Photos with LE SSERAFIM, BTS, and Other Affiliated Artists
No Photos Taken with NewJeans... Controversy Over Discrimination
Following the press conference held by Min Hee-jin, CEO of the label ADOR, who is in conflict with HYBE, HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk's social media accounts have also become a hot topic. Chairman Bang posted numerous photos with artists from other labels under HYBE on his SNS, but there are no photos with NewJeans.
On the 25th, CEO Min held an emergency press conference at the Korea Conference Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, revealing, "HYBE instructed us not to promote NewJeans until LE SSERAFIM's debut." HYBE operates as a multi-label system, with NewJeans belonging to ADOR and LE SSERAFIM to Source Music. CEO Min claimed that she originally planned to debut NewJeans as "HYBE's first girl group," but HYBE debuted LE SSERAFIM before NewJeans.
Chairman Bang Si-hyuk of HYBE and LE SSERAFIM[Image source=Screenshot of Chairman Bang Si-hyuk's Instagram]
CEO Min stated, "Chairman Bang did not even congratulate us when NewJeans debuted," and revealed a KakaoTalk conversation where, upon NewJeans entering the Billboard Main Singles Chart 'Hot 100' for the first time, Chairman Bang sent a message saying, "Are you happy?" In response, CEO Min said, "Are you asking something obvious?" She added, "As you can see, his tone is different from when I first joined," and "There is a deep rift between us."
After CEO Min's press conference, netizens scrutinized Chairman Bang's Instagram account with a "hawk's eye." He usually posts photos posing warmly with artists from HYBE's labels. On Chairman Bang's Instagram, photos with members of HYBE label groups such as Tomorrow X Together (TXT), LE SSERAFIM, BTS, SEVENTEEN, fromis_9, &TEAM, and ENHYPEN can be seen. However, no photos with NewJeans have been found over the past two years.
Netizens reacted with comments like, "Is NewJeans really being discriminated against?", "It seems Bang Si-hyuk was keeping an eye on Min Hee-jin," and "Min Hee-jin must have been upset." However, some netizens pointed out, "Boy Next Door is also absent," suggesting "It might not mean anything."
Min Hee-jin, CEO of ADOR, is making a statement on the 25th at the Korea Conference Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, regarding the conflict with the parent company HYBE. Earlier, HYBE announced the results of an interim audit on ADOR's management, including CEO Min Hee-jin, and stated that they would file charges against them for breach of duty and other allegations. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@
Meanwhile, on the 22nd, HYBE launched a sudden audit, claiming that CEO Min and some ADOR executives attempted to take over ADOR's management rights and poach NewJeans members. On the 25th, HYBE filed a complaint with investigative authorities against CEO Min on charges of breach of trust, citing KakaoTalk conversations between CEO Min and ADOR's vice president A as evidence of an attempt to seize management rights.
After CEO Min's press conference, HYBE stated, "There are so many inaccuracies in the claims made by CEO Min at the press conference that it is difficult to list them all," and added, "She distorted the facts by mixing timelines to mislead the point and presented distorted facts in a public setting through her characteristic twisted interpretation."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
