The continuing dispute between the entertainment groups HYBE and ADOR has taken a fresh turn. The parents of the K-pop girl group NewJeans (under ADOR management) have charged HYBE with “abuse and exploitation”. Lately, an email that ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin wrote to HYBE in April was released by Ilgan Sports. She included an email that purportedly came from the NewJeans members’ parents. According to the news outlet, the parents indicated that HYBE intended to put NewJeans on hiatus for an extended period. In reaction to this revelation, HYBE made a statement on May 13.
The notice was translated and shared in English by Soompi. “We would like to provide an explanation about an email that is said to have been sent to us by the parents of NewJeans as reported by a media outlet on May 13,” it read.
According to HYBE, they got the aforementioned email on April 3 and responded on April 16 to clarify that the content was original. They said it is untrue and a one-sided argument to say that “neglect such as not responding to greetings” caused the ADOR crisis to begin.
Additionally, they expressed how regrettable they thought it was that Min Hee-jin was still operating under the outdated methods of entangling artists and their families in her own problems out of “personal greed.”
They also claimed to have “evidence” that Min Hee-jin’s benefit and the acquisition of management powers were prearranged when she sent emails disparaging HYBE.
There is evidence to support the claim that the ADOR CEO proposed utilising the parents to bring up concerns because doing so would violate the terms of the shareholders’ agreement, as per the statement.
They further assert that Vice President L and Min Hee-jin wrote the purported email that the parents sent. The evidence will be presented to law enforcement and investigating agencies.
On the other side, an email obtained by Korean media outlet Ilgan Sports on Monday said that the parents accused HYBE of duplicating NewJeans’ concepts for their newly formed girl group, ILLIT. This covers components including style, choreography, photography, and the aesthetics of music videos.
The parents’ email asked, “Is there no intention to protect NewJeans and each member’s brand value within HYBE?” They cited other examples where the ideas behind ILLIT and NewJeans were strikingly similar.
The parents also expressed their worries about what they considered to be maltreatment by HYBE officials, specifically Chairperson Bang Si-hyuk. Their parents accused Bang Si-hyuk of neglecting the members, saying that every time the NewJeans members saw him in the company’s building, they were confused as to why he would act as though he didn’t recognise them and ignore their greetings.
“At first, we didn’t believe our children, thinking, ‘Oh, he probably just didn’t recognise you,’ so we attempted to verify this,” read the email.
The parents continued by saying that inexplicable acts have tainted the way NewJeans members have been treated.
The email stated that they were kept in the dark when the project stagnated, despite having initially signed on as SOURCE MUSIC trainees with the intention of becoming HYBE’s first girl group.
Meanwhile, other groups signed contracts and made their debuts. “The broken promise of NewJeans being the first girl group under HYBE and the endless waiting…are unforgettable nightmares.”
Parents “with heavy hearts” asked Min Hee-jin to intervene to stop HYBE / BELIFT LAB’s infringing operations against NewJeans and to safeguard their brand value.
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