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On November 4, 2024, Hankyoreh reported that SBS is facing legal consequences for airing NewJeans' ETA performance on Inkigayo. The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KOCSC) imposed a "legal sanction" on SBS under Article 46 of the Broadcast Review Regulations.
The issue stemmed from a skit during the August 2023 performance where NewJeans used an iPhone 14 Pro to film themselves, switching the main camera feed to the phone's camera. The KOCSC deemed this a violation for promoting covert advertising.
The KOCSC received multiple complaints from netizens after the broadcast and initially found no issue with the performance, with only one jury member voting for a "violation." However, in November 2024, the panel unanimously decided to impose a legal sanction on SBS. According to Hankyoreh, a legal sanction is a penalty or ban imposed on an individual or organization that violates a law or regulation.
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On November 4, 2024, SBS's entertainment CP, Park Sung-hoon told Hankyoreh Newspaper that it was their "fault" for allowing the broadcast which was similar to an "advertising."
"As a result, it was our fault that we broadcasted something that was no different from an advertisement, and we reflect on it. Usually, when a singer's performance is created as a work by their agency, we respect it as much as possible and do not intervene," he said.
Park Sung-hoon continued:
"At the time, NewJeans said they would direct using a music video concept, so I accepted it without any concerns, but I didn’t realize that the music video was being broadcast as an advertisement."
NewJeans gets embroiled in the crosshair of HYBE and Min Hee-jin's ongoing feud
The girl group debuted in August 2022 with the EP, New Jeans, under the HYBE subsidiary label, ADOR. The label was headed by Min Hee-jin as the CEO and one of the internal directors. However, in April 2024, HYBE filed a lawsuit against Min Hee-jin for allegedly trying to overthrow the parent company's management over ADOR and take over the label along with NewJeans.
Korea Joongang Daily reported that Min Hee-jin allegedly met with Dunamu executives to conspire in crashing HYBE's stocks. Dunamu is the third-largest shareholder of HYBE. Reportedly, the executives informed the parent company about the meeting with the former ADOR CEO.
HYBE asked Min Hee-jin to step down from her role and called for an emergency shareholder's meeting on May 30, 2024, to discuss her dismissal. However, she filed an injunction to forbid HYBE from using its majority shareholder rights to fire her. The court granted her plea and on May 30, 2024, HYBE didn't exercise its rights to dismiss her. However, it replaced the ADOR board of directors.
On August 27, the ADOR board of directors along with the rest of HYBE's majority shareholders unanimously fired Min Hee-jin from her CEO role, replacing her with Kim Joo-young as the new ADOR head.
On September 11, NewJeans reportedly held an unsanctioned YouTube livestream to demand Min Hee-jin's reappointment as the CEO before September 25, 2024. The livestream was deleted the same day. NewJeans' Hanni also claimed that they feel unsafe and mistreated under the new management. She claimed that she heard a HYBE manager allegedly tell another idol group to "ignore her" in the hallway.
On September 13, Sports Chosun reported that Min Hee-jin filed another injunction lawsuit to get reappointed as ADOR's CEO. On September 25, an emergency shareholders' meeting was called where the board and shareholders unanimously rejected Min Hee-jin's appointment as the label head.
On October 17, 2024, Newsen reported that another meeting was held where ADOR appointed her as the in-house director, solely in charge of supervising and producing for the girl group till the remainder of their contract term (around 5 years left on the group's contract).
On October 29, 2024, Chosun Biz reported that the court held the final hearing on Min Hee-jin's injunction where it rejected her request and legally blocked her from getting reappointed as ADOR's CEO due to a lack of justified statements.
On November 5, 2024, HYBE CEO, Lee Jae-sang addressed the ongoing controversy and stated that the parent company and ADOR would do their best to support NewJeans and its future activities.
