This megathread is about the ongoing dispute within HYBE and the management of sub-label ADOR.
Substantial news developments may be posted to the subreddit (outside of the Megathreads). Moderators will only approve posts that focus on statements by relevant parties, official representatives, or legal authorities. Unofficial commentary, fandom activities, speculation, or blind items will not be acceptable. Articles or translations should ideally be presented as neutrally as possible. Titles or content that are obviously sensationalized or intended to persuade readers to one perspective will be removed.
English-speaking news outlets that have relatively more neutral reporting include Soompi, Yonhap News, and Korea JoongAng Daily.
THIS POST MAY BE LOCKED OR UNLOCKED AT VARYING TIMES based on what the moderators are able to manage during their shifts. Please be patient with us while we work to balance keeping up with the queue and our own lives.
DISCLAIMER ABOUT SOURCES: We prefer to focus on official statements from companies or other vetted sources. There will be widespread speculation and rumor-heavy articles, but until presented in an official capacity we consider them unsubstantiated. As Mods, all we can do is compile and summarize, but we are not investigators or journalists.
Summary of Previous Megathreads
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ONE and TWO and THREE contains HYBE's audit of ADOR and Min Hee Jin's 1st press conference.
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FOUR summarized all events up to April 30th, 2024.
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FIVE and SIX contains potential ADOR embezzlement, MHJ's injunction and hearing, and a letter from the parents of NewJeans.
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SEVEN and EIGHT and NINE contains MHJ's injunction granted May 30th and remaining ADOR CEO, HYBE replacing ADOR board members, BELIFT LAB's video regarding plagiarism and lawsuit against MHJ.
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TEN and ELEVEN and TWELVE contains ex-ADOR employee's sexual harassment case, band Shakatak's plagiarism claim, HYBE 2.0 and ADOR restructuring with new CEO Kim Joo Young, MV director drama, the NewJeans livestream, MHJ's 2nd injunction filing and public events/interviews.
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THIRTEEN and FOURTEEN and FIFTEEN contains an interview with NewJeans' parents, Hanni and CEO Kim Joo Young at the National Assembly, MHJ's reappointment as director, Kim Taeho at the National Assembly, HYBE's Weekly Industry Report leak, the court's dismissal of MHJ's 2nd Injunction, ADOR board's vote against making MHJ's CEO again, NewJeans' certified letter of ultimatum to ADOR, rejection of Hanni's workplace bullying claim by labor ministry, MHJ's resignation from ADOR, and NewJeans' contract termination press conference.
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SIXTEEN and SEVENTEEN and EIGHTEEN contains ADOR's 26-page response to NewJeans' certified letter, Dispatch's exposé on MHJ's alleged strategy to leave HYBE, ADOR seeking validity of NewJeans member contracts, KMCA/KOSPO statements concerning tampering, the creation of the 'jeanzforfree' Instagram account, visa concerns, Employee B's MHJ defamation mediation failing, Davolink Chairman details, first hearings for Belift Lab and Source Music vs MHJ damages cases, dismissal of former ADOR VP's workplace harassment case against HYBE/ADOR, ADOR's injunction to halt NewJeans ad deals, and NewJeans rebranding to NJZ.
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NINETEEN and TWENTY and TWENTY ONE contain the new Instagram account of NewJeans' parents, workplace harassment accusations against HYBE/ADOR executives cleared, the granting of ADOR's provisional injunction against NewJeans independent activities along with group's appeal/objection, the shareholder agreement termination and exercising put/call options cases being run jointly, and the 1st contract validity hearing between ADOR/NewJeans.
MEGATHREAD TWENTY TWO covered through May to mid-July.
- Contains: The granting of ADOR's 'indirect enforcement' request by the court, which would result in potential fines for NewJeans members if they pursue independent activities, procedural hearings for the ADOR/NewJeans contract validity case along with the Belift Lab/Source Music/HYBE cases against MHJ, and the rejection of NewJeans' appeal/objection to the injunction.
MEGATHREAD TWENTY THREE covered mid-July to mid-October.
- Contains: The finalized rejection of NewJeans' injunction appeal, the suspicion clearance for Min Hee Jin regarding occupational breach of trust accusations by HYBE and HYBE's appeal, the 3rd hearing for Belift Lab's damages case against MHJ around plagiarism, two sessions with failure of mediation between NewJeans and ADOR, the 3rd hearing for Source Music's damages case against MHJ and KakaoTalk messages confirmed to be allowed as evidence, and the fine against MHJ upheld in Employee B's case against her for workplace bullying.
MEGATHREAD TWENTY FOUR covered the end of October to mid-November.
- Contains: The establishment of Min Hee Jin's new agency 'ooak', the contract validity case verdict in favor of ADOR and NewJeans' contracts maintained, MHJ's lawsuit against former HYBE CEO/CCO dismissed and HYBE's audit determined legal, more hearings in the Source Music and Dolphiners Group cases, and NJ members Haerin and Hyein committing to return to ADOR with Minji, Hanni, and Danielle stating intention to follow soon after.
Articles / Timeline
251114
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Having been postponed from October 31st, the 4th hearing in Belift Lab's damages case against Min Hee Jin was held at the Seoul Western District Court 12th Civil Affairs Division on the 14th. Representatives from both sides presented 15-minute rebuttals to content from the previous trial and 30 minutes for further arguments. The most significant new information came from Belift Lab arguing MHJ's claim regarding ILLIT's concept being plagiarized from NewJeans was a pre-meditated campaign to create a media war, weakening HYBE and giving her an opportunity to separate ADOR/NewJeans from the parent company. This information came from KakaoTalks and correspondence between MHJ and ADOR staff/associates. Belift Lab detailed evidence of specific cases of MHJ directing employees to tie some 4th generation boy groups along with ILLIT as copying NewJeans, drafting a press release to question ILLIT's album sales, and instilling fear in the parents of NewJeans, among other things. MHJ's representatives argued Belift's claims were a malicious framing and countered various issues, including that ILLIT copying NewJeans developed organically in public opinion and continuing to say the KakaoTalks messages used as evidence were an invasion of privacy. The next hearing was set for January 9th. (Sources: Sports Today, Dispatch, ChosunBiz, Newsis)
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Yonhap News: All NewJeans members did not file appeal in exclusive contracts case
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Korea JoongAng Daily: NewJeans members decide against appealing court's contract ruling
251115
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Min Hee Jin's made another comment in relation to NewJeans' potential return to ADOR. She emphasized she had created the group to be five very intentionally, including conceptually in sound, color, style, movement flow, etc, so the complete form of NewJeans should be treasured. She noted that most of the legal disputes are aimed at her and asked that children not be involved. 'Children must be protected, not exploited.' (Source: MyDaily)
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Korea JoongAng Daily: Min Hee-jin urges ADOR to accept return of all 5 NewJeans members
251117
- Korea JoongAng Daily: NewJeans member who was in Antarctica confirmed to be Hanni
Looking Ahead:
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November 27: Next hearing for HYBE vs. MHJ (Additional questioning for MHJ)
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December 9: ADOR vs. Dolphiners Group (Last chance for statements/evidence)
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December 18: HYBE vs. MHJ (Last chance for statements/evidence)
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December 19: Next hearing for Source Music vs. MHJ
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January 9: Next hearing for Belift Lab vs. MHJ
Ongoing Legal Complaints/Investigations:
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HYBE's report to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) regarding potential insider trading by ADOR management (Korea JoongAng)
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HYBE's complaint against Min Hee Jin for 'breach of trust' (Yonhap) -
Belift Lab's complaint against Min Hee Jin for defamation (Soompi) and additionally for business interference (The Korea Herald)
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SOURCE MUSIC's lawsuit against Min Hee Jin for damages in regards to the disruption of business/defamation of LE SSERAFIM (Korea JoongAng) and additionally regarding alleged false claims by MHJ for the launch strategy of N Team/NewJeans (Soompi)
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British band Shakatak's plagiarism claim against NewJeans' 'Bubble Gum' (Yonhap) -
Min Hee Jin and HYBE executives filed reports against each other back-to-back (Soompi and Korea JoongAng) -
MV Director Shin Woo Seok filed a lawsuit against ADOR CEO Kim Joo Young and ADOR VP Lee Do Kyung for defamation. (Korea JoongAng)
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MHJ's lawsuits against Belift Lab's Kim Tae Ho for defamation (Yonhap), HYBE CCO Park Tae Hee and PR Director Cho for breach of duty (Yonhap), and HYBE executives and Dispatch reporters for defamation. (Soompi)(One or both of these might be re-statements of earlier suits.) -
ADOR's lawsuit to determine validity of their contracts with NewJeans (Soompi) and NewJeans' appeal after the verdict (Soompi)
Link back to MEGATHREADS 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 – 12 – 13 – 14 – 15 – 16 – 17 – 18 – 19 – 20 – 21 – 22 – 23
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by KPOP_MOD
25 Comments
Locked for a few! The usual!
**Edit:** Alrighty! Hydrated and electrolyte-d! 😁
No super profound news yet with the start of this Megathread, but we really needed to get a new one going. Onward!
Also gonna really need to compress the Summary section again soon. Getting so long!
first?
What happened for the need of a new one?
Thank you. New mega thread ready for the penguin return.
hope newjeans ot5 comes to a deal cus i need more music from them
I’m happy that some of the members finally untethered themselves from the grasps of the old lady and I wanna see how ADOR would roll them out in the coming months or weeks. I feel like we won’t see them with actual activities for at least 3 months but we’ll see.
Seems like MHJ is doing maximum amount of damage possible, not only to ADOR and HYBE, but to the girls as well. MHD are just being unwitting victims to this is just sad at this point. They think she has their back.
Hanni being the front of MHJ’s major moves, (Bow-gate, NA appearance, etc) as she is possibly the most talented in the group, and also an English speaker (part of their international appeal, I guess), just makes sense.
our megathread is one away from having to get its own health insurance 😭😭😭
Oh hi new thread
Oh happy 25 y’all 🥹
Well well well.
( *I’m just a little gif comment so Carny finds the new thread* )
One day, this megathread will get its own YouTube mini-documentary.
And it’s my age now. We officially hit 25.
If there is anymore news and you guys create another after it will officially be older than me in numbers 💀💀
I genuinely wonder how on Earth HYBE of all companies think they need the girls. Just let them go on their ways and add new members to the group.
Ooh, mornin’, it’s a new day, it’s a new megathread
Maybe it’s just me but I feel like the “Here’s a mundane update” thread is usually a few hours ahead of the “Sir they’ve hit the second tower” thread, I’ll go make a bag of popcorn just in case
So guys , what you think –
3 jeans will side with fans and blame ador again to get dmg lawsuit now
Or
They will say everything is fine and make fans look useless?
Megathread is same age as me 🥺
How did that fandom still not learn that involving authorities can easily backfire and is only damaging the girls’ Korean reputation further?
Also, do they not think that a ministry fax bombed by fans to investigate something ( that the parties involved didn’t even ask to be investigated) will either do the bare minimum or will make a verdict against the girls due to pure spite towards the fandom that’s disturbing it’s work for petty fandom hate towards a company?
Accidentally saw Bunnies loving the NPR article and thinking it is justice foe MHJ and accurate reporting of this case…..they are so blind to reality
I was looking forward to seeing Hyein and Haerin again but that’s probably been pushed back now 🫠
The threads have hit their silver anniversary, and I wouldn’t be shocked if they go gold.
Hopefully we’ll get an answer on the negotiations with the elder 3 members one way or the other in the next week. And even more hopefully that will give the folks with too little to do something else to scream about instead of sending faxes.
Didn’t think this MT will be older than me 😨
I am not sure if mhj was pushing NJ to make an appeal to help her, so H&H coming back to Ador ruined that plan when she was sure that NJ would only move as 5 members.
So what’s the new hastily made plan?
– Trying to convince H&H to listen again to MDH? (the statement about the number 5 was so cult-like, it seemed more addressed to people already indoctrinated or that were indoctrinated while the others wondered on what planet she was on). Also showing again to H&H her power to cause trouble? (after all, the last Tokki move (forcing a Ministry in a case that was already ruled by the Court) seems contrary to the announced wish of NJ to come back to Ador)
– Pushing Ador to cut MDH while MDH appeared publicly to agree to come back while disclosing only to Ador their demands? So mhj can get MDH working for her while Ador gets a bad reputation ?
– There is also the possibility that MDH really wanted to come back but demanded too much leniency from Ador. But mhj wasn’t going to let them free and she knew that only telling she wanted them to Ador would make Ador even more suspicious of NJ.
another megathread = kpoopheads thriving
Maybe I’m old, maybe it’s my youth spent with punk and metal (and backstreet boys and Mozart because Yolo), maybe it’s my very left (black block anticap) leaning self, but I’ve never seen a pop / music fandom screaming “govern me harder, government daddy”
😐
Remember the OUTCRY when there was a notion that BTS might be exempt from military service because government wants so? Weird old me remembers.
And now one fandom, United in “being ignored is the worst of all human rights violations”, rooting in the name of “totally being anti establishment and anti capitalism” for an EX CEO accused of white collar crimes with a notion for embezzlement and stepping on workers, sits there and is like “government Oppa, please can you make the agency AND the girls do what **we** (and coincidentally their mômther) want and see fit for them, uwu 🥺👉🏼👈🏼🥺 also can you make it that CEO money queen mômther does not get convicted and gets billions because see, she’s the rich person wanting to be more rich, and we root for that because it takes money away from companies and gives it to a rich person who wants to become richer and used the girls we love so much for her own enrichment 🥳🥰🥳 money queen will surely give me a few cents for that”
Like, make it make sense.
Idols signal experiencing violence, idols haven’t been paid, idols have been forced to diet, to perform until their bodies give out, experienced sexual harassment and worse…but the government has to make sure that 3 women do NOT face the consequences of their actions because the contract laws and court verdicts don’t apply to them.
(And add to that SK work environment in itself, not only the burned to death workers who obviously weren’t as important as a made up story of hearing a worker saying “ignore her” about a rich girl, and that worker should be punished in public. No, the girls themselves (MHD recently, but also NJ press conference etc) generally ~~declare bankruptcy~~ have their press conferences and statements after work hours, because obvs the workers at ADOR and Hybe, the journalists etc …they can work overtime and cater to every whimp 🥰 because we care for workers)
Sorry for the …mild sarcasm here, but I’m … appalled.
I’ve said it before, this “fandom” (if it were) as a MASSIVE lack of empathy and a MASSIVE sense of being more important than literally anything and anybody, INCLUDING Haerin and Hyein btw.