The court has rejected former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin’s claim that HYBE’s audit against her was an act of retaliation in the ongoing legal dispute over NewJeans’ exclusive contract with ADOR.
Court rules validity of NewJeans’ contract with ADOR
On October 30, the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Division 41 (Chief Judge Jung Hoe Il) delivered its ruling in the lawsuit filed by ADOR to confirm the validity of its exclusive contract with the five members of NewJeans.
Regarding the audit controversy, the court stated, “It appears that former CEO Min Hee Jin was the first to start a public campaign after April 3 and April 11, 2024.” In April last year, Min held a press conference where she publicly disclosed her conflicts with HYBE Chairman Bang Si Hyuk and other executives. She claimed HYBE prioritized LE SSERAFIM over NewJeans as the company’s first girl group, and that ADOR had been prevented from promoting NewJeans until LE SSERAFIM’s debut. Min also accused ILLIT of “copying NewJeans’ concept.”
Plagiarism accusations against ILLIT
In response, LE SSERAFIM’s agency Source Music filed a 5 billion KRW (approx. 3.5 million USD) defamation lawsuit against Min, while Belift Lab, the agency behind ILLIT, filed a 20 billion KRW (approx. 14 million USD) damages suit, claiming Min’s remarks caused harm to their artists.
In November 2024, NewJeans declared the termination of their contract with ADOR, citing ADOR’s breach of obligations. ADOR, in turn, filed a lawsuit in December 2024 to confirm the validity of the contract, arguing that NewJeans had unilaterally ended it.
ADOR insisted that the exclusive contract remained valid, while NewJeans argued that they lost trust in ADOR after Min and all her former staff resigned, leaving the agency under new control.
During the hearings, both sides presented numerous issues stemming from their ongoing conflict.
Continued feud between Min Hee Jin/ NewJeans and HYBE/ADOR
ADOR argued, “We invested 21 billion KRW to fully support NewJeans — 7 billion for the debut album alone and 2 billion for the music videos, with HYBE also providing major support. This led to NewJeans’ explosive success, but their one-sided termination clearly violates the contract and cannot be tolerated by the court. Their change of heart about exclusive management does not justify breaking the deal, and there was also tampering by Min Hee Jin — she had been trying to ‘poach’ NewJeans for three years.”
ADOR also presented KakaoTalk messages allegedly showing Min’s attempts to “take NewJeans,” while expressing that the company’s trust in the group had not completely broken and that they hoped the group would return.
NewJeans countered, “HYBE’s audit and attempts to dismiss Min Hee Jin were based on false premises and were intended to oust her. ADOR is now controlled by HYBE employees, and we can no longer trust the company in its current state.” The group further emphasized, “HYBE’s audit was clearly retaliatory — it was conducted with a specific goal and predetermined conclusion.”
NewJeans added that they could not return to a label that “treated its own artists like liars instead of protecting them,” though they hinted that a conditional return might be possible if Min Hee Jin were reinstated.
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