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On September 23, 2024, HYBE allegedly issued a statement about sending individual responses to NewJeans' members about Min Hee-jin's reappointment as ADOR's CEO. The news was first reported by South Korean media outlet Ten Asia. However, within a few hours of publication, it was allegedly taken down from NAVER (a Korean online search engine).
For the unversed, on September 11, 2024, the girl group held an unauthorized YouTube livestream and demanded HYBE reinstate Min Hee-jin as ADOR's CEO. The label is one of the subsidiaries of HYBE Corporation.
In response to the group's demands, HYBE allegedly said it would "deliver" its answers to the girl group's demands individually. According to Ten Asia's now-deleted report, HYBE stated,
"We will deliver our response to NewJeans' request to each member on the 25th. The specific details of the response will not be disclosed." While it’s still being discussed whether the response will be made public, it seems that HYBE prefers not to let the matter escalate."
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Fans of NewJeans lashed out at HYBE and accused the company of alleged media play. They speculated that the parent organization might try to offer different deals to the NewJeans' members and create discord among the group. One fan wrote on X,
"Delivering a response to each member already seems sus. Different message or proposal to each member? Why do they need to deliver it separately? All trust is lost with this company that anything they do is sus."
Others expressed their disappointment towards the company allegedly deleting the news article.
"I don't know, it's some kind of nonsense, as if they are some kind of criminal and are hiding something," one fan wrote.
"This also shows how HYBE manipulates the media; they publish/delete articles whenever they want," another fan retorted.
"Hybe reminds me of my days I would impulsively make decisions as a manager on the spot and later apologize for reconsidering it by saying “i think my initial response wasn’t aligned on my supposed outcome, apologies”," another fan shared.
Meanwhile, several fans discussed the possible methods HYBE could employ to thwart the girl group's demands and their connection with Min Hee-jin.
"Yes, the part of "deliver to each member on the 25th" didn't sit right with me and I think it's precisely because of what Cake shared. They'll probably present different propositions to each member to try and cause discord," one fan noted.
"While the response to members may remain private, how can the consequences of the response remain private? The nature of the response will be known by its results, and its results will be publicly known," another fan stated.
"Hmm… they don’t want to make their response public so they can lie & media play that they tried their best to meet NewJeans demands & didn’t want to escalate things but NewJeans did when they ultimately sue & request for contract termination. They’ll media play so hard," a fan said.
Why did NewJeans demand Min Hee-jin's reinstatement? Former ADOR CEO files another injunction
On August 27, 2024, ADOR's independent board of directors dismissed Min Hee-jin from her executive position and appointed Kim Joo-young as the new ADOR CEO. Min Hee-jin was sent a renewed contract for September to November 2024, stating her new role as ADOR's in-house creative director for NewJeans.
Per this contract, she was required to produce content for the girl group. However, if she failed to produce any result by November 2024, her contract would be terminated. As a result, she refused to sign the contract and demanded to be reinstated as the company's CEO.
On September 13, she filed an injunction with the Seoul Central District Court for violation of her contract. To enable her reappointment as the CEO of ADOR, the injunction sought to call an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders.
This injunction was filed after NewJeans' YouTube livestream, where they claimed to be feeling unsafe under the new management. Billboard reported that the five members discussed their circumstances in the YouTube livestream. They expressed concern for their professional futures and shared anecdotes about how Hanni was allegedly mistreated.
As per the translation provided by Allkpop, Hanni said,
"There's hair and makeup rooms on the 4th floor of the building, and it's a space frequented by other artists and staff members. I was alone in the hallway, and another group and one of their managers passed by. We greeted each other well at that time, but when the group came out again with the manager, the manager said, 'Ignore her.' Right in front of me."
Hanni further claimed that under Min Hee-jin's leadership, ADOR ran the business operation in "harmony."
"Personally, the way that ADOR used to run was the business management and creative production was not separated…factors that played and worked in harmony with each other. It was our way of working and it was our CEO’s way of producing NewJeans’ content which a lot of you were able to enjoy and appreciate," she said.
In other news, NewJeans' Hanni attended the Milan Fashion Week on September 20 as Gucci Beauty's brand ambassador.
