"What NewJeans Wanted to Say"
[Full transcript translated to English]
🐹: Some of you might be surprised by this sudden meeting, but we wanted to share our thoughts and opinions about the recent events, so we prepared this session. First, I want to explain one of the reasons we decided to do this live. It's been hard to see many people who have worked with us continue to suffer from unfair demands and pressure even after our CEO was dismissed. It was frustrating to just stand by and watch these situations unfold, and we were very worried about our future as a group of five. Honestly, while preparing for this live, we were naturally concerned about the reactions we might receive afterward. We were also worried that people might mistakenly think that our CEO instructed us to do this, but I want to clarify that this live was prepared because we five members genuinely wanted to express our thoughts. We received help from directors we trust for things we couldn't prepare ourselves, like setting up the shoot and finding a location. It didn’t feel right for us to stay silent when everyone, including our Bunnies, has been stepping up to support us. Moreover, this is not just a matter of leaving it to the adults because it directly affects the lives of us five members. Since we're the ones going through this, we felt that it would be healthier to speak up ourselves than to do nothing, so we mustered the courage to do so. The main point of what we want to say today is directed towards HYBE. We've already had meetings with the current management to express our opinions, but after seeing what happened afterward, it feels like our concerns weren't clearly conveyed. It seemed like communication was blocked, so we felt that preparing this live was the only way to properly share our thoughts and feelings.
🐻: I’m sure that today’s announcement has shocked many of the staff as well, as they were not aware of it, and I imagine everyone watching is quite surprised too. We’ve thought a lot about where to begin, but since the purpose is to express our intentions, we’ll try to explain as clearly as possible. Of course, due to contractual issues, we can’t share everything, but we’ll be as honest as we can. After it was decided that we would debut as NewJeans, our members spent a lot of time getting to know Min Heejin Daepyonim, both as a group and individually. At first, I had reservations and a certain fear towards the adults we were working with, but Daepyonim was the first person to approach us in a way that allowed us to open up, which was initially awkward but eventually built trust. From before our debut until now, we’ve been aware of various issues related to our debut schedule and other matters. However, working with Daepyonim made us feel good, and I believe that’s why we were able to debut successfully and continue our activities until now. This has been today’s news story.
🐶: Naturally, we all want to continue working with Daepyonim. Even before debuting as NewJeans and through all of the time that we spent together with Min Heejin Daepyonim, all of us felt that the music we wanted to make and the kind of world we wanted to build together, our vision, was similar in so many ways. With Min Heejin Daepyonim, we were able to prepare each and every task with sincere hearts, and I believe it shows in our work. Putting our sincere effort into something is only possible because of the people that we're working with have trust in each other and have that same vision. Min Heejin Daepyonim is not only the person that produces our music, but someone who makes NewJeans who we are. She discusses even the smallest details with us and explains them in ways that we can understand clearly. NewJeans has a distinct colour and tone, and this was created with Min Heejin Daepyonim. She is integral to NewJeans’ identity, and we all feel that she is irreplaceable.
🐱: However, even after our debut, there have been many unfair and incomprehensible incidents that you might not know about, and these incidents have only increased over time. As some of you may know, recently, videos from our trainee days and private records, such as medical information, were leaked. When I first saw that, I was really shocked. It was hard to understand how our company, which is supposed to protect us, failed to manage and allowed such information to be leaked. Naturally, this situation has made us worry that other strange or false information about us might spread in the future. Although we, along with our parents and Min Heejin Daepyonim, have raised concerns about this to HYBE, they haven’t resolved the issue, nor have they taken any proactive measures. Then, in the midst of all this, our CEO was dismissed, and we’re left wondering whom we can trust and rely on. We’ve come to the conclusion that if we don’t speak out about this now, no one will know what we’re going through. After much discussion among ourselves, we finally decided to take this step.
🐰: Something happened to me recently. The 4th floor of the HYBE building is where we get our hair and makeup done, so a lot of other artists and staff come and go there. One day, I was waiting alone in the hallway, and some staff from another team passed by. We greeted each other, but when they came back out a bit later, I heard one of their managers say, “Ignore her,” right in front of me. I could hear and see everything clearly. Even now, I still don’t understand why I had to go through that.
🐻: When I heard about what Hanni experienced, I was really shocked. How could a manager from another team tell their members to ignore one of us, and say it so loudly that Hanni could hear it? Such unimaginable words and behavior were directed at us, yet there was no apology, nor did they even acknowledge their wrongdoing. Of course, I’m worried about our future, but what’s most frightening is that the work we’ve already created is being compromised. Seeing the people who have poured their lives into creating our work being treated this way makes it hard to understand how this could be happening. The new management said they would separate producing and management, but we’ve always worked differently from other labels, and we thought that our way was a good one. Now, Daepyonim can no longer approve all matters, and we’re left wondering how we’re supposed to continue working as we did before. The recent statement from the new management also didn’t make sense to me. If they really didn’t intend to interfere with our producing, then the recent incident with Director Shin Woo-seok should never have happened, and it should have been handled differently. We are the ones directly involved with the copyrights and likeness rights of our content, yet they’re making decisions without our consent. In their statement, they kept saying they were acting to protect us and prevent our anxiety, but why do they keep insisting on this when they haven’t considered our wishes? We don’t want any more unnecessary issues to arise, and we want them to show respect and consideration for Daepyonim and all the directors who have worked with us. The things they’re doing right now are not in our best interest at all.
🐰: Something we all find very important, something that plays a very important role in our team's colour and image is our media content and creative production. Despite saying that they would leave all the creative production to our now former CEO, Min Heejin, through official statements that I think a lot of you might have already read or seen, and also during our personal meetings, they infringed our content. Content that not only we worked really hard on, but also our staff who spent endless hours to produce and release them solely for our fans. And if they had any understanding about what type of team we are, and the type of content that we create, they would have thought more deeply for crossing the line that they set for themselves. Because of this incident, we realized that there's not much we can do to prevent these type of issues. Personally, the way that ADOR used to run was the business management and creative production was not separated and was factors that played and worked in harmony with each other. That's how it worked and it was perfectly fine. It was our way of working and it was our CEO's way of producing NewJeans' content, which a lot of you were able to enjoy and appreciate. But now that she's no longer CEO, these factors that should have continued to work together in harmony are now being seen as two different areas of work.
🐻: Besides this, there are many other incidents we’ve experienced that are beyond my understanding—things that are frightening and uncomfortable. These incidents naturally make us question whether HYBE really cares about NewJeans, and there are clear signs of this. However, it’s hard to discuss everything today because we’re not sure how far things could escalate. We just hope you can understand a little of what’s been on our minds and why we chose to speak out in this way.
🐶: As I mentioned earlier, our dream was to perform the music we want to make with Daepyonim, and we were working very hard toward that goal. But now, we can’t do that, and the plans we’ve made might not come to fruition. As Hanni unnie said earlier, just like that, the content that we released solely for our fans, for our bunnies, was instantly erased. And I truly can't understand why anyone would do this to a group, or just anyone in general. We were just working hard for the present, so what did we do wrong? A week after Daepyonim was dismissed, we found out that we could no longer work with the director we’ve been working with all this time, and we’re extremely anxious because we don’t know what will happen to the staff who have always worked hard for us. If they really care about us, they should stop saying that they prioritize the artists and instead let us do the music we love in an environment where we can be genuinely happy. Is that really so hard to do? It’s hard to fully express what’s in my heart, but in the end, the five of us just want to continue our activities with Min Heejin Daepyonim, as we have done so far.
🐱: Personally, I want to continue working with the people around us who have helped me grow mentally and made me feel alive. However, I can't understand, nor do I think I should have to understand, why external forces are constantly obstructing and hindering us. I absolutely cannot comprehend what is truly in our best interest or what is supposed to help us grow. And I feel so sorry and heartbroken that our Bunnies, who found comfort in us and shared joyful memories with us, have to go through this ordeal and worry about things they shouldn't have to. We almost lost the work that symbolizes the relationship between NewJeans and Bunnies, and we don't want to lose anything else. I refuse to conform to or follow the values of the society those people belong to, and because I believe that direction is not the right one, I will not choose to go that way.
🐹: We found out about the CEO's dismissal through the news on the very day it happened. It was so sudden and unimaginable for all of us, and honestly, it was really difficult for us to process. As artists under HYBE, the company's unilateral notification made it clear to us that they don't respect us at all. In the midst of this confusion, we heard through our manager that the new CEO wanted to meet with us. From the very first action taken by the newly appointed Juyoung, it was clear that there was no consideration for us. He claimed to care for us, to prioritize NewJeans, but looking at everything that has happened, it's evident that his words were just that—empty words. HYBE’s actions, like publishing articles that painted us in a bad light just a week before our comeback, make us question how any of this is supposed to be in our best interest.
🐻: It's already been half a year of unnecessary and exhausting discussions about us and NewJeans, and even as a third party, it must be tiring. As the ones directly involved, it’s incredibly uncomfortable for us. We still have music we want to make and goals we want to achieve together, but as things stand now, it’s heartbreaking to think that we might lose not only the work we’ve created so far but also the identity of our team. That’s what makes us feel so helpless. We held this live stream to express our feelings because we sincerely want this tiresome conflict to end.
🐰: Like how we have our own and individual thoughts and feelings, we have the choice to choose how we will react to each situation, and we are not going to follow Hybe's every order blindly. We are more than well aware that this is getting in the way of our work, and that we should be treated much, much better than how we are right now. And it's very hard to believe that they are truly sincere about wanting to help us continue, to be able to continue to work with our Daepyonim, Min Heejin Daepyonim. Despite her being in the midst of all this current legal conflict, she's expected to plan and creatively produce our future endeavours in just only two months, which I personally think makes no sense at all. We don't want to hear all the empty words of how they're going to help us continue to work with Min Heejin, Daepyonim. And all we want is this legal conflict to be resolved and have our working environment returned back to normal the way it was before.
🐹: The way HYBE is operating right now feels dishonest and wrong to us. Please, stop interfering. Reinstating our CEO and returning us to the original ADOR environment we had before, with familiar people, not strangers, would make things right. We’re not asking for special treatment; we just want everyone to do their jobs well in their respective places. We’ll do our best in our roles too. We sincerely hope our request is heard.
🐶: From a human perspective, I hope you stop harassing our CEO, Min Hee Jin. Honestly, she seems so pitiful, and HYBE just comes across as an inhumane company. What can we possibly learn from a company like this? So, I really hope you stop bothering our CEO.
🐻: What we want is the original ADOR, where CEO Min Hee Jin leads both management and production. The reason we're making this request is because it's a way to coexist peacefully without conflict with HYBE. If our message has been conveyed properly, we hope Chairman Bang and HYBE make a wise decision to restore ADOR to its original state by the 25th. Thank you for listening to us.
#하이브어도어_뉴진스지우기_작작해
#HYBE_STOP_SABOTAGING_NEWJEANS
#HYBEによるNewJeansへの妨害に抗議します
#NEWJEANS_NEVER_DIE
Min Hee-jin: “Public execution for offending Bang Si-hyuk… reminded me of the movie JSA” [The Interview]
https://t.co/Nm6Q59MKlS
Reporter Kim Jung-jae
Reporter Yoo Sung-woon
Former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, ‘The Mother of NewJeans’
Is Min Hee-jin a witch of K-pop or a dynamic figure? Former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin is currently the most controversial figure in K-pop. In 2022, NewJeans, produced by Min, reached the top immediately after debuting, catapulting her to fame as a star producer representing K-pop. Rising from an entry-level employee to CEO, she was praised as a blue-chip of K-pop. However, she was removed from her position as CEO of ADOR, the company she built, and is now in a battle with HYBE for control of ADOR. Some criticize her, claiming she is using NewJeans as a shield for her own gain. What is her true intention?
The conflict began on April 22, when HYBE announced the results of an internal audit, accusing Min and ADOR’s executives of attempting to seize control of ADOR by separating it from HYBE. Min held two press conferences to refute this claim, and both sides are now engaged in a legal battle. The issue resurfaced during NewJeans’ YouTube live broadcast on the 10th when member Minji asked, “Please reinstate Min by the 25th.” On that day, ADOR’s board proposed extending Min’s term as director, but Min rejected this compromise, insisting on her return as CEO. The confrontation has escalated, with additional suspicions that HYBE is deliberately trying to suppress NewJeans. I met Min twice at her studio in Mapo, Seoul, on the 14th and 25th to hear her perspective. In our four-hour conversation, she spoke candidly, as she had during her press conferences. Here’s the interview:
Q: It’s now the 25th, the deadline NewJeans set for your reinstatement, but HYBE hasn’t responded. Is independence the next step?
“NewJeans, their parents, and I have all been constantly harassed, but we have never said we wanted to leave HYBE. We have simply asked them to leave us alone and stop interfering. Since April 22, HYBE has been making absurd claims based on false facts from an illegal audit. Why would I keep fighting this difficult battle and file for an injunction if I didn’t have to?”
Q: In August, ADOR’s board replaced you as CEO and notified shareholders that contracts would be terminated. ADOR claimed it was on the date you wanted and after sufficient discussion.
“This was not an agreed-upon decision. I was informed just three days before the board meeting. I requested a change in schedule due to travel, but it was denied. I attended via video call and pointed out the problems with the dismissal proposal, but they unilaterally forced the decision, stating they would keep me on as a producer. The board has five members, four of whom are from HYBE, so I couldn’t block the decision.”
Q: What was the reason for your dismissal as CEO?
“There wasn’t a convincing reason. They emphasized a breakdown in mutual trust. HYBE’s initial investment was 16 billion KRW. After NewJeans debuted in 2022, ADOR turned a profit by Q1 of 2023. By the end of 2023, the net income was 26.5 billion KRW, surpassing their investment, and the NewJeans brand gave ADOR intangible value. ADOR was the fastest-growing label under HYBE, yet they replaced me with someone with no industry experience. What’s more, the guaranteed independence of the ‘Min Hee-jin label’—something Bang Si-hyuk promised when I joined HYBE (then Big Hit)—was completely disregarded. There’s even KakaoTalk chat records of this.”
HYBE and Min’s shareholder agreement guarantees Min’s term as CEO until November 2026. After that, she has a put option (the right to sell her shares), allowing her to sell 75% of her ADOR shares to HYBE. However, on August 27, HYBE dismissed her, claiming that the shareholder agreement was no longer valid.
Q: HYBE claims you tried to seize control of ADOR.
“The word ‘seize’ doesn’t even appear in the complaint they filed in court. It’s a misleading emotional term used for public manipulation. I was the CEO of ADOR until August 27. The idea of me seizing control is contradictory. They started the public narrative with a fabricated story.”
Q: Some say the conflict is due to the hundreds of billions in put options.
“If money were my goal, there would be no reason for me to endure this painful and drawn-out fight. If I had kept quiet and not objected to HYBE’s actions, I could have received a substantial payout. In May, after I won the injunction against the attempt to dismiss me, HYBE even sent a proposal through a lawyer offering money for me to leave. But I refused because money was never the point.”
Min claims that she had repeatedly raised concerns about HYBE’s girl group ILLIT, under the Belift Lab label, copying NewJeans’ choreography concepts, which she says is why HYBE started targeting her.
Q: What do you think is the real reason for this situation?
“The core issue isn’t about company growth or system improvements. This is a public execution for offending the head of the company, nothing more, nothing less. This whole black comedy of a situation reminds me of the movie Joint Security Area (JSA). On the surface, it seemed like a serious tragedy of division, but in reality, it stemmed from very human conflicts and accidental emotions. This is exactly the same.”
Q: HYBE claims you attempted to make ADOR independent, and there have been accusations of breach of trust.
“HYBE owns 80% of ADOR, while I own 17.8%. How could I attempt to make it independent? HYBE’s interests and ADOR’s interests aren’t always the same. If I, as a salaried CEO, prioritize my own safety over the company’s interests by turning a blind eye to the disadvantages NewJeans faces and not working to improve them, wouldn’t that be the real breach of trust toward ADOR?”
Q: Your remarks and fashion at your first press conference drew attention, with some saying it was a strategy.
“I’m not the type to memorize what to say. If this were scripted, I would’ve been an actress, not a producer. I decided to hold the press conference that morning. Even my lawyers initially opposed it.”
On the 25th, a media outlet raised suspicions that HYBE requested a correction to a news article in July regarding NewJeans’ sales in Japan.
Q: There’s a growing controversy that HYBE asked the media to downplay NewJeans’ achievements.
“They distorted the sales of NewJeans’ ‘Supernatural’ in Japan to 50,000 copies. However, on July 18, the day after the article was published, we received the Gold Record certification for selling over 100,000 copies in Japan. How could it have only been 50,000 the day before? This is just one of many incidents. I can’t talk about all of them, but one example is when I was contacted by Billboard columnist Jeff Benjamin. He said that HYBE’s PR agency, TAG, sent him biased materials attacking me, and he found the content so skewed that he wanted to confirm the facts with me. How can anyone trust a company that does this while publicly offering me a five-year producing contract?”
Q: In response, HYBE stated, "At that time, we actively supported NewJeans by dispatching personnel to the site so that the media could closely cover the group."
"I'm really tired of this wordplay. What HYBE did was simply related to opening press seats, a service that is uniformly applied to all labels under their umbrella. It's a service that Ador (the label) pays a fee for, yet they act like they provided support as if doing us a favor. Moreover, the meeting with Korean and Japanese journalists was arranged at my request. Initially, I requested a meeting where NewJeans and I would greet the press together. However, HYBE PR expressed reluctance, citing that there was no precedent and that the logistics were difficult. As a result, I greeted the reporters alone. I just wanted to show my gratitude to the journalists who came all the way to Japan to cover the event."
Q: In an interview with the Japanese media, you said, "(NewJeans has) a long-term plan that spans seven years. I'm confident we can surprise everyone with each album every year." Has this conflict affected those plans?
"It has caused significant disruption. I was dismissed in the middle of organizing a surprise fan meeting that was planned for Korean fans. The vice presidents were also suddenly excluded and blocked from their work. The production of the next album has been halted as well. It's truly regrettable. This is yet another instance of HYBE interfering with NewJeans' activities."
Q: It seems you have a special relationship with the NewJeans members, as they are strongly demanding your return.
"As a producer, I put a lot of thought into how to guide these young artists in a way that would be beneficial for their lives. The result of that contemplation was NewJeans, who are like children born from both my mind and heart. Beyond wanting to give them everything good, I also had a strong desire, as a producer, to propose an alternative business model with a new kind of relationship. I don’t want to give up on this challenge and attempt so easily."
Min, the former CEO, began her career at SM Entertainment as a graphic artist and rose to the position of director, earning her the reputation of being a "rags-to-riches" success story in the entertainment industry. She received praise for introducing world-building, kitschy and metaphorical symbolism through music videos for groups like Red Velvet and SHINee, and is credited with elevating K-pop to the next level.
Q: NewJeans has succeeded despite going against the recent trend of emphasizing 'girl crush' concepts. They achieved success with songs that are easy to sing along to and a pure, youthful girl image.
"It's hard to simply define the concept of success, but achieving an extraordinary level of success using methods that others have used is difficult. As a planner and producer, I wanted to realize something I truly wanted to do. With the group NewJeans, I wanted to incorporate all the improvements and ideals I've wanted to pursue during my 20 years in this industry. This was possible because I combined both management and production."
Q: As a producer, where do you primarily draw your inspiration from?
"When I was young, all the walls of my house were lined with bookshelves. My parents were both busy working, and as compensation, they would buy me a new book every day since I loved reading. Thanks to that, I naturally encountered authors like Anton Chekhov, Shakespeare, and Kafka from an early age. I also discovered musicians like Giorgio Moroder and Francis Lai thanks to my father's LP collection, and I lived immersed in the music of artists like Antônio Carlos Jobim. My parents never nagged me to study, even when I stayed up late watching movies."
Q: You joined SM Entertainment, so people might assume you were very interested in idols or K-pop.
"Not at all. In fact, before joining, I had never been interested in idols. If it was about music, I was more into older songs, groups like Light and Salt, Sanulrim, Kim Hyun-chul, or indie music. The reason I joined SM Entertainment was to showcase my aspirations in a large market, with a different mindset."
Having observed K-pop since 2002, what does she think about the sustainability of its success? She criticized the heavy reliance on fandom and practices like inflating initial sales figures during a press conference in April.
Q: K-pop is experiencing a golden era, but there are still questions about its sustainability.
"Culture is something that 'moves people's hearts and is created by people.' It would be foolish to lose sight of its inherent essence by being swayed by the term 'industry.' A system that looks good on the surface may sound plausible, but it can easily become nothing more than wasted effort or mere wordplay. Ultimately, everything people do comes down to 'sincerity.' Intangible values are often disregarded because they are invisible, but if you look back, all the decisive moments that changed the world originated from those very values."
Q: What’s your next move in the battle with HYBE?
“I will continue to fight. Not just for my reinstatement as CEO, but for ADOR’s future and NewJeans’ creative freedom. This isn’t just a personal issue; it’s a broader fight for the independence of producers in K-pop.”
우리는뉴진스를지지합니다
#접대골프_나락으로_홀인원
뉴진스와민희진을하이브로부터해방하라
#HYBE_MEDIA_MANIPULATOR
하이브는정의를마주해야한다
Final Discussions between ADOR & Danielle's Legal Teams in Court Today with the Judge:
ADOR: I feel like I’m being rushed. I hope the court will provide better guidance so that I can focus on presenting my arguments and evidence.
Danielle's Team: Sorry it seems that way, you failed to keep a single promise you made so far.
(ADOR keeps failing in their duties in court, example: failing deadlines and not sending emails to companies they allege Danielle signed with, which the judge was NOT happy with today)
🚨Tokkis an account named “Haniverse” is spreading misinformation, painting NewJeans as “liars”, and has made NewJeans look like the attacker on the company. Here is where kpop Stan’s get info. I’d request to report them in-
>Misinformation
>spam or Misleading
Danielle Marsh's Law Firm Leader claims HYBE is using every Legal loophole they find to keep Danielle from signing with another agency and gain 'validity' from court:
"Considering the possibility that the court might rule a penalty clause in the range of 100 billion won invalid, HYBE filed an explicit partial claim for only 30 billion won out of the 100 billion won penalty clause to obtain a ruling of validity from the court, thereby preventing Danielle's return to the market. The company intends to pursue the remaining penalty clause if another agency attempts to sign Danielle while assuming that debt."
njs didn't just decide to terminate contract because mhj was removed
they waited, they trusted the new ceo to protect them and reassure them in a highly stressful situation.
Ador's negligence & failure of it's obligation broke the trust to the members in just 4 months
Danielle's Legal Team say that their position is that her contract with ADOR remains in effect because the termination was unlawful.
However the more the lawsuit continues the more the relationship of trust is being destroyed.
(https://t.co/ltAOuUzZMw)
The quotes... Illit doesn't deserve tokkis emphaty, they have cultivated one of the worst and deranged fandoms who continue to harass newjeans because they keep feeding into the victim narrative
"The parents of NewJeans raised this issue in a petition"
The court further determined, "The email sent by Min Hee-jin remained within HYBE, but the article published through HYBE brought the conflict to the surface, and MHJ's press conference was based on the right of reply."
pls listen to what’s being said in court instead of assuming what went down behind the scenes.
danielle didn’t get the chance to return. ador’s plan was to terminate her from the beginning which is why they didn’t respond when asked how she could make up for the issue. they’re using her lawsuit to threaten the other girls into cooperating. dani already said she tried her best to stay in newjeans.
"Go read the comments."
I'm glad someone brought this up, because when this video (NJZ BBC interview) was first released, the sudden surge of comments pushing the same copy-paste narratives was deeply concerning. The consistency in messaging and the speed at which those comments appeared stood out immediately.
Only later did it become clearer that this was a calculated PR attack directed at the girls.
The court confirmed that HYBE started an aggressive media campaign. This was further supported by U.S. court rulings indicating that TAGPR had targeted the original ADOR team through coordinated narrative-building efforts, including the creation of dedicated websites and activity across online platforms such as Reddit and X to amplify similar messaging.
It's easy to be influenced by narratives like these because of psychological effects such as the illusory truth effect and social proof. When people are repeatedly exposed to the same messaging and see others reinforcing it, the narrative can begin to feel more credible, accepted, and widely believed.
But even after a year, with things having been confirmed, continuing to follow the same sick narrative written by a conglomerate leads me to assume that one is either ignorant or completely unaware of what has been unfolding regarding this situation.
ador spent yesterday arguing that the omega matter happened without their knowledge. then somewhere along the way the discussion ended up at the elle singapore photoshoot...which was with celine...a brand deal danielle had while still under ador...what am i missing here?