Min Hee Jin steps down from ADOR board, leaves HYBE
Min Hee Jin, former CEO of K-pop label ADOR, has stepped down as internal director of the label, officially leaving parent agency HYBE.
The music producer-art director detailed her resignation in a lengthy statement released on Wednesday, Nov. 20.
“Today, I am resigning from my position as an internal director at ADOR. Additionally, I am terminating the shareholder agreement with HYBE and intend to hold HYBE legally accountable for breaches of this agreement,” Min began in her statement, as reported by K-media outlet Soompi.
She added that she will be taking necessary legal action against “numerous illegal activities” allegedly committed by HYBE and its affiliates.
Min detailed that since the dispute started between her and HYBE, which began in April after the parent label’s audit, she tried to uphold the shareholder agreement and revive ADOR, but HYBE has “has neither acknowledged its wrongdoing nor shown any signs of change, leading me to conclude that further efforts would be a waste of time.”
“I had hoped HYBE would admit its mistakes and worked tirelessly to protect NewJeans within HYBE, which has become twisted. This is why I sent internal whistleblowing emails twice in April,” Min added.
The music producer lamented how HYBE allegedly “fabricated absurd falsehoods and publicly displayed their shameful illegal audit” including how they allegedly framed her with a “bizarre accusation” of taking over the management, as well as launching “ignorant and irrational attacks” against her.
“After numerous twists and turns, it has finally become clear that my whistleblowing was based on undeniable facts and was a legitimate report, while HYBE’s ugly lies and hypocrisy are being exposed one by one,” Min said. “In fact, HYBE likely knew from the beginning that the contents of my whistleblowing were all true and that my concerns were legitimate,” she added, saying how the parent agency avoided solving the dispute due to “their own interests and advancement.”
“I did not expect them to repent, but I believed they would have at least a minimum level of conscience as human beings, which now seems to have been a naive misjudgment,” Min wrote.
“Just as merely breathing does not mean one is truly alive, I did not want to cling to money and settle into this twisted organization,” she added.
Min went on to claim that HYBE would use its subsidiary labels to engage in unreasonable lawsuits, nitpicking, and unfair media play as a form an attack against her.
“They insisted on discussing the R&R (Roles and Responsibilities), the core of the delegation contract, while simultaneously demanding incomprehensible conditions like forensic consent before the discussion, and only insisting on face-to-face meetings without providing the R&R document, which was an incomprehensible stance,” she added.
Min stressed, “HYBE’s actions in 2024 will be recorded as an unprecedented incident in K-pop history.”
“Over the past seven months, I have poured all my mental, economic, and physical resources into reviving ADOR, which was devastated by HYBE’s severe breaches of the shareholder agreement,” she said. “It was a hellish battle against the baseless violence of a group disguised as a large corporation, but I did not back down and made every effort.”
“HYBE’s moral decay has reached its peak, and although their dirty media play will continue, I am not worried because the public has likely become aware of their patterns,” she added.
Min further stressed that she will not back down from any forces that will “unjustly slander” her, saying she will not hesitate to take legal action.
She went on to thank Bunnies (NewJeans’s fan club name) and everyone who supported her fight against “the worst company.”
“Some may not understand why I have endured this far, but there is a reason and meaning for someone like me to exist in this world,” she said. “I hope you will continue to show interest in my new journey in K-pop.”
ICYDK, HYBE is a parent company that handles various labels, including ADOR and Belift Lab, allowing them to “independently create their music and pursue cultural diversity” in the K-pop scene.
In April, HYBE filed a complaint against Min, accusing her of trying to take over ADOR to become independent from the parent company, which the latter denied. In the same month, Min also released a lengthy statement, slamming HYBE for allowing Belift Lab's ILLIT to allegedly "copy" the Super Shy singers.
In September, NewJeans broke their silence on the issue for the first time via a surprise live broadcast on their YouTube channel, where they demanded for reinstatement of Min as CEO.
A month later, Soompi reported that the court had denied Min’s request for an injunction for her reappointment as ADOR CEO, saying her claims “did not meet the legal requirements to constitute grounds for an injunction.”
The first trial of Belift Lab’s lawsuit against Min is reportedly set for Jan. 10, 2025.
