About

K-Pop YG Leaker refers to a leaked data drop shared by a Discord user named "YG Leaker" in late March 2025. The leak contained several terabytes of information and footage from several major K-pop labels, including YG, Hybe and Blockberry, among others. The leaker claimed to be sharing the information because they were fired, saying that the leaks contained evidence of each company's racism, sexism and mobbing practices (a type of workplace bullying in which employees gang up on an individual). Several K-pop fans scoured the footage released in the tapes and found pre-debut footage of popular K-pop stars like Lisa and Jennie (of the band Blackpink) allegedly saying the "N-word." Some K-pop fans accused Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun of orchestrating the leak to distract from a controversy he was embroiled in after his ex-girlfriend Kim Sae-ron ended her life in February 2025.

Origin

On March 30th, 2025, X^[1] user @dittomatik shared a screenshot from a Discord^[2] channel where a person named "YG Leaker" wrote, "Doing all this because I got fired. I hate the whole company. It's full of mobbing, racism and sexism." and shared several terabytes of videos and information from several K-pop labels and management companies." The post gathered over 388,000 likes in two days.

Spread

Soon after the news of the YG leak spread, internet users began sharing memes, jokes and expressing skepticism about the supposed "leak," with X^[3] user @ViLettuce sharing a meme on March 30th, 2025, noting that the leaker claimed to have "108 TB" of Blockberry media, given that their only major band is LOONA.

Also on March 30th, X^[4] user @nkshouta wrote, "That 223tb immediately made me not believe this 😭 I don’t think y’all understand just how much 223 tb of content is."

Jennie, Rosé and Lisa from Blackpink Saying the N-Word

As the leak spread in late March 2025, several K-pop stans drew their attention to videos of three members of the K-pop band Blackpink allegedly saying a racial slur in singing videos filmed prior to their official debut.

On March 30th, 2025, X^[5] user @hyoyeonatee shared a video compilation of the three artists singing rap songs without censoring the N-word, gathering over 67,000 likes in two days. The video was subsequently removed via "copyright by original owner" but can be accessed via the reupload shown below.

trying to silence me is crazy pic.twitter.com/CDi9DwxuH7

— jia | SULLI DAY 🍑 (@hyoyeonatee) March 31, 2025

Singer Azealia Banks quoted the aforementioned post on her X^[6] account that same day, writing, "Im …….. so sorry this is fucking hilarious," gathering over 145,000 likes in two days.

On March 31st, 2025, the X^[9] account @TheFlopKpop posted a video jokingly comparing the "N word count" between various Blackpink members, gathering over 66,000 likes in a day.

Lisa (6) surpasses Jennie (5) as Blackpink member with most N word count. pic.twitter.com/FzBt20Xj4B

— Flop Kpop (@TheFlopKpop) March 31, 2025

Kim Soo Hyun is The YG Leaker Theories

Prior to the leaks, ​South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun faced allegations of dating actress Kim Sae-ron while she was underage, which were widely spread online in early 2025. Kim Sae-ron, born in July 2000, passed away in February 2025 at the age of 24, with authorities suspecting that she took her own life.

On March 31, 2025, Kim Soo-hyun held a press conference denying the claims, stating their relationship occurred from 2019 to 2020, after she had become an adult, and that their relationship was not linked to her death.

Several K-pop fans accused Kim Soo-hyun and his management team of orchestrating the "YG leak" in order to distract from his own controversies, as seen in a March 30th, 2025, post by X^[7] user @spicycultss that shows a Photoshop edit of the actor standing by a computer screen. The post gathered over 163,000 likes in two days.

Also on March 30th, X^[8] user @alllove7seok shared a Let's See Who This Really Is meme showing the character Fred from Scooby-Doo "unmasking" the YG leaker and revealing him to be Kim Soo-hyun. The post gathered over 72,000 likes in two days.

Search Interest

External References