ADOR, “NewJeans Confessed About Bang Si-hyuk’s Discrimination, Can’t Do Activities Without Min Hee-jin”

On the morning of May 17th, the interrogation for the injunction lawsuit filed by CEO Min Hee-jin against ADOR’s parent company HYBE to ban their exercise of voting rights took place at the Seoul Central District Court. Min Hee-jin’s legal representative from the law firm Sejong attended the court on behalf of her.

Claiming that HYBE discriminated against NewJeans, Min Hee-jin and ADOR’s lawyer said, “They made CEO Min believe in them by telling her to make their first girl group for them but broke the promise by debuting LE SSERAFIM first. In order to debut NewJeans quickly, Min Hee-jin established ADOR and brought the members there. Even during the promotion for NewJeans before their debut, ADOR was not allowed to use titles such as ‘all teenage members’ because they were afraid that people would find out LE SSERAFIM was not Min Hee-jin’s girl group”.

Referring to the report that “Bang Si-hyuk did not respond to NewJeans’s greetings”, ADOR’s lawyer revealed the content of messages from NewJeans members, saying “It is true that he did not respond to NewJeans. This can be seen from the members’ Kakaotalk messages.”

Min Hee-jin’s side emphasized, “CEO is obligated to defend NewJeans from acts of infringement and interference under the group’s exclusive contract with ADOR. Even if there is a shareholder agreement, it is necessary to notify HYBE of this. CEO Min’s actions have never violated the previous laws”, adding “NewJeans is scheduled to release an album in 2024 and hold a world tour. The members expressed their desire to work with Min Hee-jin, stating that they cannot do it alone. This is also recognized by NewJeans fans.”

They continued, “HYBE has mentioned NewJeans’s long break since April 16th. The members and their legal representatives cannot help but feel fear. Dismissing Min Hee-jin will cause irreparable damage not only to the company but also to NewJeans, ADOR and Min Hee-jin.

On April 22nd, HYBE launched an audit into ADOR and found evidence of Min Hee-jin’s breach of trust. Raising various allegations about Min Hee-jin, such as ADOR management right takeover, demanding the rights to deal with NewJeans’s exclusive contracts and embezzlement, HYBE continued to expose the ADOR CEO of meeting an analyst on May 15th.

Previously, HYBE demanded Min Hee-jin resign from her CEO position. HYBE owns 80% of ADOR’s shares, it is highly likely that Min Hee-jin will be dismissed in the shareholder meeting. However, the female CEO has filed a lawsuit to ban HYBE’s exercise of their voting rights. The decision of the court will determine whether Min Hee-jin is dismissed or not.