During the months-long feud between HYBE and the creative director of NewJeans and former CEO of ADOR Min Hee Jinthe Billboard 200-topping girl group remained largely silent. But early Wednesday morning (September 11), team members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein made their voices heard.
In a since-deleted post on their Twitter account, the group shared a YouTube link that led to a live stream on a now-defunct YouTube account called “nwjeans.” During the live stream, the five members spoke for about 30 minutes in Korean and English about their situation, expressing concern about their professional future, concerns about continuing to work under HYBE, and revealing stories that had not been heard in past.
Apologizing for the “sudden meeting,” all five members of the K-pop girl group sat in an unrestricted room with notebooks, papers, and iPads during the live stream. NewJeans' youngest member, Hyein, 18, spoke first, explaining that trusted staff members (probably also under or previously under the HYBE/ADOR umbrella) helped create the site and stream, but that it was choice of the quintet to speak.
After that, Haerin noted that the media coverage surrounding the NewJeans' condition became invasive when their private medical records and videos from their time as HYBE trainees were leaked online — four of the five members of NewJeans were under-18s when they debuted in July 2022 — but when the group, along with Min and their parents, raised concerns with parent company ADOR HYBE, the K-pop giant took no action.
One of the most talked about moments online among K-pop fans came early in the broadcast when Hanni shared a story about a time when, while at the HYBE building getting her hair and makeup done, an anonymous HYBE group LABELS spent it with her. a manager. According to the Vietnamese-Australian singer, after they initially greeted each other, the manager told members of the other group to “ignore her”.
During the live stream, NewJeans members also expressed concerns about the inner workings of the ADOR label after Min was fired as CEO.
Referring to ADOR's new legal battle with Shin Woo-seok, the director of NewJeans' “Ditto” and “ETA” music videos, Minji said it was “scary” to see their work in jeopardy. The director claimed ADOR targeted him for uploading to his personal YouTube account “director cut” versions of NewJeans music videos and other content, for which he claimed he had a license.
After ADOR removed those videos, the company shared a statement on September 4 that it would do its best to “ensure that the deleted NewJeans content can be uploaded to ADOR's official channel in the future,” as reported by the Korea JoongAng Daily. That report also noted ADOR's follow-up statement that only “director cut” music videos were requested to be taken down — not behind-the-scenes clips starring the members that racked up millions of views — while claiming that it was advertisers who wanted the “director's cut” removed. the videos.
“Just like that, the content we put out exclusively for our fans, for our bunnies, was immediately deleted,” Danielle said in English about the incident. “I really can't understand why anyone would do that to a group or anyone in general.”
Minji added that ADOR's “new management” will keep the production and management teams separate, just like other HYBE LABELS. As part of this deal, which saw Min limited to production only and not involved in discussions surrounding the group's overall management strategy, group members said they were concerned about how they could continue as NewJeans in its current form. .
“Personally, the way ADOR worked was business management and creative production were not separate…factors that played and worked in harmony with each other,” Hanni said in English. “It was our way of working and our CEO's way of producing NewJeans content that many of you were able to enjoy and appreciate. But now that she is no longer CEO, these factors that should continue to work harmoniously together are now seen as two different areas of work.”
On August 27, HYBE announced that Min will be stepping down as CEO of ADOR and shared in a statement to Bulletin board that ADOR “will restructure to separate its production from management — a multi-label practice that has been standard at all other HYBE labels, but not previously implemented at ADOR.”
Haerin also claimed that NewJeans learned of Min's firing through the news instead of through their company, saying it “made it clear to us that they don't respect us at all” and made them feel that statements about HYBE's plans for NewJeans were empty. promises. (In April, HYBE shared a statement with Bulletin board claiming that the company “will continue to provide careful [sic] mental and emotional care to the artist of the company NewJeans … the company will meet with the legal representatives of the respective members as soon as possible to discuss the plan to protect the act.)
Aside from these specific incidents, the five members of NewJeans also spoke at length about their concerns about losing their group identity and wariness that HYBE has their best interests in mind while insisting that Min return to cooperate with them.
“Even before we debuted as NewJeans and throughout the time we spent together with Min Hee-jin, we all felt that the music we wanted to make and the kind of world we wanted to make together, our vision, were similar. in many ways,” said 19-year-old Danielle. “Putting our sincere effort into something is only possible because the people we work with trust each other and have the same vision.
“Min Hee-jin is not only the person who produces our music, but someone who makes NewJeans who we are. he discusses even the smallest details with us and explains them in ways we can clearly understand. NewJeans has a distinct color and tone, and this was created with Min Hee-jin. It is an integral part of the NewJeans identity and we all feel that it is irreplaceable.”
Hanni later spoke on HYBE's alleged directive that Min complete all of her creative work within the next two months after being fired as CEO.
“Just like how we have our own and individual thoughts and feelings, we have the choice to choose how we react to each situation and we are not going to blindly follow every command of HYBE,” Hanni said in English. “We know very well that this is hindering our work and that we should be treated much better than we are at the moment. And it's very hard to believe that they are really sincere in wanting to help us continue, to be able to continue working with our Min Hee-jin.
“Even though he's in the midst of this whole current legal conflict, he's expected to plan and creatively build our future endeavors in just two months, which I personally think makes no sense. We don't want to hear all the empty words about how they will help us continue working with Min Hee-jin. And all we want is for this legal conflict to be resolved and for our work environment to return to normal as it was before.”
NewJeans' oldest member, Minji, 20, ended the live stream with a direct message to the president of HYBE Bang Si-Hyuksaying, “We hope that Chairman Bang and HYBE will make a wise decision to restore ADOR to its original state by the 25th.”
HYBE has not responded yet Bulletin boarduser's request for a comment about the live stream.
The now five-month conflict began in April, when HYBE launched an audit of ADOR and asked Min to step down as CEO. The K-pop giant later reported Min to the police, claiming the executive had committed a breach of trust. This led Min to respond by holding an emotionally charged press conference in which she denied claims that she had usurped the management of NewJeans and doubled down on claims that HYBE subsidiary BELIFT LAB had plagiarized NewJeans with its own girl group, ILLIT, and that another HYBE subsidiary Source Music, among other claims, had broken its promise to debut NewJeans as its first girl group. Min was subsequently sued by both BELIFT and Source for defamation over these comments, inciting many K-pop fans against her.
In May, a court ruled that Min could legally remain in her post. But last month, a former ADOR employee accused Min of covering up her reports of sexual harassment by a male superior. While HYBE's own internal investigation reportedly concluded that the incidents did not amount to harassment, Min allegedly verbally abused the employee for speaking up — a claim Min denied, instead claiming the issue arose from work performance and the former employee's salary negotiations.
On August 27th, HYBE announced that it has appointed an ADOR manager specializing in human resources, Ju Young Kimas the company's new CEO, and that Min would step down from her role but remain an insider.
