There's a big difference between deliberately removing content from your game to later sell separately, and placing a hook for DLC you have planned.

If it's unclear, the former implies the content was already done and then they removed it.

And no, having the DLC planned out in advance doesn't count. That's how DLC works, they have it planned in advance so the teams can get started on it when the game goes gold so that the entire team doesn't have to twiddle their thumbs until the next big project.