Bang Si Hyuk, Park JiwonHYBE - Stop Working With Jake Kodish
Dear HYBE and Bighit Music,
We hope this email finds you well. We are writing to express our deep concerns regarding a dancer associated with your agency, Jake Kodish, who has been sharing provoking propaganda on his Instagram (@jakekodish), sharing this with thousands of followers, not showing any media training or media literacy, and has been creating an unsafe environment in many social media spaces, tarnishing not only the reputation of artists he’s associated with but your agency’s reputation for platforming him.
From October 8th until October 14th, Jake Kodish shared multiple malicious propaganda on his Instagram (see attachment 1), including using AI with questionable intentions. Multiple people have voiced their concerns and tried to educate him on the matter, to which he responded childishly, not accepting that his unprofessionalism reflects poorly on Jam Republic Agency and the artists he has worked with (attachment 2). He later deleted a lot of comments regarding the rightful calling out and restricted his Instagram comments to avoid further confrontation.
On October 16th, after not being active on the platform X/Twitter for months, he actively searched for his name, where he provoked more BTS ARMY (attachment 3).
As of October 17th, he has deleted multiple tweets, while still simultaneously replying to fans, in a passive-aggressive way, once again not owning up to his lack of professionalism (attachment 4).
It is important to point out that this is repetitive behaviour in the career of Jake Kodish. In 2019, he was unprofessional and disrespectful towards the internationally famous artist Taylor Swift and her fandom. He has stated “Yes I worked for Taylor Swift but that does not mean I care about her or her life.” (attachment 5).
To quote him once again: “It’s sad to see people who obsess and take time out of their lives to make an Instagram account to be a fan for someone who doesn’t care about you only that you give her money lol.” (attachment 6) He has posted sexually harassing comments towards fans, which is extremely offensive, harmful and unsafe behaviour towards people. (attachment 6)
We do not see any growth in his professional career after 4 years since the last incident.
He has shown no respect for artists and their fandoms, not understanding that an artist-fan relationship is essential. And as of recent, he has shown a disregard for human life being lost in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. As people of various backgrounds and ethnicities, we can’t help but wonder what it makes of an agency that silently supports and enables such a person.
Before we are fans, we are people. One’s personal beliefs and stances are one thing, but actively supporting the ethnic cleansing of innocent civilians is not a belief. It is complicity in this crime.
Please take our concerns seriously, as humans who are in mourn for the innocent lives lost.
We humbly request that HYBE/Bighit Music address this matter promptly. We ask you to take the right measurements. We urge your agency, at the least, to release a statement regarding this matter urgently.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Regards,
BTS ARMY
screenshots and proof regarding Jake Kodish