Seoul: The controversy surrounding the South Korean global entertainment firm HYBE Corporation and its subsidiary label ADOR seems to be getting bigger. Just days after conducting an audit of ADOR and demanding its CEO, Min Hee-jin, to resign, the Korean entertainment giant has responded to Min Hee-jin’s press conference. On April 25, Min Hee-jin held a news conference at the Korea Conference Centre to discuss her perspective on the disagreement between her, ADOR and HYBE.
The statement addresses several points, starting with the assertion that there are inaccuracies in CEO Min Hee-jin’s claims. HYBE stated, “Of what was claimed by CEO Min Hee-jin at the press conference today, there is so much that is far from the truth to the point that it is difficult to go through them one by one,” as reported by Soompi.
HYBE criticised CEO Min Hee-jin by stating that she “distorted the facts by mixing up the timeline and presented her characteristic distorted way of interpretation in a public setting.”
The company also mentioned that while they could refute all claims with evidence, they have chosen not to do so as they believe the claims are not worth responding to individually.
However, HYBE noted that they will address facts that are important in business terms among inquiries from the media. They requested CEO Min Hee-jin to stop “lying” about certain issues, such as the claim that there was no offer for dialogue and that there was no email response. HYBE also called for CEO Min Hee-jin to return information assets as requested and to respond promptly to the audit. The company urged her to resign, stating that she has proven herself “unfit” to manage ADOR.
Finally, HYBE requested that CEO Min Hee-jin stop mentioning artists and their parents, as it believes doing so “degrades” the value of the artists.
Billboard claims that in late 2023, when HYBE went from total label control to 80%, Min Hee-jin acquired an 18% share in ADOR, with the remaining 2% being owned by other company executives.
Meanwhile, Hybe plans to file an official police report against executives from its sublabel ADOR on grounds of breach of trust and other offences, as per reports.
Prior to this, Hybe accused Min Hee-jin of trying to take over the sublabel. According to the evidence, which included in-depth conversations, Min Hee-jin gave the ADOR management instructions to devise strategies for pressuring HYBE to sell ADOR’s shares.
In retaliation, ADOR had said that ILLIT, a five-member girl group that was founded under BELIFT LAB, another subsidiary of HYBE, was copying NewJeans.
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