NewJeans’ stylist team leader “HYBE asked for cooperation, saying that if I didn’t, I might be sued”
"I was told that if I didn't cooperate, I might have to go to the police station"
A, the head of ADOR’s style directing team, who underwent an audit for about 5 hours the day before the board meeting, said, “This was something allowed when I worked at my previous company, so I didn’t expect this to happen.”
A, in a phone interview with Ilgan Sports on May 10th, expressed, “I was frightened when HYBE’s audit team mentioned embezzlement and breach of trust and said I might have to go to the police station.”
This morning, ADOR reported that HYBE had conducted an audit on A for about 5 hours from 7 PM the day before, and during this process, they allegedly proceeded in an illegal manner, such as visiting the house of a female stylist late at night.
The issue HYBE’s audit team raised was that A received styling fees from advertisers. Regarding this, ADOR explained that in the advertising industry, it’s customary for freelancers to handle hair, makeup and styling, with separate contracts between advertisers and freelancers. ADOR stated that instead of freelancers, their own styling team handles this. They further clarified that when calculating A’s incentives, they took into account the amount paid by advertisers.
ADOR argued that HYBE was making an issue out of A directly receiving money from advertisers, stating that since A did not cause financial loss to the company by receiving the same amount from advertisers instead of receiving incentives, embezzlement cannot be established. ADOR also claimed that such matters were shared with HYBE’s HR and ER departments in February.
Regarding this, A stated, “There was a precedent for receiving advertising labor costs at my previous company, and since ADOR approved receiving it in exchange for incentives, I didn’t expect this to happen. I was terrified when they said this could be embezzlement and even breach of trust.”
A shared, “I received a call from HYBE’s audit committee asking to review illegal acts during the internal audit. I asked to postpone it because I had an engagement, but they insisted on proceeding without listening to my story.”
A added, “Around 7 PM, while I was on a call on the fourth floor of the office, when I was about to leave because I had somewhere to go, the audit team was right there. They asked for cooperation, saying that if I didn’t, I might be sued.”
A further explained, “They said if I didn’t submit my laptop, I might have to go to the police station. So, around 10:30 PM, someone came to my house and took my laptop. They also asked for my cell phone, but I refused. After that, I underwent the audit until midnight.“
Meanwhile, HYBE rebutted ADOR’s statement, calling it “false claims by CEO Min Hee-jin’s side“. Through an official statement, HYBE stated, “The audit conducted by our audit team on May 9th evening on A was carried out lawfully and in a non-coercive atmosphere with the consent of the auditee.”
