Members of K-pop group NewJeans have made public statements for the first time about the corporate bust up between the founder of their label Ador, Min Hee Jin, and its parent company HYBE.
It follows the removal of Min as CEO of Ador last week and her subsequent rejection of an offer to stay on with the label in a producer role. With fans of K-pop taking a particularly active interest in all the corporate dramas within the South Korean music industry, the affected artists finally speaking out is a noteworthy moment.
NewJeans member Minji shared her thoughts on recent events with the group’s fanbase, known as ‘bunnies’, via fan platform Phoning. She said, “It’s been almost a week since I wanted to share with you all the things that have been happening, but I couldn’t”.
“I feel so sorry that we’re going through unnecessary hardships when we could be spending our time sharing only good stories”, she went on. “I feel so frustrated that I can’t resolve anything. I don’t know how long these anxious days will last, and I know it might be selfish to say this, but I really hope that our bunnies and we won’t have to go through tough times anymore”.
Fellow member Danielle added, “Honestly, since CEO Min Hee Jin was dismissed, it has been very tough, and I’ve had a lot on my mind. I was in a bit of a state of shock for a while and felt very anxious”.
Min’s removal as CEO of Ador followed months of legal wrangling between her and the bosses at HYBE, with both sides making various allegations of wrong-doing against the other.
When announcing last week that new Ador CEO Kim Juyoung would be responsible for "stabilising and reorganising the company’s internal structure", HYBE said that Min would continue to work with the label in a creative and production role.
However, on Friday a spokesperson for Min said that that had not been agreed prior to HYBE's announcement and that a contract setting out her new role was unacceptable, not least because it would only assure her involvement with NewJeans through to November. The spokesperson added, “It is unrealistic to expect the successful completion of crucial production tasks, such as preparing for NewJeans’ world tour in 2025, under such a short-term contract”.
In response, HYBE stressed that Min’s existing contract ran through to November and that this agreement is amending that deal, hence the short term nature of the arrangement. It then added that if no deal can be agreed with Min, the label will seek another producer to handle creative and production work on the next phase of NewJeans’ output.