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NewJeans calls for label’s ex-CEO to be reinstated, alleges mistreatment by Hybe
The K-pop group said they were worried about their future.
September 12, 2024, 04:32 PM
K-pop girl group NewJeans has spoken out regarding the feud between their label Ador's former CEO, Min Hee Jin, and Ador's parent company, Hybe.
The dispute had resulted in Min being dismissed from her post on Aug. 27, 2024.
About two weeks after Min's dismissal, the group's five members — Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein — called for her reinstatement in a YouTube livestream on Sep. 11 (local time).
They titled the stream "What NewJeans Wants to Say", and broadcasted it via a newly created YouTube channel, "nwjns".
The channel has since been taken down, but not before recordings of the 30-minute livestream were reposted online.
The video soon made the trending page for various social media platforms, with some fans becoming incensed over the allegations made against the industry giant, Hybe.
Here's the tl;dr on what was said in the livestream.
Not happy with current management
NewJeans opened with a disclaimer that they had not been instructed by Min to do this.
16-year-old Hyein said they had mustered up the courage to speak up.
"It hasn’t been long since the CEO was dismissed. And it was so hard to see our staff work hard with us under pressure and unfair demands," she said.
“I am also so worried for the future of the five of us."
She added that the members had had meetings with the current management to share their views, but felt their concerns were not clearly conveyed, prompting them to go public instead.
More aligned with Min Hee Jin's vision
20-year-old Minji was next to speak.
She talked about how the group had trusted and worked well with Min.
Her sentiments were echoed by her teammate, 19-year-old Danielle, who deemed Min "irreplaceable" and "integral to NewJeans' identity".
"We felt that the music we wanted to make, and the world we wanted to build together, was similar in so many ways [with Min Hee Jin]...
NewJeans has a distinct colour and tone, and this was created with Min Hee Jin."
Allegations against Hybe
The members also surfaced several allegations against Hybe and its treatment of the group and Min.
18-year-old Haerin brought up incidents such as the group's trainee videos and private records being leaked.
Hanni chimed in, providing an account of something she said happened recently.
The 19-year-old said that she had been waiting on the fourth floor of the Hybe headquarters when another group walked by.
She said both parties had greeted each other at first, but when the group passed by a second time, their manager told them to "ignore her".
Minji also cited "many other incidents" the group had experienced, calling them "frightening and uncomfortable".
"These incidents naturally make us question whether Hybe really cares about NewJeans," Minji said.
Call for Min Hee Jin to be CEO again
"From a human perspective, I hope you stop harassing our CEO, Min Hee Jin," said Minji, addressing Hybe directly.
"Honestly, she seems so pitiful, and Hybe just comes across as an inhumane company. What can we possibly learn from a company like this? So, I really hope you stop bothering our CEO."
On behalf of the group, Minji called for a return to the "original Ador", with Min leading both management and production by Sep. 25.
NewJeans then thanked their audience before ending the livestream.
Background
The dispute between Min and Hybe has been going on since April 2024.
Back then, Hybe announced it would audit subsidiary label Ador.
It alleged that Ador's then-CEO Min was trying to break away from Hybe and manage NewJeans independently.
NewJeans had contributed substantially to Hybe's top album sales in 2023 with 4.26 million.
They came in fourth after Seventeen’s 16 million, BTS’s solo albums with 8.7 million, and Tomorrow X Together with 6.5 million.
Min denied the allegations, countering with some of her own.
She claimed that Hybe was trying to dismiss her because she had alleged that ILLIT, a group under another Hybe subsidiary that debuted in March 2023, plagiarised NewJeans' concept, music, and choreography.
Hybe later filed a police report and alleged that Min had ordered Ador executives to pressure Hybe, the majority shareholder, into selling its Ador shares.
Min was replaced as Ador's label head on Aug. 27.
Ador issued a statement saying that Min would remain as NewJeans’ producer and on the board of directors.
Later that day, Min told Korea JoongAng Daily that this decision had been made without her consent.
Top images via 뉴진스가 하고 싶은 말/YouTube and NewJeans/X
