"It is nothing more than a public execution" - Min Hee-jin claims HYBE allegedly offered her money to leave the company

According to The Korea Times, Min Hee-jin's motion to be re-appointed as the CEO of ADOR was denied by the company's board of directors on September 25, 2024, during an emergency shareholders' meeting. On September 26, the former ADOR CEO met with a JoongAng Ilbo reporter for an exclusive interview.

She claimed that HYBE, the parent company of ADOR, allegedly offered her money to leave the company, which she refused. JoongAng Ilbo reported that she claimed that this happened when she won her temporary injunction on May 30, 2024, which stopped the company from using its majority shareholders' rights.

"After the court approved my injunction request to prevent my dismissal at the extraordinary board meeting in May, HYBE offered me money to leave the company. However, because my objective in this was not money, I refused," she said.

Min Hee-jin continued by accusing HYBE chairman, Bang Si-hyuk, of allegedly being offended by her running a subsidiary company (ADOR).

"The core of this dispute has nothing to do with anything so grandiose as the growth of the company or improvement of the existing system. It is nothing more than a public execution ordered by the chairman of a parent company who felt emotionally offended by a subsidiary company."

However, HYBE denied allegations made by her in the exclusive interview. The parent company of ADOR stated that they never offered her any money. Furthermore, HYBE stated that the internal audit held in April 2024 was not "illegally ordered" but was based on solid evidence against her.

For the uninitiated, HYBE conducted an internal audit in April that uncovered incriminating evidence against the former ADOR CEO of alleged conspiracy and management usurping. A lawsuit was filed against her for allegedly leaking business secrets, and conspiring with Dunamu to crash HYBE stocks, among other claims.

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Min Hee-jin accuses HYBE of media play and obstruction of business in NewJeans' future activities

In her exclusive interview with JoongAng Ilbo, Min Hee-jin reiterated that Bang Si-hyuk had promised her that HYBE wouldn't interfere with her decisions and plans for ADOR and NewJeans. She claimed that Billboard Columnist Jeff Benjamin reached out to her about a slanderous article against her.

Jeff Benjamin received the article from TAG, HYBE's PR agency, which allegedly slandered Min Hee-jin. However, she did not disclose the article's content during the interview. Meanwhile, Benjamin hasn't acknowledged her claims either. Furthermore, Hee-jin stated that she was wrongfully dismissed as the label's CEO on August 27, 2024.

"I was fired while I was in the middle of a surprise fan meeting planned for Korean fans. The vice presidents were also excluded from work and blocked overnight. The work on the next album has also been halted. It’s so unfortunate. This is also Hive’s obstruction of business against NewJeans," she said.

For the unversed, Min Hee-jin was removed unilaterally from her position as the CEO of ADOR on August 27, 2024, by the label's independent board of directors via a shareholders' meeting. Reportedly, HYBE exercised its majority shareholder's rights as it owns 80% shares of ADOR.

Min Hee-jin claimed that HYBE breached the court's injunction verdict that prohibited the company from using its voting rights. Notably, the injunction Min Hee-jin filed in May 2024 forbade HYBE from "temporarily" utilizing their voting rights to fire her at the May 30, 2024, shareholders' meeting. Hence, HYBE could reportedly use its voting rights lawfully in any other shareholders' meeting.

On August 27, Kim Joo-young was appointed as the new CEO of ADOR, and Min Hee-jin was offered the role of internal producer for NewJeans until November 2024.

Following this, on September 11, NewJeans held a YouTube livestream and demanded that HYBE reinstate the former CEO to her original position by September 25. ADOR's independent board of directors rejected the proposal.

As per NME, the former CEO was presented with a revised contract by ADOR. Following the revised offer, she may work as an internal producer for NewJeans throughout the remaining five years of the group's contract, rather than leaving in November 2024.

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Min Hee-jin has refused to sign the contract and demands to be restored as the label's CEO.