NewJeans' parents come forward to expose HYBE’s alleged broken promises to the members. Bang Sihyuk was also accused of deliberately ignoring NewJeans members' greetings on several occasions, as well as willingly turning a blind eye to NewJeans and ILLIT's conceptual overlap.
On the 13th, Daily Sports obtained an email containing the statements of NewJeans’ parents sent by ADOR to HYBE, which can be said to be the starting point of the sharp management conflict between the said company and ADOR’s CEO Min Heejin.
According to ADOR's e-mail sent to HYBE summarizing the parents' suggestions, CEO Min Heejin sent this email to HYBE and Belift Lab on April 3. ADOR then filed an internal complaint on the 16th, saying, “Please stop interfering with NewJeans’ business and practice ethical management.”
Accordingly, HYBE replied to ADOR on the 16th to the e-mail on April 3 and also sent a reply e-mail to the second e-mail on the morning of the 22nd. Then, that afternoon, the audit issue of HYBE to ADOR began.
The following is the email of CEO Min Hee-jin sent to HYBE on April 3rd:
Dear Park Ji-won, CEO of HYBE Co., Ltd. and OOO, CEO of Belift Lab Co., Ltd.,
We have received a letter with the following content from the artist's parents, who are the legal representatives. Under Articles 1, 2, 5, and 11 of the exclusive contract concluded between our company and the artist, our company has the obligation and responsibility to take action on such requests.
Please respond to all the issues raised.
In addition, in order to communicate this content transparently in writing, parents have been included as references in this email, so please send your comments by replying to all.
Heejin Min, CEO of ADOR Co., Ltd.,
Here is the partial text of the sentiments:
"We are deeply concerned that this particular group, which recently debuted on another label under HYBE, has many similarities and controversies with NewJeans in terms of concept (photos, music video, etc.), styling, choreography, etc. This similarity appears to be the result of a plan intended for HYBE / Belift Lab.
Concept photo - styling - music video directing scene - choreography - a series of contents that are perceived as its content, and the fact that it hired a staff member during its debut who was solely responsible for NewJeans and had no prior experience working with other idols, makes it difficult to deny its intention.
Content similar to NewJeans has already been mass-produced, and suspicions of NewJeans copying and plagiarism have become widespread among consumers. We express our deep regret as to how, just one year and eight months after NewJeans’ debut, another label with the same parent company could intentionally plan a team reminiscent of NewJeans’ debut days.
Above all, I am curious as to why such an unconventional plan was made within one group, even though it is common sense to target different markets with teams with different personalities as the debut times are not significantly different. We are aware that ADOR was not involved or cooperated in this process.
We would like to ask HYBE / Belift Lab, which arbitrarily pursued a similar project, to confirm what their intentions were.
In addition, I think it is a bigger problem that the new team was marketed in a way that cleverly compared its similarities to NewJeans. Did ADOR give you permission to choreograph the same movements?
It is clear that if this situation continues, NewJeans’ reputation and brand value will be damaged."
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You can read the continuation of the direct statement here.
Following, the sentiments continued discussing the series of concerns and grievances regarding the treatment of NewJeans by their management company and related entities. It discusses different issues, including perceived unfair treatment, lack of protection of the group's brand value, allegations of plagiarism, and broken promises related to debut and management.
It also suggested that unnecessary comparisons and controversies surrounding the group have led to mental distress among members and their families. It highlights instances where the group has been unfairly associated with negative publicity, which could harm their achievements. Additionally, it raised questions about the company's handling of creative credits, managerial promises, and ethical standards, including allegations of neglect and unkept promises concerning the group's debut.
- Chairman Bang Sihyuk repeatedly ignored NewJeans members in the company, pretending to not know the girls and looking away from greeting them, causing embarrassment and distress among the young members.
- The management's broken promises included delaying NewJeans’ debut despite earlier promises of being HYBE’s first girl group (to debut). NewJeans members signed a trainee contract with Source Music and then had to wait vaguely without receiving any explanation from Source Music during the project delay. Meanwhile, news of a contract worth 000,000 was heard. In the end, another team debuted first, leaving NewJeans in a neglected and uncertain status as trainees.
- It is difficult to deny Belift Lab's intentions because they hired all of NewJeans' debut days staff, who had no prior experience working with any other idols aside from NewJeans. → Belift Lab only hired these staff because they worked with NewJeans.
- This mistreatment and broken promises led to a member considering giving up on their debut due to the difficult and unfulfilled process at Source Music. NewJeans almost gave up on debuting because of Source Music's negligence.
- Claimed that there's no way that Bang Sihyuk doesn't know that ILLIT and NewJeans have overlapping concepts.
They also stated a call for action, urging the CEO of ADOR, and the group's management, to intervene and protect the group’s brand value by addressing ongoing controversies and ensuring transparent, respectful treatment by HYBE and Belift Lab. It also calls for innovation within the music industry and ethical leadership from HYBE to support a healthy environment for their artists.
Moreover, here’s a summary of the continuation of the press release. You can read the whole text here.
- ADOR denies any collaboration or negotiation with HYBE and Belift Lab regarding content issues related to that particular group, expressing dissatisfaction with brand infringement.
- Criticism is aimed at HYBE's response to plagiarism and imitation, emphasizing the negative consequences of unethical industry practices.
- Min Heejin calls for reflection on ethical practices within HYBE, criticizing the parent company's use of subsidiary products without respect for creators.
- Concerns have been raised about the exploitation of similarities and subsequent disinterest after gaining popularity, which can discourage innovation and promote unethical behavior.
- The email exchange between ADOR and HYBE officials reveals disputes over plagiarism allegations and a perceived lack of response from the latter company.
- HYBE officials dismiss claims of mistreatment towards NewJeans members by Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, stating “It’s hard to respond” and that there's no need to address ADOR’s claims.
As the press article was released, it was also shared to many online community platforms, leading to plenty of pressing reactions from netizens. In this one post, it reached the #1 spot of hot topic and garnered a thousand comments.
Netizens commented:
- It's even more infuriating when I remember that guy talking about how he's leading K-pop.
- NewJeans are truly Cinderella versions... Mr. Bang, really... Try to have a heart as big as your body, you idiot…
- No, why is a grown man acting like that while being the head of a company?
- Is it because of a sense of entitlement, jealousy, and inferiority that people who have learned so much and have so much money do this?
- I'm a fan of NewJeans, so my heart breaks.
- The war is starting to escalate. Let's head to court faster.
- You debuted really hard...
- A 50-year-old fighting a 16-year-old lol.
- Wow, this is truly garbage. Workplace bullying is happening to young teenage girls.
- Wow, I'm speechless from the disgust... Wow.......
- He's such a loser.
- I don't understand. New Jeans are also singers under their own company, and if they do well, it's good for them and the company. Why are they doing that to their artists?
- They're still kids... New Jeans... Cheer up!
- There's no turning back now. How hurt are the members?
- HYBE, who makes a living off of NewJeans, is fighting childishly haha.
- Inferiority is a really dirty thing.
- I'm shocked that NewJeans almost couldn't debut. Now I understand why the members rely so much on their parents and Min Heejin.
- There's gonna be no group that can replicate NewJeans.
That newjeans cb next week is gonna be huge with the way whole of korea is backing thempic.twitter.com/ODyxt5QsLP
— kurt (@faggytron) May 13, 2024
lol hybe saying "it's hard to respond" to the claims that bang sihyuk ignored newjeans 😭 couldn't even refute that 😭 https://t.co/2X39blbQxx
— 🌿 (@breadsaz) May 14, 2024
Oh greeting NewJeans is weird things bc some of them are minors but inviting minors and create a group chat with them is normal? 🤫 https://t.co/kgEicWLHBs pic.twitter.com/JPpo4G4rD1
— Chericheri／(≧ x ≦)＼🍒🍀 Positive Tokkis no worries (@Phamkuromi) May 13, 2024
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