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On May 13, 2024, the South Korean media outlet Ilgan Sports reported an email that NewJeans parents sent to ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, allegedly accusing Bang Si-hyuk of mistreating and exploiting the group members. They accused him of not recognizing the members whenever he encountered them in the company building. The email stated: (as translated by Koreaboo)
"Whenever the NewJeans members encountered Bang Si-hyuk in the company building, we wondered why Bang Si-hyuk would pretend not to recognize the members."
The email sent contained several suggestions and complaints regarding the ongoing ordeals faced by members. The parents submitted it to Min Hee-jin on March 31, 2024.
After Hee-jin received the email, she sent it to HYBE LABELS and BELIFT LAB on April 3, 2024, followed by filing an internal complaint on April 16, 2024, pleading with the parent company to refrain from interfering in the group's management.
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Subsequently, HYBE responded to the first email (dated April 3) on April 16, 2024, and to the second email on the morning of April 22, 2024, when the ongoing feud between Min Hee-jin and the parent company began.
The agency accused Min Hee-jin of securing independent management rights for ADOR and initiated an audit against her.
NewJeans' parents allegedly accused Bang Si-hyuk of turning a blind eye to group member greetings in the Company building
NewJeans' parents reportedly drafted the lengthy email with the help of legal representatives. The complaints included new group ILLIT allegedly plagiarizing NewJeans, and HYBE doing nothing about it. They also accused the corporation of using a promotional strategy that allegedly exploited the group.
The parents further exposed Bang Si-hyuk's alleged behavior of ignoring the group members and turning a blind eye to their greetings whenever they met him at the company building. The email mentioned that he reportedly ignored the members on different occasions: (as translated by Koreaboo)
"Whenever the NewJeans members encountered Bang Si Hyuk in the company building, we wondered why Bang Si Hyuk would pretend not to recognize the members and turn a blind eye to their greetings. At first, we didn’t believe our children, thinking, ‘Oh, he probably just didn’t recognize you then,’ so we attempted to verify this."
The parents further elaborated on the seriousness of the situation and stated:
"However, since this issue has happened several times, with different dates and locations, even when it was just Bang Si-hyuk and the members, we believe there is no other possibility except recognizing that they are, in fact, NewJeans."
They further expressed their frustration about how Bang Si-hyuk would allegedly ignore the members even in the lift and never recognize their presence. The email reads, as translated by Koreaboo:
"As parents, we were embarrassed and had nothing to say about this childish situation after hearing that it wasn’t just once or twice where they were deliberately avoided, but examples such as they were embarrassed that they were being ignored so they just stood in the elevator with blank expressions or noticing that he was pretending to not see them. They are just middle and high schoolers."
The parents also mentioned how they had discovered content mocking the group and stated that it was unfortunate that those were not removed even though it was edited and produced by HYBE's internal production team.
Other mistreatment allegedly meted out to the group was also mentioned in the letter, which stated how HYBE did not keep their promise of debuting them as the first girl group of the agency, even though they signed a contract with Source Music.
The parents also allegedly accused ILLIT of plagiarism, stemming from HYBE's reported mistreatment, lack of transparency, and communication with the NewJeans members.
They claimed that the rookie girl group ILLIT bore a resemblance to NewJeans in photos, music videos, choreography, styling, and more, which was intentional on the part of HYBE and its sub-label BELIFT LAB.
They also raised the issue of HYBE's marketing strategy of promoting the new girl group by drawing comparisons to NewJeans, which would further damage the latter's prestige and brand value. They urged the corporation to issue a statement regarding the ongoing issues and protect the group from the feud.
HYBE responded to the email sent by NewJeans parents
On the same day, HYBE released a statement denying the claims made by NewJeans' parents in the mail. They stated that they had responded to the email on April 16, clarifying that the content was not plagiarised. They also refuted claims of Bang Si-hyuk allegedly not responding to members' greetings and stated it was not true.
They further stated that sending such emails was part of Min Hee-jin's plan to secure the management rights of ADOR, and she used group members' parents to raise issues of plagiarism and marketing, since if she raised the issues herself, it would breach the shareholder's agreement, as stated by the corporation.
They also stated that the email sent by the parents was the idea of Vice President L and Min Hee-jin and added that they would submit evidence for the same to authorities.
The girl group will make their comeback on May 24, 2024.
