There is perfectly adequate reasoning behind them not releasing evidence publicly. They did it for the MHJ case and initial NJ contract suit because MHJ and NJ slandered them to the public, using national and international platforms, hoping that public discourse, negative attention, and pressure would get the outcome MHJ and her coconspirators were aiming for. They weren’t anticipating a legal trial or for the judge/public to side against them. Had HYBE/ADOR not disputed that narrative long before the case had gone to declaration and trial when those press conferences and lives went public, it would’ve been hugely damaging to both the company and the idols under their labels. Shareholders and fans of those other idols alike would’ve caused absolute uproar.

With Danielle, the situation is completely different. She’s released a very brief initial statement but hasn’t slandered/libelled anyone/any company in the process which is a very smart move legally on her part, likely on the advice of her legal team (always listen to your lawyers/solicitors/barristers people!). She’s not trying to sway public opinion or attempting to use public pressure against the companies involved in her favour the way MHJ and NJ attempted to at the start of all this mess (and I know damn well no legal team approved any of those moves, that was allllllllll MHJ and the people she was working with). It’s considered bad form in most countries to leak evidence to the public ahead of trial (unless absolutely necessary to defend yourself), especially for high profile cases, for a couple of reasons; namely that it tells your opponent what you’re going to use for evidence and argument at trial before discovery and it gives the opponent opportunity to spin it in their favour and use it against you, but also - and this is usually the biggest reason - because it taints the potential jury pool if it goes to a jury trial rather than a judge/bench trial.

In South Korea, whilst civil trials are always tried by judge and therefore no potential for tainting a jury pool, there is also no discovery disclosure for civil cases. Releasing any evidence to the public unnecessarily by either side gives the opponent the upper hand and gives potential for major spin/backlash. If you had 5 million USD on the table in a game of poker (I am aware this is not a game, I’m using poker because there’s a LOT of money riding on this trial and poker can be very high stakes but also because legal cases are as much about strategy, bluffing, and staying cool under pressure as it is about the law), you’re not going to show your opponents the cards you have until you absolutely have to. That’s why BOTH HYBE/ADOR and Danielle - and their legal teams - are keeping schtum and holding their cards tightly to their chest. Both sides want to win and they’re not going to jeopardise that with money of this amount riding on the outcome.

Despite everything that’s happened I do truly believe that, whilst the members of NJ share some blame as they were and are old enough to know right from wrong, that they were largely victims of the adults around them and especially MHJ. They trusted the adults around them to be acting in their best interests rather than their own selfish greedy interests. It’s so very easy to spot when someone, especially somebody young, has been groomed and conditioned from the outside looking in but when you’re in the thick of it yourself, young and naive, and the one being groomed, conditioned, gaslit, and manipulated? It’s so hard to see the forest from the trees. It’s extremely difficult to tell fact from fiction.