization is a Journos fantasy 😇 😈

Thus trust in journ*lists/Media to represent the interests of every group appears to have eroded away the past decades, as social media proliferated along with cheaper internet and smartphones, allowing the bypass of media orthodoxy

During COVID the death knell of physical papers were sounded, as during lockdown people were prevented from going outside to buy their weekly papers, and even the technologically illiterate were pushed through boredom to buy large internet, fibre, or download news apps and join Facebook news groups

Many peeps were thus in a nation wide scale exposed to the convenience and ease of news on their smartphones or computers, and even when lockdowns lifted in 2021, sales never recovered across the industry.

Publications like News24 which jumped ahead with the rapidly changing events were the 1st to rapidly program the best apps and gained a large market share, and thus rode on fire chariots the change from physical to digital media, like Zoom became dominant instantly as the premier online meeting app/program for SA businesses.

Other papers like the Rapport reacted or realised too late the need to have a digital presence to survive in this new world and for the past 4 years have been chugging along on fumes.

The Rapport was hardest hit and most tragic, because it was considered the most impressive and prestigious newspaper in the country, even when democratisation in 1994, when English became the most common tongue, and 10 other languages because part of the recognized official languages.

The Rapport had the intergenerational experience, infrastructure and prestige.

Important world changing events were often sought after specifically in the Rapport, because the best journ*lists wrote there, even Bong journ*lists, because many SA Englishman can speak Afrikaans.

The weekly format actually gave the newspaper credence because unlike daily rags chasing the daily story to make ends meet ,the weekly format allowed the experienced Journos to really do their research and make higher calibre articles.

When the 9/11 attacks occurred the entire nation would wait for the Rapport to a make an extensive and in depth coverage of the events made understandable for plebse

Even English and Sotho newspapers would source or share the Rapport articles afterwards, due to it's influence.

Yet as the internet proliferated, the format of waiting a week to read substantial important news as much as a week later became untenable and unpopular

Independent online news publications became increasingly competitive and competent, and the BEE for forcing it's way into all institutions, meant that white new reporters would seek their fame online instead.

Worsening the cycle of decline was that the Rapport and other news papers became more expensive to make up for the decline in sales ,from 11rand to 20rand, to 30rand, to eventually 39rand, almost the price of a high grade magazine.

But worst of all was that the editors leadership went full r-slur, and began to focus on Daily Mail tier slop, the paper got a reputation as a gossip rag for SA celebrities, which even South Africa doesn't care about, when superior Bong/Burger musicians exist.

Thus the Uber prestigious reputation went to shit. There was a time when the Rapport had special editions with extensive and fabulous resourced articles, with sketches maps and diagrams.

Like their infamous coverage of the killing Saddam or Bin Laden, with extensive details about the special forces involved. Visiting yanks were so impressed, that they claimed the coverage of the events were better than American news networks which were sensational junk news, whilst the Rapport was measured and neutral.

By the time, 2020 pandemic arrived, there was no loyal reader based.

Now this doesn't mean that physical papers will forever be gone, perhaps only that weekly formats are likely in a permanent decline.

Additionally other papers are still going strong, and perhaps only because Afrikaans has declined as a language worthy of catering towards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_newspapers_in_South_Africa

After all there's always gonna be peeps enjoying physical media, just like Kindles will never completely replace physical 📚📖📚📚📚📚 books

But the fact remains that physical media is deeply in distress and only continually declining for various complicated reasons.

https://dailyinvestor.com/business/54653/plan-to-close-beeld-and-rapport-newspapers-confirmed/

Earlier this year in June the news went under the radar and most didn't even believe it

https://www.bizcommunity.com/article/beeld-rapport-city-press-daily-sun-and-soccer-laduma-to-close-670291a

A shit load of publications are eating shit

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1033243152150182&id=100063935197932

Max announce the release of the 'Luigi Mangione: The CEO Killer' documentary on February 17th. pic.twitter.com/nwIEA87QUp

— Pop Tingz (@ThePopTingz) February 13, 2025

A year into their relationship, Jess and Nate got engaged next to the sea. "It was a golden, sandy beach – empty and secluded," says Jess, 26. "It was just us two there, so it was really intimate."

Except that the couple were actually hundreds of miles apart – and they were role-playing their engagement in the video game World of Warcraft.

Nate, 27, was living just outside London – and Jess was in Wales. After meeting briefly at an esports event in Germany in March 2023, the pair developed a long-distance relationship, playing the game together "from the moment we woke up to the moment we went to bed", says Nate.

The couple still play the game daily, even though they've been living together in Manchester since March 2024. And they know other couples who have found their partners through video games: "It's a different way of meeting someone," says Jess. "You both have such a strong mutual love for something already, it's easier to fall in love."

Nate agrees. "I was able to build a lot more of a connection with people I meet in gaming than I ever was able to in a dating app."

A selfie of Nate and Jess on the left, and on the right, a screenshot from World of Warcraft showing Nate proposing with the words, "Will you marry me?"

Nate and Jess (pictured, alongside their virtual engagement), found love online - but not on a dating app

Nate and Jess are not alone. According to some experts, people of their generation are moving away from dating apps and finding love on platforms that were not specifically designed for romance.

And hanging out somewhere online that's instead focused on a shared interest or hobby could allow people to find a partner in a lower-stakes, less pressurised setting than marketing themselves to a gallery of strangers. For some digital-native Gen Zs, it seems, simply doing the things they enjoy can be an alternative to the tyranny of the swipe.

Internet dating at 30 - a turning point?

Since it first appeared with the launch of match.com 30 years ago, online dating has fundamentally altered our relationships. Around 10% of heterosexual people and 24% of LGBT people have met their long-term partner online, according to Pew Research Center.

But evidence suggests that young people are switching off dating apps, with the UK's top 10 seeing a fall of nearly 16%, according to a report published by Ofcom in November 2024. Tinder lost 594,000 users, while Hinge dropped by 131,000, Bumble by 368,000 and Grindr by 11,000, the report said (a Grindr spokesperson said they were "not familiar with this study's source data" and that their UK users "continue to rise year over year").

According to a 2023 Axios study of US college students and other Gen Zers, 79% said they were forgoing regular dating app usage. And in its 2024 Online Nation report, Ofcom said: "Some analysts speculate that for younger people, particularly Gen Z, the novelty of dating apps is wearing off." In a January 2024 letter to shareholders, Match Group Inc - which owns Tinder and Hinge - acknowledged younger people were seeking "a lower pressure, more authentic way to find connections".

"The idea of using a shared interest to meet someone isn't new, but it's been reinvented in this particular moment in time – it signals a desire of Gen Z," says Carolina Bandinelli, an associate professor at Warwick University whose research focuses on the digital technologies of romance.

Getty Images Joggers running in a parkGetty Images

Many younger people are exploring alternatives to dating apps, from gaming to running clubs and other social activities

According to Danait Tesfay, 26, a marketing assistant from London, younger people are looking for alternatives to dating apps, "whether that be gaming or running clubs or extra-curricular clubs, where people are able to meet other like-minded people and eventually foster a romantic connection".

At the same time that membership of some dating apps appears to be in decline, platforms based around common interests are attracting more users. For instance, the fitness app Strava now has 135m users – and its monthly active users grew by 20% last year, according to the company. Other so-called "affinity-based" sites have seen similar growth: Letterboxd, where film fans can share reviews, says its community grew by 50% last year.

Rise of the hobby apps

And just as in the pre-internet age, when couples might have met at a sports club or the cinema, now singletons are able to find each other in their online equivalents.

"People have always bonded over shared interests, but it's been given a digital spin with these online communities," says Luke Brunning, co-director of the Centre for Love, S*x, and Relationships (CLSR) at the University of Leeds.

"It's increasingly difficult to distinguish between behaviour that's on a dating app and dating behaviour on another platform."

Hobby apps are taking on some features of social media, too: in 2023, Strava introduced a messaging feature letting users chat directly. One twenty-something from London explains that her friends use it as a way to flirt with people they fancy, initially by liking a running route they've posted on the platform. Strava says its data shows that one in five of its active Gen Z members has been on a date with someone they met through fitness clubs.

"[Online] fitness communities are becoming big places to find partners," says Nichi Hodgson, the author of The Curious History of Dating. She says a friend of hers met his partner that way, and they're now living together.

The same appears to apply to Letterboxd, too. With users including Chappell Roan and Charli XCX, it's a popular platform for younger people - two-thirds of members in a survey of 5,000 were under 34.

The company says it's aware of several couples meeting through the app, including one who bonded over a shared love of David Fincher's opinion-dividing 2020 drama Mank. "It could be that seeing other people's film tastes reveals an interesting aspect of themselves," says Letterboxd co-founder Matthew Buchanan.

Why the shift?

So what might be driving this? While dating apps initially appeared to offer "the illusion of choice", and a transparent, efficient way to meet partners, the reality for many has often proven to be different. The Pew Research Center found that 46% of dating-app users said their experiences were overall very or somewhat negative.

The recent decline in user numbers might also be a response to the way some apps are structured – in particular, the swipe feature for selecting potential partners, launched by Tinder in 2013 and widely copied.

Its creator, Jonathan Badeen, was partly inspired by studying the 1940s experiments of psychologist BF Skinner, who conditioned hungry pigeons to believe that food delivered randomly into a tray was prompted by their movements.

Getty Images A psychological experiment with pigeons conducted by BF SkinnerGetty Images

Tinder's swipe mechanism was partly inspired by Harvard Professor BF Skinner's psychological experiments with pigeons in order to understand the brain's reward system

Eventually, the swipe mechanism faced a backlash. "Ten years ago, people were enthusiastic and would talk quite openly about what apps they were on," says Ms Hodgson. "Now the Tinder model is dead with many young people – they don't want to swipe any more."

According to Mr Brunning, the gameifying interface of many dating apps is a turn-off. "Intimacy is made simple for you, it's made fun in the short term, but the more you play, the more you feel kind of icky."

The pandemic may have had an impact, too, says Prof Brian Heaphy at the University of Manchester, who has studied dating-app use in and after the lockdowns: "During Covid, dating apps themselves became more like social media – because people couldn't meet up, they were looking for different things."

Although that didn't last after the pandemic, it "gave people a sense that it could be different from just swiping and getting no responses – all the negatives of dating-app culture," says Prof Heaphy.

And in that context, the fact that video games or online communities like Strava or Letterboxd aren't designed for dating can be appealing. By attracting users for a broader range of reasons, there's less pressure on each interaction.

"Those apps aren't offering a commercialised form of romance, so they can seem more authentic," says Prof Heaphy.

The World of Warcraft characters of PurplePixel and Wochi

The humans behind Wochi and PurplePixel (pictured) met while playing World of Warcraft, though they say finding a partner wasn't their original intention

It's a type of connection free from the burden of expectation. A different couple who met on World of Warcraft – and go by the names Wochi and PurplePixel – weren't looking for love. "I definitely didn't go into an online game trying to find a partner," says Wochi.

But although initially in opposing teams, or guilds, their characters started a conversation. "We spent all night talking until the early hours of the morning, and by the end of the night, I'd actually left my guild and joined his guild," says PurplePixel. Within three years, Wochi had quit his job and moved to the UK from Italy to be with her.

According to Ms Hodgson, "While some dating apps can bring out the worst behaviours, these other online spaces can do the opposite, because people are sharing something they enjoy."

Because of these structural elements, she doesn't think the recent decline in numbers is temporary. "It's going to keep happening until dating apps figure out how to put the human aspect back."

New kinds of dating app

The dating apps aren't giving up without a fight, however. Hinge is still "setting up a date every two seconds", according to a spokesperson; Tinder says a relationship starts every three seconds on its platform and that almost 60% of its users are aged 18-30. In fact, the apps appear to be embracing the shift to shared-interest platforms, launching niche alternatives including ones based around fitness, veganism, dog-ownership or even facial hair.

They're also evolving to encourage different kinds of interaction. On Breeze, users who agree to be set up on a date aren't allowed to message each other before they meet; and Jigsaw hides people's faces, only removing pieces to reveal the full photo after a certain amount of interaction.

It means that it's premature to proclaim the death of the dating app, believes Prof Heaphy. "There's now such a diversity of dating apps that the numbers for the biggest ones aren't the key indicator," he says. "It might actually be a similar number to before, in terms of overall membership."

And there's a downside to people going to more general-interest apps looking for love – people might not want to be hit on when they just want to talk about books. Dating apps, at least, are clear about what their purpose is.

What might the future look like?

In an increasingly online world, the solution to improving relationships might not simply be to go offline. Instead, apps that can offer an experience which more closely mirrors the best of IRL interactions, while tapping into the possibilities of digital ones, might also show a way forward.

With the imminent integration of AI into dating apps, we are "right on the cusp of something new", says Mr Brunning. "It's interesting to see if we'll end up with specific apps just for dating, or will we end up with something a bit more fluid?"

He points to platforms in China that are more multi-purpose. "People use them for chat, for community, and conduct business on them – they can also be dating platforms, but they're often not exclusively for that."

In the meantime, the interactions possible in less mediated communities like World of Warcraft could offer more of a chance to connect than conversations initiated by a swipe.

Jess and Nate's in-game engagement on the beach might not have been real, but the couple are hoping to change that soon. "It's a matter of when, really. There are a few things we need to tick off the checklist, and then she'll be getting her ring," says Nate. And there'll still be a gaming element.

"You can role-play getting married," says Jess. "So it could be funny to get all our friends together at some point in the World of Warcraft cathedral, and we could have a marriage ceremony."

Jew s cope that the sjws think they suck and are about to kill them

https://old.reddit.com/r/Jewish/comments/1imz2oe/anyone_else_finding_themselves_feeling_unsafe/

Kayne

https://old.reddit.com/r/hiphopheads/comments/1in68nv/ye_fka_kanye_west_is_being_sued_by_a_former/

Australia is now Austria

All Australian must be eaten by dingos

https://old.reddit.com/r/aussie/comments/1inf6tp/bankstown_hospital_workers_brag_about_killing/

https://old.reddit.com/r/circlejerkaustralia/comments/1ini0zv/remember_kids_god_forbid_your_hospitalised_in/

"Jews should all hide in the attic"

https://old.reddit.com/r/moderatepolitics/comments/1imz01m/judge_denies_attempt_to_block_jewish_students/

Jew murdered and r*ped by subhuman savages.

https://old.reddit.com/r/Jewish/comments/1ineu9e/jewish_actor_wears_pin_to_support_hostages_to/

Gazans cope that they suck and are about to die

https://old.reddit.com/r/anime_titties/comments/1in4brt/netanyahu_says_gaza_ceasefire_will_end_if_hamas/

People like this belong in cages

https://old.reddit.com/r/IsraelPalestine/comments/1in5jf5/israel_and_usa_made_me_fall_in_love_with_hamas/?sort=top

Redditards love schizos

https://old.reddit.com/r/Indiana/comments/1inda5p/spotted_in_lafayette_today/

Pete Hegseth kicked off his day in Germany training with the elite Green Berets of 1/10 SFG, one of the U.S. Army’s most formidable Special Forces units.

Never seen a US Secrtary of defense do this before . pic.twitter.com/I6OMMSU7tx

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) February 11, 2025

They should be more fat and black like SECDEF Austin and go out of commission for a week without telling anyone because they can't take care of their body.

A classical Greek tragedy about hard work, big egos, and French culture.

His fanatical attention to detail, frenetic work ethic, and discerning palate, propelled him to the top of his profession, and earned him a knowledgeable and loyal, but unforgiving and demanding clientele.

In the late 1990s, a new form of Asian-inspired "fusion cuisine" swept France, catering to an international corporate class and pleasing trend-driven "foodies" (a neologism of the movement), which Loiseau resisted.

Loiseau was downgraded from 19/20 to 17/20 in the Gault et Millau guide and received a strong negative media review from the gastronomic critic François Simon in the newspaper Le Figaro, but he still had his three stars in the Michelin Guide. Criticism continued to pour in and the media speculated about a possible future loss of a Michelin star.

But on February 24, 2003, the chef finished his lunchtime service, rolled up his apron and drove home. Telling his ten-year old son – one of three children – to go and play outside, he went upstairs, locked the bedroom door and shot himself in the head with a hunting rifle, a present from his wife.

After his death, three-star chef Jacques Lameloise said Loiseau had once confided, "If I lose a star, I'll kill myself".

Derek Brown, Michelin director at the time, said: "The idea of telling him about the concerns we had about some of his cooking was in order to give him an opportunity to consider whether he wanted to do something about it, which he did, as it turned out."

All in all, a messy story sparking many debates about whether reviewers should really be brutally honest, and if they are unfairly harsh. Perhaps it inspired Ratatouille (2007)?