Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety chief awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change in response to buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Primetime Emmys Predictions Commentary All Categories (Updated: June 24, 2026): With just two weeks remaining until nominations for the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards are announced, plenty of surprises, snubs and overperformers are still waiting to reveal themselves.

As it stands, Variety is projecting Apple TV’s dystopian sci-fi drama “Pluribus” to lead all programs with 22 nominations. That haul would include drama series, acting bids for Rhea Seehorn, Carlos-Manuel Vesga and Karolina Wydra, along with multiple nominations in both directing and writing.

Close behind is HBO Max’s reigning drama champion “The Pitt,” which is forecast to collect 21 nominations. After earning just three acting nominations last year, for Noah Wyle, Katherine LaNasa and Shawn Hatosy, the medical drama is poised for a major expansion. We’re currently projecting 10 acting nominations overall, including four supporting actress mentions and three supporting actor bids.

The comedy race could produce its own record-breaking story. The fifth and final season of “Hacks” is on track to earn 18 nominations, which would surpass “Schitt’s Creek” (2020) as the most-nominated comedy series in its final season. But just as in drama, Apple TV and HBO Max could find themselves battling for supremacy. The late-breaking horror-comedy sensation “Widow’s Bay” is projected to earn 18 nominations, including acting bids for Matthew Rhys, breakout Kate O’Flynn, Stephen Root and guest performers Betty Gilpin and Hamish Linklater.

In limited series, FX’s “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette” appears set for a strong showing with 19 noms, including acting bids for Sarah Pidgeon and Alessandro Nivola, along with a trio of supporting actress mentions for Grace Gummer, Naomi Watts and Constance Zimmer. Netflix’s second season of the anthology series “Beef” is expected to follow closely behind with 17 nominations, including directing nods for creator Lee Sung Jin and Jake Schreier.

The streamer could also score a second limited series contender with “The Beast in Me,” which would give Matthew Rhys a potential double-nomination morning alongside “Widow’s Bay.” Other performers with multiple nominations in their sights include Michelle Pfeiffer, who is expected to contend for both Taylor Sheridan’s “The Madison” and David E. Kelley’s “Margo’s Got Money Troubles.” We’re also watching Laurie Metcalf, who could collect as many as three acting nominations, and Jeff Hiller, who similarly has three opportunities to hear his name called.

Apple TV’s third season of “Shrinking” is positioned for a healthy morning, with a projected 12 nominations, including supporting actor mentions for Harrison Ford and Michael Urie. Meanwhile, the final season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” is forecast to return to double digits with 11 nominations, including a directing bid for the Duffer Brothers for helming the series finale.

FX’s “The Bear” is expected to maintain its place in the comedy series lineup despite a more divisive response to its fourth season. However, we’re currently predicting misses for former winners Ayo Edebiri and Liza Colón-Zayas in their respective acting categories. Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” could rebound from last year’s seven-nomination haul and return to double digits, including another lead comedy actor nomination for Martin Short, who is currently at the top of his category.

HBO Max’s mystery series “DTF St. Louis” is positioned to land 10 noms, led by its principal cast of Jason Bateman, Linda Cardellini and presumed acting frontrunner David Harbour. Bateman could emerge as one of nomination morning’s biggest winners, with three potential mentions: acting and executive producing on “DTF St. Louis” and directing Netflix’s “Black Rabbit.” He could get two more if the series, along with his lead acting bid, makes the cut.

Elsewhere, Hulu’s thriller “Paradise” is projected to improve on its previous Emmy performance with eight nominations, while ABC’s mockumentary “Abbott Elementary” hopes to tick up to seven.

Of course, Emmy nomination morning isn’t only about programs and performers. It’s also about studios and platforms competing for bragging rights.

Netflix is projected to lead all distributors with 124 nominations, surpassing its 120 mentions from last year. HBO Max, which shattered its own personal best with 142 nominations in 2025, is expected to settle closer to 108 this year. Apple TV, meanwhile, could enjoy its strongest Emmy showing yet with an estimated 85 nominations, surpassing last year’s company-best total of 79.

Perhaps most impressively, HBO Max is projected to place seven series in the top-program categories, up from five a year ago, and the most since its 2012 haul. 

Apple TV could place five, including an extraordinary three comedy series contenders. The last distributor to pull off that feat was FX in 2024 with “The Bear,” “Reservation Dogs” and “What We Do in the Shadows.”

If these projections are accurate (spoiler alert: we expect to be off in a few spots), Emmy morning will set up a potentially wide-open race in all three top series categories. 

Down below are the final picks in 115 categories.

Emmy nominations will be announced on July 8. Final-round voting takes place Aug. 17-26 ahead of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards and Governors Gala on Sept. 5-6. The Primetime Emmy Awards will air Sept. 14 on NBC.

Projected nomination leaders (series): “Pluribus” (22); “The Pitt” (21); “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette” (19); “Hacks” and “Widow’s Bay” (18); “Beef” (17); “Shrinking” (12); “Stranger Things” (11); “The Bear,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “DTF St. Louis,” “The Oscars,” “Saturday Night Live,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “Spider-Noir” (10); “The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny” and “The Beast in Me” (9); “Paradise” (8)

Projected nomination leaders (networks): Netflix (124); HBO Max (108); Apple TV (85); FX (37); Hulu (35); Prime Video (31); ABC (30); CBS (29); NBC (23); Comedy Central and MTV (12); Paramount+ and Peacock (11); Disney+ (10)

Twice member Jeongyeon is reportedly in talks with Varo Entertainment, the management agency behind breakout actor Byeon Woo-seok and actress Gong Seung-yeon, her older sister, as the K-pop singer prepares for her big-screen debut.

According to local media reports Wednesday, Jeongyeon recently held a private meeting with Varo Entertainment to discuss potential acting activities. A company official confirmed the meeting but said no decision has been made regarding an exclusive contract.

"It is true that we met with Jeongyeon," the official was quoted as saying. "However, nothing has been finalized regarding an exclusive contract."

Jeongyeon is set to make her film debut in “New Recruit: The Movie,” based on the popular ENA TV series "New Recruit." Scheduled for release in the second half of this year, the film will mark her first screen appearance in a decade. She is expected to play a military nurse officer.

The singer’s agency, JYP Entertainment, said the matter comes as Twice members are currently discussing contract renewals.

"Twice is currently in a period of renewal discussions," JYP Entertainment said in a statement shared with The Korea Herald. "The company and the members are continuing careful discussions while respecting each other's wishes. We will provide an update once matters are finalized."

Whether the members will pursue individual activities under separate agencies while continuing group promotions as Twice, or remain under a single agency, remains unclear.

Twice debuted in October 2015 and renewed their contracts as a full nine-member group in July 2022 after completing its initial seven-year term. While the length of the latter contracts has not been disclosed, K-pop singer renewal agreements typically run for two to three years, making this a likely period for another round of negotiations.

Love Island USA diehards won't just give you a frontrunner. They'll give you a breakdown: who seemed off at the fire pit, what the latest recoupling exposed, whether the newest bombshell is turning heads or flopping on arrival, and which Islander the internet has vilified, redeemed, or crowned overnight.

The format all but demands it—a show that airs six nights a week does not invite viewers to sample so much as obsess.

Last summer's seventh season of Love Island USA marked the show's transition from hit to cultural phenomenon: the six-week, 37-episode run generated more than 18.4 billion streaming minutes on Peacock. The streamer said 49% of the audience was new to the franchise, while viral TikTok clips—including a season-defining "mamacita" exchange between Islanders Huda Mustafa and Nic Vansteenberghe—gave casual scrollers a way into the villa. The eighth season of Love Island USA premiered on June 2 to an even bigger audience: the first three episodes reached 824 million total streaming minutes, up 74% from last season's launch.

When a fandom this massive is already doing the forecasting work of analysts, the pipeline from group chat guesswork to prediction markets is, well, evidently short. Love Island USA markets have amassed more than $20 million in trading volume on Kalshi across this season's first two weeks. It's an enormous figure for an entertainment offering—for context, the latest Oscars race for Best Picture, the premier awards-betting event, drew $25 million in trading volume.

With four weeks left before the finale, Love Island USA is testing whether social-media dominance can translate into record trading volume for a television show—and whether the show's female-skewing audience can reshape who trades on prediction markets.

Love Island USA Odds

Here's a look at the Love Island USA winning couple odds, per Kalshi.

The Love Island USA winning couple market currently prices Trinity Tatum and Bryce Dettloff as the favorites, with a 34% implied win probability. But the show's main question isn't even the biggest draw: $2.8 million in trading volume still trails the Week 2 elimination market, which closed with $3.3 million traded—and in that case, fans were not just forecasting the outcome. They were helping decide it.

Contestants are "dumped" from the show when they fail to "couple up," get booted by their fellow Islanders, or are voted out by viewers. That turned last week's fan vote, the first of this season, into a stress test for the show as a tradable event. The same fans who flooded the online poll—enough to crash the Love Island USA app before sending it to the top of the App Store—may have been among the traders pouring $3.3 million into a market whose outcome they had the power to shape.

Unlike a reality competition show such as Survivor, which is taped months in advance and may be vulnerable to leaks that can tip the markets, Love Island unfolds close to real time. Episodes premiere on a one-to-two-day delay, and dumped Islanders are sequestered, without phones, until their elimination airs. The spoiler-resistant structure helps preserve the show's integrity, but it also creates a twist for prediction markets, where the outcome is not being compromised by leaked information so much as informed by the same public trying to price it. That makes fan fluency commercially valuable. Kalshi is showing up where the fandom already lives, sponsoring influencer podcasts that are turning episode recaps into market analysis.

The show's popularity could mark a turning point for prediction markets. Kalshi says roughly 75% of its users are male. Love Island USA has not released comparable audience demographics, though the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board estimates that 58% of Love Island UK viewers are female. Kalshi has not yet disclosed the demographics of traders in its Love Island USA markets. Still, prediction markets operate on a simple premise: prices get smarter when a more diverse public participates—and a crowd dominated by one kind of trader can only be so wise. Love Island USA's significance in the marketplace may have little to do with forecasting the winner of a reality dating show, and everything to do with bringing prediction markets closer to the wisdom of crowds they promise to harness.

Since its premiere on June 5, Netflix's original Korean drama Teach You a Lesson has held the No.1 spot on the Netflix Global Non-English TV chart for two consecutive weeks. According to data from Netflix's official Tudum platform, in its second week (June 8–14), the series racked up 21.1 million views and 225.8 million hours viewed, outperforming all English-language series in the same period to rank as the No.1 title across all Netflix programming worldwide. Forbes hailed it as "one of the best shows of the year so far."

Backed by both commercial dominance and global conversation, Teach You a Lesson has evolved into a cultural phenomenon that is actively polarizing public opinion. Across social platforms, the debate is intensifying: Can it hold onto its global No.1 position for a third consecutive week?

Why Has Teach You a Lesson Gone Global?

Teach You a Lesson imagines an institution that doesn't exist in reality: the "Education Rights Protection Bureau"—staffed by investigators with special forces backgrounds, empowered to intervene in schools with virtually no constraints, using physical force and psychological deterrence to deal with bullies, corrupt teachers, and overstepping parents.Looking at Netflix's global non-English hit landscape, crime thrillers, survival games, and revenge dramas have long been the three representative genres. School-set productions, meanwhile, have tended to focus either on youthful romance or the classic "bullying victim endures and fights back" narrative. Almost none have turned their lens on the structural failures of the education system itself. Teach You a Lesson seized this narrative blue ocean market, delving into the erosion of teacher authority and the breakdown of administrative grievance channels. It retains the pacing and catharsis of a "guilty pleasure" drama while grounding its story in an educational setting that the vast majority of viewers have personally experienced.

This "blue ocean effect" is reflected in the numbers. Within the same "vicarious gratification" drama category, Taxi Driver focuses on vigilante justice centered around a relatively niche professional group—taxi drivers; Weak Hero Class touches on school bullying but operates on a much smaller scale. Neither broke the 10-million-view mark in its opening week. Teach You a Lesson, by contrast, uses the education system as its entry point, posting 6.4 million views in its first week (with only three days on air) and surging to 21.1 million in the second week, a 3.3x week-over-week growth rate that far exceeds the historical performance of comparable titles.

From a psychological standpoint, this breakout can be attributed to two key mechanisms at play. First, the short-term feedback mechanism. Teach You a Lesson, however, presents a complete feedback loop: "problem emerges—iron fist intervenes—problem resolved." Viewers receive in 45 minutes the kind of resolution that might take months or even years to obtain in the real world. This high-frequency, high-certainty feedback model has a natural stickiness advantage in an era of fragmented attention spans.Second, the compensatory effect. When individuals are persistently eroded by institutional powerlessness in reality, a psychological need for compensation emerges. Teachers silenced by the system and students suffering from bullying find a powerful, cathartic response in the drama.In short, Teach You a Lesson creatively uses a fictional solution to fill a narrative void, tapping into universally shared anxiety.

When "The Iron Fist" Becomes the Only Certainty

Yet the show's true value extends far beyond its visceral thrill. The inspector's iron fist is undeniably effective, but as the story unfolds, viewers begin to see the cost: the very system of "fighting violence with violence" begins to corrupt itself.Unlike The Glory, which offers a neatly contained arc of revenge and resolution, Teach You a Lesson presents a legitimized coercive institution. Viewers find themselves both rooting for the inspectors and quietly disturbed by what they're rooting for—an unease they cannot easily dismiss. When the system fails to deliver justice, vigilante justice becomes the only alternative; yet once that alternative becomes the rule, it rapidly mutates into a new form of violence. This cognitive dissonance, namely the simultaneous activation of conflicting beliefs in psychology, drives viewers back to the series in search of answers. The show's IMDb rating has held steady at 8.6 two weeks after its premiere, and the proportion of long-form reviews is notably higher than that of comparable hits. This suggests that audiences need more time to articulate their "mixed feelings"—which in itself is a market-side reflection of the show's narrative depth.

Week 3: Holding the Throne, or Sliding Off?

Which brings us back to the question everyone is asking: Can Teach You a Lesson hold its No.1 position on Netflix's global charts in Week 3?As a Netflix original produced by YLAB PLEX and GTist, adapted from a popular webtoon, Teach You a Lesson benefits from a proven production model while delivering a degree of narrative depth that is rare in its genre. Nevertheless, the Netflix series typically follows a trajectory of "first-week breakout, second-week peak, third-week decline." Teach You a Lesson, however, posted a second-week viewership 3.3 times its first—a level of explosive growth that may have consumed a significant portion of its remaining runway.Besides, critics have pointed out that the show's "vicarious gratification" may be a "one-time consumption" experience. Once viewers have released that pent-up emotional pressure, rewatch rates and long-tail engagement tend to be limited.

So, back to the now: do you think Teach You a Lesson will maintain its No.1 spot on Netflix's global lists for a third week?

Polymarket has been banned from letting U.S. users trade on its website since 2022. But the company is waging a secret campaign for Americans’ attention on social media, paying creators to film trades on fake websites and hiring overseas workers to make the videos go viral in the U.S., a Wall Street Journal investigation found.

The campaign bolstered the perception that Polymarket lets users make fast and easy money, as the company attempts to bring its offshore website back to the U.S.

In response to our reporting, Polymarket said in a statement that it was “committed to maintaining accurate, fair, and transparent markets. We are part of a rapidly growing industry and are constantly evaluating ways to improve how we’re engaging and earning the trust of our audience.” It said it would conduct an audit of active promotional content.

Polymarket has a data partnership with Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal. We only used publicly available data in our analysis.

Here are three takeaways from our investigation:

Fake bets, fake wins

We reviewed more than 1,100 videos made by 10 of Polymarket’s more than 100 creators. In 70% of the videos, creators appeared to place a bet on websites that looked nearly identical to Polymarket, but were actually dummy sites the company used to film fake trades. Many of the creators didn’t disclose they were paid by Polymarket until we reached out.

Around 10% of the videos went even further, adding outdated footage or fake headlines to imply they won their bets. Those videos depicted the creators winning almost $900,000. We traced how each bet would have actually been resolved and found that in reality, the creators—and anyone who had placed identical bets—would actually have lost more than $166,000.

U.S. advertising law requires brands to be truthful about what they are promoting, although there is some gray area about what is permitted. Commodities law, which governs prediction markets, also bars deceptive and misleading practices. In response to our reporting, a spokeswoman for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said that prediction markets should be brought onshore, where they can be more effectively policed. A spokesman for the Federal Trade Commission declined to comment.

Polymarket gave its creators bulletpointed scripts and reviewed videos before publishing, people who have worked with the company said. If a video was obviously faked, the creator would be asked to remake it.

An army of social media users

To make the videos go viral, Polymarket worked with thousands of low-wage social-media users—often teens based in Asia—to repost the videos from sockpuppet accounts that hid their Polymarket affiliation. The strategy, called “clipping,” is designed to create the appearance of a groundswell of authentic interest in a product or brand.

In a group chat, a marketing contractor for Polymarket wrote that if users reposting the clips had a social-media account with “Polymarket” or “poly” in the title, they wouldn’t be paid.

Many of the clippers’ videos specifically promote Polymarket’s website, which the company is barred from offering to U.S. traders. But clippers are only paid if at least 60% of their viewers are U.S.-based, according to instructional documents we reviewed.

Insider influencers

Polymarket’s CEO Shayne Coplan says the company is cracking down on insider trading. The company recently launched a webpage devoted to integrity that reads: “Insider trading is strictly prohibited.” Coplan himself described concerns about insider trading on Polymarket as “outlandish and baseless.”

But the company has simultaneously been paying social-media creators to disseminate short clips of online celebrities talking about how easy it would be to use inside information to trade on the platform.

One of those celebrities is Adin Ross, a 25-year-old manosphere phenomenon. Polymarket paid Ross millions of dollars for a marketing deal, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

Polymarket’s clipping campaign paid to promote a video of Ross saying he could easily use insider information to trade on the release date of an album by Drake, a hip-hop star and Ross’s acquaintance. Representatives for Ross and Drake declined to comment.

We found at least 18 other videos Polymarket paid to promote that discussed opportunities for insider trading.

Source: https://www.wsj.com/business/media/we-investigated-polymarkets-deceptive-marketing-campaign-heres-what-we-found-51169858

The Crossover Market 

Beyond the fierce match odds, entertainment prop bets surrounding this World Cup are equally blazing, "Who will headline the opening ceremony?" "Will an official track crack the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10?" "What will be the first song performed at the opening ceremony?"... Every novelty bet reflects the massive crossover ambition of the official music campaign. As of the 16th, this mammoth 19-track album has already surpassed 130 million cumulative streams on Spotify.

With an unprecedented tournament expansion, a historic three-nation co-hosting, and an opening ceremony scaled up like never before, the 2026 North American World Cup has reached the absolute pinnacle of sports entertainment. Mirroring this grand scale is an incredibly ambitious push for cultural diversity. FIFA President Gianni Infantino proudly proclaimed, "FIFA has assembled an exceptionally powerful ‘music squad’ that truly befits the largest single-sport event in history. From global superstars to breakthrough voices shaping the future of music, the 2026 World Cup Official Album brings together artists across continents, languages, and genres. It is a project designed to unite fans worldwide through the power of music and football."

But did this album actually receive the equally massive market embrace he envisioned?

The Divergence in Streaming Performance

Cruel social media metrics have delivered a jaw-dropping answer, highlighted by the stark contrast between two specific tracks. First up is the actual Official Anthem—"DNA." Its lineup is nothing short of legendary: the world's greatest blind tenor Andrea Bocelli anchors the track with an epic feel, EDM godfather David Guetta handles the production, rising star EJAE (who skyrocketed to global fame this year with the movie Kpop Demon Hunter) lends her vocals, and three-time Grammy winner Megan Thee Stallion drops a blistering rap. Yet, despite this high-profile, near-flawless "dream team" configuration, the track scraped just over 2 million views on YouTube and hovered around 4.8 million streams on Spotify—making virtually no waves in the vast ocean of the internet.

On the flip side sits "Champions," the unofficial anthem by internet sensation IShowSpeed. The official tracklist was originally locked in at 18 songs, but the viral frenzy surrounding "Champions" was so overwhelming—shattering tens of millions of views within days of its release—that FIFA and the album producers bowed to public demand, "recruiting" the track into the official album. On the Spotify charts, "Champions" now sits comfortably near the top, outperforming the vast majority of the "pro squad" with numbers more than double those of "DNA," trailing only World Cup veteran Shakira and the blockbuster collab featuring LISA, Anitta, and Rema.

Today's younger demographic has developed severe fatigue toward overly polished, politically correct, assembly-line corporate products. A prime example is "We Are One" from the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, which closely mirrored Shakira's 2010 track "Waka Waka" in terms of artist configuration and production. Yet, due to the same underlying factors, an excessive sense of industrialization prevented it from gaining expected momentum, resulting in a highly lukewarm public reception. While "Champions" might be low-budget and consist largely of manic shouting, it carries a raw, unadulterated emotional energy that makes it the true choice of people.

So, which track do you think reigns supreme on this year's official World Cup album?

Chronological Overview of Objective Facts Given the chaotic and mixed narratives surrounding this incident online, the objective facts presented in this article are analyzed and compiled strictly based on two authoritative documents released by Kim Garam’s side, both bearing the official seal or signature of the South Korean School Violence Countermeasures Committee. Unilateral statements, including but not limited to those from Kim Garam herself or her former agency HYBE, are excluded from this analysis.

The two objective and authoritative documents referenced here are selected from a set of three documents published through her friend's social media account: namely, the Notification of School Violence Committee Results and the School Violence Committee Mediation Minutes. The third document, titled School Violence Committee Mediation Minutes (Case Summary), is excluded due to the absence of an official seal or signature, rendering its authorship and authority untraceable.

First, the Notification Report explicitly states the conclusion: "The perpetrator student, Kim Garam, shall undergo 6 hours of special educational training in accordance with Article 17, Paragraph 1, Item 5, and her parents shall undergo 5 hours of special educational training." Therefore, Kim Garam's involvement in school violence is an objective outcome recognized by both legal and administrative procedures.

According to the Mediation Minutes, the chronological sequence of the incident is as follows:

1. Due to the victim student gossiping behind their backs, Kim Garam and seven others took the victim to a nearby apartment and subjected her to verbal abuse for three hours.
2. The victim student subsequently hacked into the social media account of one of the involved students and publicly posted a photo of another student wearing only underwear.
3. Following this leak, Kim Garam directed further verbal attacks, including but not limited to threats and insults such as "I'll kill you if you refuse," at the victim student.

At the end of the Mediation Minutes, the recording committee member emphasized once more: "Do any students or parents believe there is any content in the case summary that does not align with the facts?" Neither Kim Garam nor any of the involved students or parents raised any objections. Consequently, the cause, course, and conclusion of the aforementioned incident—including the statements made and actions taken—stand as objective facts agreed upon by both parties. 

The original files of the complete documents released by Kim Garam's side are attached at the end of this article.

Analysis of Current Public Traction

Prior to the official announcement of her new exclusive contract, Kim Garam had already created her personal Instagram account in May 2025. As of the official announcement date, she has garnered over 1 million followers despite having posted only 8 updates. Furthermore, three months ago, she began sharing her daily life at Konkuk University and her acting coursework on YouTube, accumulating approximately 270,000 subscribers across just 8 videos. Consequently, her current starting point in terms of public traction is undisputedly higher than that of any typical rookie actor.

However, given that her former agency and her former group, LE SSERAFIM, are currently on a thriving, upward trajectory, the label of "former member" will remain tightly bound to her career until she can achieve a level of popularity and professional strength that completely overshadows her past association.

Future Career Projections

The agency Kim Garam has signed with, Management Koo, is a well-established, actor-exclusive agency representing numerous veteran, heavyweight actors alongside rising rookies. In recent years, the opportunities secured by the agency for its rookie talent have mostly consisted of supporting roles in non-mainstream series; however, given that the production entities are major South Korean broadcasters like SBS and the lead actors hold substantial recognition, it can be inferred that the agency possesses a solid network of industry resources.

In their official statement, Management Koo explained that they scouted Kim Garam after reviewing her YouTube videos, noting her versatile talents across acting, singing, and dancing. Typically, when dealing with controversial public figures, talent agencies tend to opt for a "low-risk, soft-landing" strategy—meaning they will likely arrange for her to debut via minor roles in web dramas. Given Kim Garam's background as an idol, this may also extend to her lending her vocals to the series' official soundtracks (OSTs).

Appendix

1. Notification of School Violence Committee Results

2. School Violence Committee Mediation Minutes 

Olivia Rodrigo’s third studio album, "you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love," shattered records on its release day, raking in over 80 million streams. It also earned a stellar 8.3 rating from Pitchfork, alongside their coveted "Best New Music" red badge.

Between these massive commercial numbers and glowing critical acclaim, she has officially cemented her status as the undisputed number one female artist of the Gen Z generation.

This frenzy has even spilled over into prediction markets; on Kalshi and Polymarket, trading volume for betting contracts regarding her third album's sales has surpassed $185,000.

Why has Olivia exploded into such a phenomenon among Gen Z?

Her music seamlessly blends a youthful, girlhood romanticism with '90s revival rock, speaking directly to the collective anxiety and sense of lack that defines Gen Z. Her lyrics are disarmingly blunt and deeply introspective, capturing the exact quality that gives Gen Z artists their ultimate leverage: Authenticity.

Olivia is incredibly intentional with her musical storytelling. Back in SOUR, she was just a teenager trapped in the bitter aftertaste of a first heartbreak. But in this new album, she navigates her first real "Big Girl Relationship." The dizzying highs and lows of her highly publicized romance with Louis Partridge are laid bare in meticulous detail. For instance, in "drop dead," she captures a love so dizzying it makes her head spin, leaving her in disbelief: "I'm paranoid I made you up." The title track, "stupid song," dissects the dread, the scrutiny, the feelings of inadequacy, and the intense possessiveness of love. Then, in "the cure," creeping suspicions and body image insecurities begin to warp the relationship's "correct narrative," leading all the way to the album's closing declaration: "I resent you."

This trajectory heavily mirrors Taylor Swift’s early rise—fueled by an endless well of girlhood angst and romance. Yet, an implicit bias still lingers across the music industry and broader cultural circles: the idea that singing about politics or societal issues represents a "higher," more profound form of grand narrative art, while the "sad girl pop" of Taylor and Olivia—built on love and teenage heartbreak—is somehow trivial.But Olivia’s brilliance lies in how she strips away the celebrity glare.

While she might be writing about Louis, she is ultimately reflecting the emotional tug-of-war, mental exhaustion, and self-examination that every ordinary Gen Z experiences in modern relationships. Because she transforms a private diary into a collective resonance, she elevates these "girlhood matters" into something with immense cultural weight that transcends social class and gender. It is the ultimate payoff when personal growth and a razor-sharp artistic persona align in perfect harmony.

The Road Ahead for Olivia

Olivia's commercial dominance was already a given the moment she announced a massive, multi-night tour right alongside the album drop. Having fully locked down "arena-level" venues this time around, her next tour will undoubtedly make the leap to full-scale stadiums.Furthermore, her collaboration with the legendary Robert Smith on this album signals that she is actively shedding the "teen pop" label. Backed by Pitchfork's high praise, she is poised to sweep major, authoritative industry awards later this year.

Olivia is fast becoming a visual and aesthetic icon in her own right. Her signature brand of vintage romanticism is elevating her from just a "singer" or "songwriter" into a definitive artist of the Gen Z era. By her next record, she will almost certainly move past the topic of romance to tackle more complex, adult themes, completing yet another evolution of her artistic identity.So, coming back to the present moment: what do you think Olivia’s first-week album sales will look like?

PLEASE REMEMBER: These forecasts do not necessarily reflect my personal preferences. My aim is not to advocate for what I think the members of the Television Academy should do, but rather to project what they will do.

A NOTE FROM SCOTT: The nominations round of Primetime Emmys voting officially kicked off last Thursday and is open until Monday, June 22. Then, things will go quiet until the nominees are announced on Wednesday, July 8. Below is my latest read of 35 categories encompassing programs — narrative, nonfiction, variety, reality and animation — as well as performances, hosting and casting.

Best Drama Series

'The Testaments'DISNEY/STEVE WILKIE

Frontrunners
1. The Pitt (HBO Max, s. 2, 15 eps., 1/8/26-4/16/26)
2. Pluribus (Apple TV, s. 1, 9 eps., 11/7/25-12/24/25)
3. The Diplomat (Netflix, s. 3, 8 eps., 10/16/25)
4. Task (HBO, s. 1, 7 eps., 9/7/25-10/19/25)
5. Slow Horses (Apple TV, s. 5, 6 eps., 9/24/25-10/29/25)
6. Paradise (Hulu, s. 2, 8 eps., 2/23/26-3/30/26)
7. Stranger Things (Netflix, s. 5, 8 eps., 11/26/25-12/31/25)
8. The Testaments (Hulu, s. 1, 10 eps., 4/8/26-5/27/26)

Major Threats
9. Fallout (Prime Video, s. 2, 8 eps., 12/16/25-2/3/26)
10. Euphoria (HBO, s. 3, 8 eps., 4/12/26-5/31/26)
11. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (HBO, s. 1, 6 eps., 1/18/26-2/22/26)
12. Landman (Paramount+, s. 2, 10 eps., 11/16/25-1/18/26)

Possibilities
10. The Gilded Age (HBO, s. 3, 8 eps., 6/22/25-8/10/25)
14. The Morning Show (Apple TV, s. 4, 10 eps., 9/17/25-11/19/25)
15. The Madison (Paramount+, s. 1, 6 eps., 3/14/26-3/21/26)
16. The Audacity (AMC, s. 1, 8 eps., 4/12/26-5/31/26)

Long Shots
17. Industry (HBO, s. 4, 8 eps., 1/11/26-3/1/26)
18. The Boys (Prime Video, s. 5, 8 eps., 4/8/26-5/20/26)
19. The Night Manager (Amazon Prime, s. 2, 6 eps., 1/1/26-2/1/26)
20. The Boroughs (Netflix, s. 1, 8 eps., 5/21/26)

Best Comedy Series

'The Four Seasons' EMILY V ARAGONES/NETFLIX

Frontrunners
1. Hacks (HBO Max, s. 5, 10 eps., 4/9/26-5/28/26)
2. Shrinking (Apple TV, s. 3, 11 eps., 1/28/26-4/8/26)
3. Only Murders in the Building (Hulu, s. 5, 10 eps., 9/9/25-10/28/25)
4. Abbott Elementary (ABC, s. 5, 22 eps., 10/1/25-4/22/26)
5. Nobody Wants This (Netflix, s. 2, 10 eps., 10/23/25)
6. Margo’s Got Money Troubles (Apple TV, s. 1, 8 eps., 4/15/26-5/20/26)
7. Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat (Prime Video, s. 2, 8 eps., 3/20/26-4/3/26)
8. The Bear (FX, s. 4, 10 eps., 6/25/25)

Major Threats
9. Widow’s Bay (Apple TV, s. 1, 7 eps., 4/29/26-6/17/26)
10. I Love LA (HBO, s. 1, 8 eps., 11/2/25-12/21/25)
11. The Lowdown (FX, s. 1, 8 eps., 9/23/25-11/4/25)
12. Rooster (HBO, s. 1, TBD eps., 3/8/26-TBD)
13. The Comeback (HBO, s. 3, 8 eps., 3/22/26-5/10/26)
14. The Four Seasons (Netflix, s. 2, 8 eps., 5/28/26)
15. Wonder Man (Disney+, s. 1, 8 eps., 1/27/26)

Possibilities
16. Big Mistakes (Netflix, s. 1, 8 eps., 4/9/26)
17. The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins (NBC, s. 1, 10 eps., 1/18/26-4/13/26)
18. Wednesday (Netflix, s. 2, 8 eps., 8/6/25-9/3/25)
19. Spider-Noir (Prime Video, s. 1, 8 eps., 5/27/26)
20. Ted (Peacock, s. 2, 8 eps., 3/5/26)
21. Poker Face (Peacock, s. 2, 12 eps., 5/8/25-7/10/25)

Long Shots
22. Palm Royale (Apple TV, s. 2, 10 eps., 11/12/25-1/14/26)
23. Elsbeth (CBS, s. 3, 20 eps., 10/12/25-TBD)
24. A Man on the Inside (Netflix, s. 2, 8 eps., 11/20/25)
25. The Chair Company (HBO, s. 1, 8 eps., 10/12/25-11/30/25)
26. The Hunting Wives (Netflix, s. 1, 8 eps., 7/21/25)
27. Stick (Apple TV, s. 1, 10 eps, 6/3/25-7/22/25
28. The ‘Burbs (Peacock, s. 1, 8 eps., 2/8/26)

Best Limited or Anthology Series

'DTF St. Louis'COURTESY OF HBO

Frontrunners
1. Love Story (FX/FX on Hulu, s. 1, 8 eps., 2/12/26-3/26/26)
2. Beef (Netflix, s. 2, 8 eps., 4/16/26)
3. The Beast in Me (Netflix, s. 1, 8 eps., 11/13/25)
4. All Her Fault (Peacock, s. 1, 8 eps., 11/7/25-12/26/25)
5. DTF St. Louis (HBO Max, s. 1, 7 eps., 3/1/26-4/12/26)

Major Threats
6. Half Man (HBO, s. 1, 6 eps., 4/23/26-TBD)
7. Black Rabbit (Netflix, s. 1, 8 eps., 9/18/25)
8. Lord of the Flies (Netflix, s. 1, 4 eps., 5/4/26)
9. Monster: The Ed Gein Story (Netflix, s. 1, 8 eps., 10/3/25)

Possibilities
10. Bait (Prime Video, s. 1, 6 eps., 3/25/26)
11. Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen (Netflix, s. 1, 8 eps., 3/26/26)
12. Death by Lightning (Netflix, s. 1, 4 eps., 11/6/25)
13. Imperfect Women (Apple TV, s. 1, 8 eps., 3/18/26-4/29/26)

Long Shots
14. The Girlfriend (Prime Video, s. 1, 6 eps., 9/10/25)
15. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox (Hulu, s. 1, 8 eps., 8/20/25-10/1/25)
16. Hal & Harper (Mubi, s. 1, 8 eps., 10/19/25)
17. Red Alert (Paramount+, s. 1, 4 eps., 107/25)

Best Movie

'Miss You, Love You'JORDIN ALTHAUS/HBO

Frontrunners
1. Remarkably Bright Creatures (Netflix, 5/8/26)
2. Deep Cover (Prime Video, 6/12/25)
3. Swiped (Hulu, 9/19/25)
4. Miss You, Love You (HBO, TBD)
5. Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice (Hulu, 3/27/26)

Major Threats
6. Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan Ghost War (Prime Video, 5/20/26)
7. People We Meet on Vacation (Netflix, 1/9/26)
8. The Best You Can (Apple TV, 6/7/25)

Possibilities
9. Echo Valley (Apple TV, 6/13/25)
10. Heads of State (Prime Video, 7/2/25)
11. Pizza Movie (Hulu, 3/13/26)

Long Shots
12. Love, Again (Lifetime, 5/9/26)
13. Oh. What. Fun. (Prime Video, 12/3/25)
14. Straw (Netflix, 6/6/25)
15. Ruth and Boaz (Netflix, 9/26/25)

Best Variety Series

Bill Maher on 'Real Time with Bill Maher'COURTESY OF HBO

Frontrunners
1. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS, s. 11, 118 eps., 9/2/25-TBD) — podcast [Stephen Colbert]
2. Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC, s. 24, TBD eps., 9/2/25-TBD) — podcast[Jimmy Kimmel]
3. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO, s. 13, TBD eps., 2/15/26-TBD)
4. Saturday Night Live (NBC, s. 51, 20 eps., 10/4/25-TBD) — podcast[Lorne Michaels]
5. The Daily Show (Comedy Central, s. 31, TBD eps., 1/5/26-TBD)

Major Threats
6. Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC, s. 13, TBD eps., 9/22/25-TBD) — podcast [Seth Meyers]
7. Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO, s. 24, TBD eps., 1/23/26-TBD) — podcast [Bill Maher]
8. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC, s. 13, TBD eps., 9/22/25-TBD) — podcast [Jimmy Fallon]

Possibilities
9. Hot Ones (YouTube, s. 28, 12 eps., 9/18/25-12/4/25) — podcast [Sean Evans]
10. It’s Florida, Man. (HBO Max, s. 2, 6 eps., 11/28/25-1/2/26)

Long Shots
11. The Graham Norton Show (BBC, s. 33, 22 eps., 9/26/25-3/6/26)
12. Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen (Bravo, s. 23, TBD eps., 1/5/26-TBD) — podcast [Andy Cohen]

Best Competition Program

'Squid Game: The Challenge'COURTESY OF NETFLIX

Frontrunners
1. The Traitors (Peacock)
2. Survivor (CBS)
3. RuPaul’s Drag Race (MTV) — podcast [RuPaul Charles]
4. Top Chef (Bravo)
5. The Amazing Race (CBS)

Major Threats
6. Funny AF with Kevin Hart (Netflix) — podcast [Kevin Hart]
7. The Voice (NBC)
8. American Ninja Warrior (NBC)

Possibilities
8. Squid Game: The Challenge (Netflix)
10. Dancing with the Stars (Disney+)
11. Project Runway (Freeform)

Long Shots
12. Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking (HBO Max/Food Network)
13. Beat Bobby Flay (Food Network)
14. Tournament of Champions VII (Food Network)

Best Structured Reality Program

'Queer Eye'COURTESY OF NETFLIX

Frontrunners
1. Queer Eye (Netflix)
2. Love Is Blind (Netflix)
3. Shark Tank (ABC)
4. Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (Food Network)
5. Antiques Roadshow (PBS)

Major Threats
6. Love Overboard (Hulu)
7. Age of Attraction (Netflix)

Possibilities
8. Bear Grylls Is Running Wild (Fox)

Best Unstructured Reality Program

'Summer House'JOCELYN PRESCOD/BRAVO

Frontrunners
1. Love on the Spectrum (Netflix)
2. Welcome to Wrexham (FX)
3. RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked (MTV)
4. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (Hulu)
5. Summer House (Bravo)

Major Threats
6. Neighbors (HBO)
7. America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (Netflix)

Possibilities
8. Below Deck Down Under (Bravo)
9. Selling Sunset (Netflix)
10. Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars (Apple)

Long Shots
11. Vanderpump Rules (Bravo)
12. Back to the Frontier (Magnolia Network)

Best Game Show

'Celebrity Weakest Link'GREG GAYNE/FOX

Frontrunners
1. Jeopardy! (ABC/Syndicated)
2. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (ABC) — podcast [Jimmy Kimmel]
3. Celebrity Family Feud (ABC)
4. Wheel of Fortune (ABC/Syndicated) — podcast [Ryan Seacrest]
5. The Price Is Right (CBS)

Major Threats
6. Celebrity Weakest Link (Fox) — podcast [Jane Lynch]
7. Match Game (ABC) — podcast [Martin Short]

Possibilities
8. What’s in the Box? (Netflix)
9. The Floor (Fox)
10. Game Changer (Dropout)

Best Documentary Special

'Seen and Heard: The History Of Black Television'HBO

Frontrunners
1. My Mom Jayne (HBO) — podcast [Mariska Hargitay]
2. Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man (HBO Max) — podcast [Judd Apatow]
3. Ocean with David Attenborough (Nat Geo)
4. John Candy: I Like Me (Prime Video)
5. Marty, Life Is Short (Netflix) — podcast [Martin Short]

Major Threats
6. Being Eddie (Netflix) — podcast [Eddie Murphy]
7. I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not (CNN)
8. Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television (HBO) — podcast [Issa Rae]
9. Paul McCartney: Man on the Run (Prime Video)
10. Billy Joel: And So It Goes (HBO)

Possibilities
11. Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost (Apple TV) — podcast [Ben Stiller]
12. aka Charlie Sheen (Netflix)
13. Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery (Hulu)
14. #SKYKING (Hulu)

Long Shots
15. Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision (Prime Video)
16. Selena y Los Dinos (Netflix)
17. Disneyland Handcrafted (Disney+)
18. BTS: The Return (Netflix)

Best Documentary Series

'Rafa'NETFLIX

Frontrunners
1. Sean Combs: The Reckoning (Netflix) — podcast [Sean Combs]
2. Mr. Scorsese (Apple TV) — podcast [Martin Scorsese]
3. Taylor Swift: The End of an Era (Disney+)
4. The Yogurt Shop Murders (HBO Max)
5. Rafa (Netflix)

Major Threats
6. The American Revolution (PBS) — podcast [Ken Burns]
7. Bowling Wars (HBO)

Possibilities
8. The Dark Wizard (HBO)
9. Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars (Apple TV)

Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking

'Natchez'OSCILLOSCOPE

Frontrunners
1. Natchez (PBS)
2. The Tale of Silyan (Nat Geo)

Best Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in 'Finding Your Roots'PBS

Frontrunners
1. My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman (Netflix) — podcast [David Letterman]
2. Tucci in Italy (Nat Geo) — podcast [Stanley Tucci]
3. The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy (Apple TV) — podcast[Eugene Levy]
4. Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (PBS)
5. The Dinosaurs (Netflix)

Major Threats
6. The Daily Show Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers The Pulse: Give the Man a Prize (Comedy Central)
7. Somebody Feed Phil (Netflix)

Possibilities
8. Famous Last Words (Netflix)
9. Limitless: Live Better Now (Nat Geo)
10. Eva Longoria: Searching for Spain (CNN)

Long Shots
11. Pole to Pole with Will Smith (Nat Geo) — podcast [Will Smith]
12. Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age (Apple TV)

Best Animated Program

'Rick and Morty'ADULT SWIM

Frontrunners
1. Bob’s Burgers (Fox)
2. The Simpsons (Fox)
3. South Park (Comedy Central)
4. Rick and Morty (Adult Swim)
5. Long Story Short (Netflix)

Major Threats
6. Primal (Adult Swim)
7. King of the Hill (Hulu)
8. Mating Season (Netflix)

Possibilities
9. Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord (Disney+)
10. Marvel Zombies (Disney+)
11. Haha, You Clowns (Adult Swim)

This poll operates purely as an entertainment-based opinion poll and cultural discussion forum. We does not host, facilitate, or promote any form of real-money gambling, sports betting, or financial wagering. All data displayed reflects public voting trends for informational purposes only.

The golden age arrived when BTS announced their comeback, igniting the passion of global fans with an 82-show tour across 34 cities and sending HYBE's stock price soaring to its highest level in four years.

On June 1, news broke across social media that NPS — the third-largest long-term shareholder of HYBE, the Korean entertainment company behind global idol group BTS — had allegedly offloaded 75,977 shares in a single large-scale block sale, with the National Pension Service of Korea accounting for 97% of the sell-off at a divestment rate as high as 15.44%.

This, however, turned out to be misinformation. In reality, NPS's large-scale disposal of HYBE shares occurred on May 31, 2024: As the court approved former executive Min Hee-jin’s injunction—prohibiting HYBE from exercising its voting rights to dismiss her at the ADOR shareholders' meeting—the market interpreted the NPS's subsequent divestment of 438,898 shares as a defensive risk-mitigation move against HYBE’s escalating management uncertainties.

5일 금융감독원 전자공시시스템에 공시된 2024년 5월 기준 '임원·주요주주 특정증권 등 소유상황보고서', '주식 등의 대량보유상황 보고서'를 종합하면, 국민연금은 지난 5월 31일 기준으로 하이브 주식을 43만8898주를 매도했다. 국민연금은 2024년 3월말 기준 하이브의 3대 주주였다. 이로써 국민연금의 하이브 지분율은 직전 7.63%에서 6.57%로 줄었다. 감소분이 1.06%p다.According to a consolidated review of the "Executive & Major Shareholder Specific Securities Ownership Report" and the "Report on Status of Large Holdings of Stocks" as of May 2024, disclosed via the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system (DART) on the 5th, the National Pension Service sold 438,898 shares of HYBE stock as of May 31. The National Pension Service was HYBE's third-largest shareholder as of the end of March 2024. Consequently, the National Pension Service's stake in HYBE decreased by 1.06 percentage points, dropping from 7.63% to 6.57%.

However, this does not mean the precarious financial situation suspected by fans is non-existent. Although HYBE’s stock price surged to a four-year high in January 2026, company executives and several early partners chose that exact moment to cash out approximately 5.16 billion KRW via a block deal at a staggering 36% discount. Since then, HYBE’s stock has been in a continuous downward spiral. As of June 8, 2026, amid a Korean stock market circuit breaker trigger, HYBE’s stock price plummeted below the 200,000 KRW mark, marking a monthly collapse of over 25%. This financial bleeding follows a 2025 annual report that showed historically high revenues, yet a catastrophic plunge in net profit resulting in a massive deficit.

What do these signals mean? Will artists like BTS be affected? What is the true state of HYBE’s finances? And will the fraud investigation into founder Bang Si-hyuk impact HYBE's future?

An Aggressive Strategy

Revenue Fluctuations

As HYBE's highest-earning artists, BTS concluded their nearly two-year hiatus with a full-member military service in 2025 and announced a 2026 comeback plan. However, the rapidly organized global tour requires colossal upfront investments in preparation and promotion, which is frantically burning through HYBE’s cash flow.

Meanwhile, HYBE's other key revenue artist, SEVENTEEN, began its enlistment phase in 2024 and is projected to have all members enlisted by 2026, officially entering a military hiatus and suspending group activities. The transition period between BTS's return and SEVENTEEN's hiatus will inevitably trigger a severe structural imbalance between revenue and expenditure.

Mounting Costs

Looking at HYBE's other active artists, NewJeans achieved an unprecedented "money-printing monster" status immediately upon debut, clearing all training debts and receiving profit distribution within their first year. However, since becoming entangled in contract disputes and workplace bullying scandals in 2024, their career has been put on pause—halting yet another primary revenue engine. Since then, domestically debuted groups such as TWS, ILLIT, and CORTIS appear to have maintained "peak at debut" metrics on streaming charts and social media. But as of now, there are no public reports confirming whether ILLIT (debuted just over a year ago) or CORTIS(debuted less than a year ago) have reached the point of recouping debut costs and generating profit distributions.

Furthermore, due to HYBE’s multi-label matrix, the frequency of launching new groups has far exceeded industry norms. In the three short years between 2022 and 2025, HYBE launched a total of eight groups (including regional debuts). In comparison, rival entertainment giants like SM, JYP, and YG historically adhere to a disciplined cycle of launching a new group only every 2 to 3, or even 5 to 6 years. HYBE management explicitly admitted in their financial notes that "high initial investment costs were heavily concentrated on the debut and promotion of multiple new artist lineups."To bridge the gap in the Western market during BTS’s enlistment, HYBE spent approximately $1.37 billion USD across two acquisitions in 2021 and 2023: Ithaca Holdings (which manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande) and hip-hop giant QC Media Holdings. These multi-billion-dollar investments were designed to seamlessly hedge against the revenue void left by BTS.

However, following subsequent contract disputes and renewal friction with these global superstars, the value of these assets severely depreciated by 2025. Even though HYBE quickly launched Katseye, a girl group customized for the Western market, it remains incredibly difficult to recover the losses from these failed, toxic overseas assets in the short term.

Market Shifts

HYBE’s financial reports clearly mirror a structural shift in the K-pop and broader global music industry. In HYBE's 2023 financial report, album revenue accounted for 970.4 billion KRW, while performance (concert) revenue stood at 359.1 billion KRW—a nearly threefold gap. By 2025, album revenue dropped to 773.0 billion KRW, while performance revenue climbed to 764.0 billion KRW, bringing the two metrics to near parity.

An album requires a one-time production cost, after which it functions as a continuous money-printing machine. Conversely, a concert incurs heavy, compounding marginal costs—from venue fees to catering for every staff member. The market has proven that the era of low-cost, high-margin physical records is fading; the industry has entered a high-input, lower-margin touring era. Music remains the entry point for an IP's lifecycle, but profit realization is increasingly dependent on live touring, fan economy, and the Weverse ecosystem.

As a consequence of this structural transformation, the time allotted for genuine musical creation and artistic cultivation is stripped away, replacing it with industrialized, low-cost, short-form content engineered to feed short-video algorithms.

A Paper Loss

Public doubts about HYBE's financial health largely trace back to its 2025 annual report: among the "Big Four" K-pop agencies, HYBE was the only one to post a net loss—256.7 billion KRW—despite generating revenue that nearly matched the other three combined.

The Q1 2026 report appears to extend this impression, with an operating loss of 196.6 billion KRW. Yet a closer look at the composition shows that the loss stemmed neither from revenue nor from core operations: quarterly revenue in fact rose 39.5% year-on-year. The real anomaly lay on the cost side—a single, sizable new expense.

HYBE addressed this in a footnote: the preceding figures exclude the 255.0 billion KRW in share-grant expense paid as employee compensation in Q1 2026.

In substance, this expense represents founder and largest shareholder Bang Si-hyuk gifting his personally held shares to employees. Under accounting standards, it must be recognized as a one-time expense on the income statement—yet the company itself incurred no cash outflow. The income statement thus absorbed an additional 255.0 billion KRW in expense, producing a book loss, even as the company's assets remained untouched.

Strip out this one-time, non-cash expense, and HYBE's adjusted core operating profit for the quarter was in fact a positive 58.5 billion KRW. In other words, the 196.6 billion KRW loss was composed almost entirely of an expense that was never actually paid out.

The arrangement is calculated on several levels. Funding the award with the shareholder's personal stock rather than the company's cash left HYBE's cash flow untouched while projecting a gesture of returning value to employees; transferring shares by gift rather than by sale does not constitute "cashing out" in legal terms, and triggers no capital gains tax for Bang himself—a markedly safer route than selling on the open market while under investigation. A loss confined to paper thus served at once to reassure employees and steady the share price.

The timing of the charge is equally notable: it coincided with Bang being summoned repeatedly as the investigation tightened. Such a results-oriented display of "responsible management" is difficult not to read as a move to secure goodwill and public trust for himself—which leads naturally to the next question: how much trust in the man at the top still remains?

The Collapse of Leadership Credibility

The crisis of confidence surrounding HYBE's absolute ruler peaked in May 2025, when the Korean police formally requested a pre-indictment arrest warrant for Bang Si-hyuk on charges of fraudulent unfair trading under the Capital Markets Act.

According to investigative reports by Korean networks SBS and MBC, authorities received a whistleblower report at the end of 2024. The investigation alleges that in 2020, on the eve of HYBE’s (then Big Hit) IPO, Bang Si-hyuk deliberately concealed the impending public listing. Either personally or through proxy executives, he allegedly fed false information to early venture capital firms and legacy shareholders, insisting there were no IPO plans. Believing these misrepresentations, a large number of early investors liquidated their highly valuable original shares at rock-bottom prices, selling them to a private equity fund closely tied to Bang’s personal inner circle and assistants.

Crucially, Bang Si-hyuk allegedly executed a clandestine shareholder agreement with this private equity fund. The secret clause dictated that upon listing, 30% of the capital gains generated from dumping the stock at its peak must be covertly kicked back to Bang Si-hyuk personally. Immediately following this share transfer, Bang fast-tracked HYBE's IPO that same year. The private equity fund executed a precision exit at the stock's all-time high, allowing Bang Si-hyuk to pocket an estimated 200 billion KRW in illegal, fraudulent profits through this secret covenant. Subsequently, approximately 156.8 billion KRW worth of HYBE shares linked to Bang's alleged crimes were placed under a pre-indictment asset freeze, and he has been subject to a travel ban.

With executive infighting, the imminent arrest of the majority shareholder, and massive paper deficits exploding simultaneously, trust in both Bang Si-hyuk and HYBE has reached a perilous cliff for both internal staff and external markets.

Conclusion

As a publicly traded company with a market capitalization exceeding 8 trillion KRW, HYBE's short-term deficit does not signal an immediate financial collapse. Instead, HYBE is facing three distinct crises:

1. A discount on profit quality driven by frantic structural and market shifts, resulting in record revenues masking massive net deficits.
2. The erosion of investor trust as the criminal investigation into Bang Si-hyuk drags on.
3. The aggressive pre-pricing of valuation expectations; the market already priced in the BTS comeback premium during the January stock peak, meaning HYBE now desperately requires real, realized profit margins to sustain its valuation.

Therefore, the core dilemma for HYBE is not "whether it is prosperous," but "whether that prosperity can ever be converted into actual net profits for shareholders." This is the true economic logic behind the stock price collapsing from its four-year high to below 200,000 KRW.To return to the question fans care about most: If we assume the worst-case scenario where Bang Si-hyuk is convicted and imprisoned, how will it affect HYBE and its artists?First, BIGHIT MUSIC—the direct lineage housing BTS, TXT, and CORTIS—will suffer the least operational disruption.

Conversely, among the acquired labels, PLEDIS Entertainment—whose corporate shares were previously put up by the parent company as bank collateral—will suffer the most catastrophic blow, leaving it deeply entangled in the legal nightmare of bankruptcy asset liquidation.But what is PLEDIS's current situation? Its primary engine, SEVENTEEN, despite facing unavoidable military enlistments, announced a unanimous contract renewal prior to their service. Although it remains unconfirmed whether they have structurally decoupled their group contracts from their solo contracts, the SEVENTEEN intellectual property is secure for at least another 5 to 6 years. Their junior group, TWS, is only two years into a standard 7-year exclusive debut contract, leaving 5 years before renewal friction. If PLEDIS were to face an existential collapse, the first signal would likely be SEVENTEEN members signing their individual contracts with outside agencies, or establishing personal management studios.

Adjusted core operating profit, group contract renewals, the full rollout of touring plans, and surging EBITDA are all signaling the same thing: even in the worst-case outcome of the Bang Si-hyuk case, HYBE's actual condition is considerably better than most people fear.

Netflix announces global 'KPop Demon Hunters' concert tour with AEG Presents at Wednesday's Upfront — but the lineup is still anyone's guess.

The Honmoon is about to be sealed at a stadium near you.

Netflix has announced a global concert tour for its animated juggernaut "KPop Demon Hunters," teaming with concert giant AEG Presents to make it happen. The streamer dropped the news Wednesday during its Upfront presentation to advertisers in New York. According to Netflix, the tour will be "a live experience that will bring elements of the two-time Oscar-winning film to life in spectacular ways."

"Obviously, nothing has captured the world's attention quite like 'KPop Demon Hunters,'" Amy Reinhard, Netflix's president of advertising, said as she rattled off the receipts: sing-alongs, Halloween costumes, shoutouts at the US Open and Buckingham Palace, and a reported 25 percent spike in flights booked to Korea.

But the announcement was short on the details fans actually wanted to hear: No cities, no dates, no on-sale info, just an email sign-up page on Netflix's official Tudum site, where fans can register to be notified once tickets and tour details drop.

Also up in the air is whether the singing voices behind Huntrix — Ejae (Rumi), Audrey Nuna (Mira) and Rei Ami (Zoey) — will be hitting the stage. There is no word on whether their demonic rivals, the Saja Boys, will turn up either.

Which is why fans have been speculating all over social media. Some fans are hoping for the real thing, while others are bracing for holograms — and that's not a wild prediction.
Earlier this year, when tour plans were still in the works, Bloomberg reported that Netflix was weighing a fully virtual show using holograms or other digital stand-ins. Even if the singers were involved, the report added, it was unlikely all three would perform at every stop.

Talent agency WME has reportedly floated a separate, unofficial tour featuring the trio in case Netflix opts for the virtual route.

There's a reason for the hesitation. Ejae, Nuna and Ami only began performing as a trio during the film's awards-season campaign this year, leaving them with little runway to build out a full-fledged touring act.

Besides, Ejae has spoken openly about how brutal "Golden" is to sing live — she said in a podcast in February that her vocal cords were "swollen" just from the prep work for March's Oscars performance.

Even so, the three have been a fixture on the live circuit since awards season kicked off.

They performed "Golden" at the Brit Awards in February — the first K-pop act ever to take that stage — with fireworks lighting up the sky outside Manchester's Co-op Live.

A full-scale Oscars performance followed in March, complete with dancers in Korean traditional clothing, gold flags and K-pop light sticks dotting the star-studded crowd. "Golden" won best original song that same night.

Most recently, the trio crashed Coachella last month, joining Katseye on the Sahara stage for a surprise "Golden" duet.

"KPop Demon Hunters," directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans for Sony Animation, follows the K-pop girl group Huntrix as they double as demon hunters fending off supernatural threats. Arden Cho, May Hong and Ji-young Yoo voice the speaking roles.

Since premiering in June 2025, the film has become Netflix's most-watched movie of all time, racking up more than 500 million views. "Golden" spent eight nonconsecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100.

The film went on to dominate awards season, winning a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award for best original song, then the first-ever Grammy for a K-pop work, before sweeping the Oscars with best animated feature and best original song.

A sequel is already in motion. Netflix closed a multiyear writing and directing deal with Kang and Appelhans earlier this year, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, the duo will also consult on the concert tour.

Netflix says more tour details — cities, dates, ticket info – are coming later this year. Signing up is, for now, the only way in.

Agency’s 30th year to feature comeback projects, world tours, next-gen debuts

YG Entertainment is preparing for a landmark year, as the agency celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2026 and flagship groups Big Bang and Blackpink mark their 20th and 10th years, respectively.

Although the members of both groups have moved to separate agencies or established independent labels for solo activities, Big Bang and Blackpink remain among YG’s most recognizable intellectual properties and major revenue drivers.

Leading YG’s 2026 plans is Big Bang’s 20th anniversary comeback project. The group is preparing a new album and world tour scheduled around its Aug. 19 anniversary.

In March, Yang Hyun-suk, chief executive producer and founder of YG Entertainment, revealed through YG’s official blog that he had reached an agreement with the members of Big Bang to hold concerts this year. Further details emerged in April when Big Bang announced during an appearance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, that its world tour would begin in August.

The group performed at Coachella as a three-member act, presenting Big Bang hit songs alongside solo performances by the remaining bandmates over two weekends.

T.O.P, who is no longer affiliated with YG, released his first solo full-length album, “Another Dimension” on April 3, nine days before Big Bang’s premiere Coachella performance. Taeyang, now under The Black Label, is also set to release his fourth LP, “Quintessence,” on May 18. The album marks his first full-length release since “White Night” in 2017.

Blackpink is expected to launch anniversary projects around its Aug. 8 debut date, according to plans announced by YG in March.

The group’s large-scale “Deadline” world tour officially concluded in January with concerts at Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong, while third EP “Deadline” was released in February. YG said the anniversary project will focus on fan-oriented events such as pop-up stores and previously unreleased video content.

YG’s younger acts are also expected to play key roles in the company’s anniversary year.

Yang said in a video interview in March, that "We have worked hard for Babymonster and Treasure since last year, and we will refine those results further and bring good news to our fans throughout the year."

Babymonster recently released its third EP, “Choom,” on May 4 and is preparing the 2026-27 Babymonster World Tour "Choom" in Asia and Oceania.

The tour currently includes 27 shows across 18 cities, including Seoul, six Japanese cities and stops throughout Asia and Oceania such as Manila in the Philippines, Macao, Jakarta in Indonesia, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Taipei in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Auckland in New Zealand, Sydney and Melbourne, Australia .

YG said Monday that additional dates in Europe, North America and South America would be announced later.

Treasure also recently launched its third Asia tour, 2025-26 Treasure Tour "Pulse On," beginning in Macao on May 6 at The Venetian Arena. The tour includes 27 concerts across 14 cities throughout Asia.

The group is set to release a new hip-hop-based EP on June 1. Chief Executive Yang previously said the project was one of his favorite Treasure releases to date, despite the group facing difficulties after debuting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

YG is preparing to debut its first new boy band in six years around September. Yang has so far only revealed that the group will consist of five members. The agency said it opted for a smaller lineup to maximize each bandmate’s individuality and skills, differentiating the team from Treasure's member structure.

Music critic Lim Hee-yun said YG’s 30th anniversary also comes at a time when the company needs to prove it can continue creating new momentum beyond its established flagship acts.

"When you talk about a 30th anniversary celebration, the table should be filled with fresh spring greens, not just familiar names like Big Bang and Blackpink that everyone already knows," Lim said. "Blackpink members have each established their own separate bases for solo activities, and Big Bang is no longer promoting as actively as it once did."

"YG needs to either create new momentum for Babymonster as quickly as possible, launch an exceptional new boy group or develop innovative services that other companies haven't even thought of yet. Rather than relying solely on intellectual property, the company now needs innovation through services as well," he added.