Following the information that Min Hee Jin was eliminated as CEO of ADOR by HYBE, there’s been a bunch of updates on the HYBE/ADOR battle associated to that call. Nonetheless, most likely the largest ongoing concern is the potential downstream influence of the transfer to NewJeans, which hasn’t precisely been allayed after considered one of their frequent collaborators just lately spoke up.
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So let’s begin with Shin Wooseok, the director of many NewJeans movies and proprietor of Dolphiners Movies. He just lately spoke up and claimed that after the change in ADOR administration, content material associated to NewJeans needed to be eliminated and future works that they had deliberate needed to be scrapped. He emphasised that the content material in query was primarily used as archival work, and that channels like (Ban Heesoo) weren’t monetized and his firm didn’t revenue.
Probably the most distressing half to followers, aside from the channel’s connection to “Ditto” and the group’s lore, was the influence it could have had on future releases.
Shin additionally expressed remorse, saying, “There have been initiatives we had promised to work on with NewJeans sooner or later, however we’re unable to satisfy them. I really feel sorry for the workers who labored tirelessly for months and, most significantly, for the followers who had been eagerly ready.”
In response to one other SNS replace from Shin, varied NewJeans movies, together with “ETA Administrators’ Reduce” and Apple’s ‘iPhone 14 Professional World Business”, amongst others, which had been purported to be printed on the YouTube channels Dolphiners Movies. and Ban Hee-soo, will thus not be launched.
ADOR later responded by denying his declare, saying content material like a Director’s Reduce was deleted on account of a dispute with an advertiser, denying that any coverage has modified and accusing them of breach of contract and spreading of false data. They finish by saying they’ll work to add the deleted content material to official channels.
Successfully then, ADOR is claiming this was just a few form of miscommunication, however Shin Wooseok then responded on social media. He defined that the Director’s Reduce was agreed upon to be uploaded by everyone who produced it and that he just lately reaffirmed as a lot. He questions the dragging of unrelated third events into issues and accuses ADOR of media manipulation, then will get particular that ADOR requested the movies to be deleted as a result of they may solely be launched on official accounts.
“On Sunday night, they unilaterally threatened that if the movies weren’t deleted by Monday morning, they might ship a proper discover to Dolphin Kidnapper and demand double the service payment as a penalty. However now, what are they saying? Did they solely uncover the existence of the Ban Hee-soo channel after the deletion?”
Shin questioned, “Which director on the planet would destroy their very own work? Why would I try this? The Ban Hee-soo channel was an extension of the work ‘Ditto’ that I directed, and it was a channel and movies I created voluntarily with none compensation for the followers. Are they now claiming that I abruptly deleted every part with none motivation?”
As I perceive issues at the moment, the dispute is successfully that HYBE/ADOR are actually making an attempt to exert full management over all their IP, and look like claiming that issues agreed to with Min Hee Jin in cost are not legitimate. In the meantime, Shin Wooseok is saying that is merely them being petty retribution as a result of he supported Min Hee Jin and received’t work with different HYBE teams, and is pissed that this screws up laborious work that that they had deliberate with NewJeans going ahead.
It’s by no means laborious for me to consider that HYBE/ADOR could be concerned in scuttling initiatives that had been agreed to unofficially and need to take management now that Min Hee Jin is gone, however I feel the explanation the takedown request communication and/or contract hasn’t been revealed but by Shin Wooseok and them is as a result of the creatives had been working with a verbal understanding greater than something official. Thus, that is actually about HYBE/ADOR making the most of the truth that they’ve authorized recourse for this transfer and so they don’t care if it screws issues up for NewJeans and others. If that assumption is true, they is perhaps legally right, however it’s one other a type of issues that’s clearly not going to endear them to creatives. Mainly, I perceive that HYBE/ADOR seemingly have the best to do that … however why do that in any respect or why do that with out quick reuploading plans? It’s laborious to think about this doing something however inflicting bother for them.
Total, it’s a state of affairs price monitoring, and I feel persons are understandably hypervigilant about any potential retribution that HYBE (and the brand new ADOR) might need for NewJeans, however until one thing official does exist, I’m unsure precisely what Shin Wooseok, Min Hee Jin, NewJeans or the opposite creatives can do, precisely. I suppose that’s the impetus behind making this all public, as calling consideration to the alleged conduct of HYBE/ADOR administration is perhaps the one recourse choice for them at this level.
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On the Min Hee Jin entrance — aside from the already coming authorized battle over her shareholder settlement being terminated — after her elimination as CEO, ADOR appointed her to proceed producing for NewJeans, however her facet mentioned their downside with it was that it was solely a two-month contract.
They additional claimed, “The proposal to proceed dealing with manufacturing, as communicated by the media, is one-sided and unreasonable, making it obscure from a commonsense perspective.” They identified the next points:
1. A particularly brief two-month manufacturing contract.
2. A clause permitting ADOR’s board (HYBE) to unilaterally terminate the contract at any time.
ADOR then responded, claiming that her position as inside director solely lasts till November 1st, and that the termination clause is a safeguard.
There’s not a ton to say right here as a result of I feel it’s one thing that’s clearly going to be received or loss legally. That is about tens of tens of millions of {dollars}, which is what I can all the time belief individuals caring essentially the most about, so it’ll be settled in courtroom.
That mentioned, provided that HYBE has already misplaced the momentary injunction case, I’m curious to see how they’re going to argue that is materially completely different and so they’re justified in doing this. And yeah, I do suppose they completely want to brush the circumstances to show their level, not primarily based alone emotions however actually primarily based on their very own phrases.
On the finish of yesterday’s salvo, HYBE mentioned they might expose Min Hee Jin in courtroom, “One after the other, her lies are being uncovered by proof and info. We count on every part to be clearly decided by investigative businesses and the courts.“
They will’t pull an APRIL after which nonetheless declare they had been in the best, for instance.
Talking of which, HYBE additionally misplaced their request to prohibit entry to the data from the injunction trial.
We will see.
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On the entrance of the sexual harassment/energy harassment case, new ADOR CEO Kim Joo Younger has mentioned that they’re reinvestigating the fees.
Relating to the allegations of office sexual harassment and bullying, in addition to makes an attempt to cowl up the incident, a reinvestigation shall be performed to uncover the reality and set up measures to stop recurrence.
That’s superb, however is it not bizarre to anyone else that no person has made a stink about her being at the least in cost of the HYBE’s HR division when all that occurred in March of this yr?
The brand new CEO Kim is the chief HR officer of HYBE. She previously served as the top of the HR division at sport writer Krafton and family items producer Yuhan-Kimberly till she joined HYBE in Might 2022.
Once I talked about a number of the duty for the worker’s plight being on HYBE in addition to Min Hee Jin, we’re seemingly actually speaking about her. To me, HYBE is in a no-win state of affairs right here as properly, as a result of it’s both they had been more than pleased to miss issues or not do due diligence for the worker whereas they had been on higher phrases with Min Hee Jin or they find yourself agreeing with Min Hee Jin’s place once more.
I suppose I kinda don’t perceive why it’s not a problem, as I haven’t even seen Min Hee Jin’s facet convey it up.
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As I feel I’ve made fairly clear in my protection up to now, I don’t have a lot love for both facet of the chief battle, and largely I really feel dangerous for these downstream of this struggle who need to take care of the fallout. The faces of this are inevitably going to be the idols, with NewJeans now doubtlessly seeing a spiteful HYBE/ADOR entrance now accountable for their futures. It’s a legitimate concern.
That mentioned, I actually do marvel if HYBE/ADOR may even afford to purposefully tank NewJeans. They’re a publicly traded firm, ADOR is a profitable subsidiary and NewJeans is a marquee group, so to sabotage them could be to threat severe monetary penalties if not a lack of energy. That mentioned, Ok-pop corporations have been recognized to do far worse for the sake of their egos and sending a message to any others who would problem their energy, and assuming competent choice making and/or PR from HYBE at this level appears silly.