ADOR Reveals CCTV of ILLIT Bowing to Greet Hanni
On the morning of March 7, the 50th Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court conducted a hearing to address ADOR’s petition for an injunction to maintain its management rights over NewJeans (NJZ) members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein, as well as to prevent them from entering into independent advertising agreements.
During the proceedings, ADOR presented evidence, including CCTV footage showing ILLIT members bowing 90 degrees to Hanni. Additionally, they submitted messages exchanged between Min Hee-jin and Hanni as part of their case.
ADOR stated, “Hanni herself confirmed that all three ILLIT members greeted her. She never used the phrase ‘ignore them.’ She only mentioned that she might not have recognized them clearly and could have walked past them unintentionally.” ADOR further contended that Min Hee-jin exaggerated the situation by pressing Hanni with questions like, “Ignore them? Are you saying everyone ignored you?” and even inquired if Hanni’s manager had advised her not to acknowledge ILLIT’s greeting, to which Hanni replied, “I don’t know.”
Ultimately, ADOR argued that Min Hee-jin had constructed a misleading narrative, emphasizing that Hanni herself did not view the incident as a significant matter. Meanwhile, As Hanni reviewed the CCTV footage and read through the messages, she suddenly gave a wry smile and glanced at Danielle, who was seated beside her.
Hanni’s Scathing Response
Later on on the same day, Hanni published 2 stories on NJZ’s (NewJeans) Instagram in both Korean and English. In the 1st, the female idol said “I have a lot to say, but I’ve been holding back, simply because I don’t see the need to have to escalate this issue any bigger than it already is. But if you think you have the audacity to make even more false assumptions about us than you already have…. Then I won’t stay quiet”.
She then continued in the 2nd story, stating, “How can you take one part of a conversation and shift the meaning of it to benefit your point of view, when I was the one that wrote that message, whilst you present yourself as (a) company that wants the best for us”.
The female idol also added in Korean that she remembered the instance where ILLIT’s manager told the idols to ignore Hanni exactly, and asked ADOR and HYBE to stop harrassing her. Her words are a rebuttal to the CCTV footage and KakaoTalk conversations between Min Hee-jin and Hani that were presented as evidence by ADOR in court regarding the ILLIT-Hanni ignoring situation.
Netizens Express Suspicion
As the CCTV of Hanni and ILLIT was unveiled, related topics started to pop up across various Korean forums, and on topic on theqoo has since surpassed 38,000 views and 550 comments, showing immense interest. Since there is no audio included, many netizens express suspicions, with some even pointing out that the footage was not from the same date as the one Hanni mentioned.
Additionally, some noted that Hanni accused ILLIT’s manager of telling the girl group to ignore her, not that ILLIT themselves ignored the female idol. Hanni also mentioned that she was alone when the situation happened, while ADOR’s CCTV also featured Danielle. Therefore, it’s hard to trust the validity of the footage. Some also express pity for ILLIT for being dragged into the situation.
Below are some comments from netizens:
There are a lot of fishy things about this: First, that’s a CCTV from a different date. Second, Hanni said the artist greeted her well. Third, according to Min Hee-jin’s KakaoTalk, 1) It’s true that the artist greeted her when she entered. 2) When she was leaving, the manager told the artist to pretend not to know Hanni and the artist said, “Okay”. Didn’t ADOR said that the CCTV from the date Hanni mentioned was deleted? How is it that they suddenly have the CCTV now? I feel the most sorry for ILLIT, a rookie who is just being used Is the person in front of them the manager? It looks like he didn’t Hanni here HYBE is trying to implement their dirty media play tactic again by pitting 2 girl groups against each other when both of them are not in the wrong
On the other hand, ADOR is fighting to keep its management rights over NewJeans, filing an injunction on December 3, 2023, to block the group from ending their contract early or signing independent ad deals. This follows NewJeans’ November 28, 2023, announcement of terminating their contract with ADOR, rebranding as NJZ, and planning new music releases. ADOR claims the contract is valid until July 31, 2029, and has taken legal steps to enforce it.