The Long Fall
Author’s note: This is part of a series of posts which details the conflict between HYBE and ADOR.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Interlude on Stocks
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
The injunction granted to Min Hee Jin came as a double-edged sword. On one hand, it prevented HYBE from ousting her as CEO of ADOR; on the other hand, much of the evidence against Min seem to conclude that while there was no betrayal, there are elements in her previous conversations that may be read as an attempt to do so. Thus, while winning the case, it seems that Min has already received the short end of the stick, as there will be reason to look at her previous and present moves with suspicion.
One of the court decisions’ aftereffects was SOURCE MUSIC suing Min for the damages that she caused to the reputation of the five-piece all-girl band LE SSERAFIM. This was made in view of the comments that Min disclosed to the public about Source Music’s neglect of NewJeans members (for context: before the formation of ADOR, the five members of NewJeans were once trainees of Source Music), as well as her claim that HYBE broke its promise when it decided to debut LE SSERAFIM before NewJeans.
SOURCE MUSIC eventually won the lawsuit, and demanded 500 million KRW in damages. However, this was not over for Min, who had just asked to reconcile with HYBE following the injunction. Through the law firm that represented her, Min reported HYBE executives to the police and accused them of invading and disrespecting her privacy. She claimed that the previous conversations over KakaoTalk were illegally acquired and presented to destroy the image of Min and ADOR as a label.
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As expected, HYBE responded by claiming that they were false accusations, and would eventually file a counter-report. Apparently, the conflict over the matter is that there were opposing claims regarding the return of the company laptop. On one hand, Min claimed that her work laptop was returned with all data wiped out, while HYBE reported that the laptop was never returned in the first place.
It may sound surprising that, despite the leaked KakaoTalk conversations in which Min purportedly have said negative things about NewJeans, the members of NewJeans and their parents have defended Min. They sent an official letter to HYBE which was also made available public, with two important details:
- First, despite being a letter from parents, it was mainly a call for investigation on the supposed plagiarism of BELIFT LAB, which was realized in the debut of ILLIT. This is strange because it sounds like the parents were sending a message that was composed by none other than Min himself.
- Second, a small detail regarding social interaction was mentioned, in which parents claimed that former HYBE executive and current producer Bang Shi-Hyuk ignored NewJeans once. But it was only a preface to the parents’ true concern: how their debut as a group was delayed by SOUCE MUSIC in favor of LE SSERAFIM.
One thing made clear in this rather expected press release was that even the parents of NewJeans were willing to take this matter to the public, thus involving themselves in this corporate squabble. HYBE was quick to respond, however, by notifying the public about the details of said e-mail and their response that was already sent to the parents ahead of time. The press release, translated and published in Soompi, says:
This is a notice from HYBE.
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.
We received the mentioned email on April 3, and we already replied on April 16 with content including that it is not plagiarism.
We also want to state that the claim that the start of the ADOR incident was due to “neglect such as not responding to greetings” is a one-sided argument and not true.
We find it very unfortunate that Min Hee Jin is using an old-fashioned practice as she drags in artists and their families in her own battles for her personal greed.
We have evidence that ▲the act of sending emails attacking HYBE was part of the plan for the takeover of management rights and her personal gain from the start ▲Min Hee Jin suggested using the parents to raise issues because it would breach the shareholders’ agreement if she did it herself ▲the email allegedly sent by the parents was actually written by Vice President L and Min Hee Jin. We plan to submit this evidence to investigative and judicial authorities.
We cannot help but express our dismay at Min Hee Jin’s behavior, using artists as shields for her personal gain and even putting their parents at the forefront. We urge her not to mislead public opinion and to exercise restraint to protect the value of the artists.
While many regard this as rhetoric that distracts and disrupts the controversy surrounding Min’s malpractice as an executive, there are also those who point it out as an “eye-opener” on how HYBE actually operates, particularly beyond what the public can see. Conclusions regarding this event range from anti-feminism in labor (which is prevalent in Korea) to the subtle preferences that HYBE as an umbrella label exercises toward its artists belonging to their individual levels.
However, while public opinion seems to be mixed in this manner and people are not in agreement with how to proceed with this, what eventually sets things in motion is the fact that as Min’s contract with HYBE comes to its final days, evidence against her would emerge one by one. Among these would be a blunder in conflict management that Min was involved in, and this time concerning the treatment of her employees.
