ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin reportedly accused of using bots for NewJeans' promotion

ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin has been accused of using paid bots to boost the social media promotions of the girl group NewJeans. On June 24, a tweet on X by user @s7venwithyou went viral showcasing alleged snapshots of the said bots.

On May 24, WWD Korea, a media outlet, shared a promotional pictorial featuring the Super Shy singer Haerin representing the luxury brand Dior on their official Instagram page. Haerin donned denim outfits from the Denim Dior Oblique campaign in the pictorial. Eagle-eyed fans noticed a few alleged comments in the comment section which mentioned another NewJeans member “Hyein,” instead of Haerin. The netizens also closely noticed the profiles of the people commenting besides the ones who mentioned Hyein in the promotional post.

They allegedly found that the profile barely had any followers or had made any posts on Instagram. They speculated that these accounts were paid bots and raised accusations against the CEO Min Hee-jin for foul social media engagements.

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ADOR to take legal action against malicious posts and comments about NewJeans’ members on social media

Amid the ongoing feud between HYBE and ADOR, the HYBE Corporation sub-label ADOR which manages the mega K-pop girl group NewJeans released an official statement regarding the malicious posts of the members on X. On June 5, ADOR shared a notice requesting fans to report any malicious posts they would come across on the internet on the helpline email of the agency.

They confirmed they would take legal action against the people behind the posts. They also stated,

“We are consistently monitoring various communities with regard to malicious comments, ill-intentioned viral marketing, slander, insults, and defamation by spreading groundless information about NewJeans. In particular, we are aware of the recent increase in anonymous malicious posts targeting the members.”

They further added that no leniency will be shown to the perpetrators and there would not be any settlements either, saying,

“As a result, we are currently preparing legal action including civil and criminal lawsuits, and would also like to mention that no settlements or leniency will be extended to the perpetrators of such actions.”

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NewJeans shows support to CEO Min Hee-jin amid the conflict between ADOR and HYBE

HYBE owns 80 percent of the agency ADOR and the 18 is owned by Min Hee-jin. On April 22, the conglomerate was set to reportedly call for an extraordinary shareholder meeting to remove Min Hee-jin from the position of CEO on the accusations of breach of trust. HYBE accused Min Hee-jin of attempting to take over the management rights of ADOR by separating it from its parent agency.

On May 7, Min Hee-jin had an injunction to prevent HYBE from exercising their rights to dismiss her from the position of CEO. According to Yonhap News on May 17, the first hearing of the injunction, NewJeans members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein reportedly signed a petition in support of CEO Min Hee-jin. This was also the first time the members showed their support to the director.

On May 30, the Central District Court's Civil Agreement Department granted Min Hee-jin a temporary injunction. This allowed her to retain her position as the CEO of ADOR and prevented HYBE from exercising their rights. Notably, a day later on May 31, NewJeans appeared on Music Bank and achieved a win for their song How Sweet. While receiving the award Minji and Danielle expressed their gratitude to Min Hee-jin for always supporting the group.