Evidence of plagiarism by Aileit NewJeans presented... "Legitimate issue raised"
"HYBE audit is an unjust illegal act"
Claims of unfair dismissal of CEO
Former ADORE CEO Min Hee-jin, who is in conflict with parent company HYBE following her dismissal from the CEO position, is expected to cause considerable controversy by presenting evidence of 'AILIT's plagiarism of NewJeans' during the court battle over the injunction for her reappointment as CEO.
On the 11th, the Civil Division 50 of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Presiding Judge Kim Sang-hoon) conducted a hearing on the injunction application filed by former CEO Min against HYBE regarding the exercise of voting rights.
At the hearing, Min’s side revealed through oral arguments that "AILIT's creative director requested NewJeans' planning proposal from the conceptualization stage of AILIT, and AILIT's proposal is exactly the same as NewJeans' plan." Min’s side stated that the whistleblower is an internal HYBE employee.
Earlier, in April, Min claimed that HYBE’s audit initiated on charges including breach of duty was motivated by retaliation for her raising the issue of AILIT’s plagiarism of NewJeans.
The materials submitted by former CEO Min to the court on this day included text messages and recorded conversations from an internal HYBE whistleblower. The whistleblower sent a text message to an ADORE official saying, "I want to talk about the similarities between AILIT and NewJeans," and in the recorded call, said, "I shared NewJeans' planning proposal with a HYBE official who was struggling with planning, but I really didn’t expect that. I never imagined they would make it exactly the same." When asked if the creative director of AILIT’s agency, Belift Lab, requested to share the (documents), the whistleblower replied, "Yes, that’s correct."
The whistleblower added, "Seeing Belift Lab upload videos denying the NewJeans plagiarism allegations, it seems like all the same materials have been submitted to the court, but they keep saying it’s not true? That was very uncomfortable."
Min’s side argued, "The whistleblower initially delivered the NewJeans planning proposal created by former CEO Min to Belift Lab, but since this content was very similar to AILIT’s proposal, the whistleblower reported it," and "On April 3rd, internal objections were raised regarding ‘AILIT’s copying of NewJeans,’ and objective evidence clearly shows that these objections were justified."
They continued, "When these plagiarism allegations were raised, HYBE accused us of breach of duty," and "HYBE responded with an audit, but this again confirmed that the audit was illegal and lacked any legitimacy," emphasizing the unfairness of the CEO dismissal.
The plagiarism allegations against AILIT regarding NewJeans became a hot topic recently, even being mentioned during the National Assembly audit. Earlier, the court noted in its May injunction decision prohibiting shareholder voting rights that "opinions have been raised among the public that AILIT’s concept, choreography, and costumes are similar to those of NewJeans."
As the allegations spread, Belift Lab, AILIT’s agency, denied the similarities through a YouTube video in June, stating, "NewJeans is a team that evokes 90s nostalgia, while AILIT was planned as friends like the dogs you occasionally see in class." Belift Lab filed a complaint against former CEO Min for obstruction of business and defamation and also initiated a civil lawsuit.
Currently, ADORE maintains its refusal to accept former CEO Min’s demand to return as CEO. Instead, they proposed that she produce for NewJeans during the remaining five years of their contract, but Min reportedly rejected this, citing problematic clauses in the contract.
During the hearing, both sides used strong language such as "betrayal" and confronted each other. Min’s side argued that despite creating corporate value worth 1 trillion won in two years, HYBE broke promises and treated her unfairly. On the other hand, HYBE claimed that Min attempted to seize the company through concrete plans for independence, used NewJeans members and their parents to wage a public relations campaign, and that this plan was not reckless imagination but a meticulously calculated realistic approach.
The court stated it would receive and review additional related documents from both sides by the 25th and make a decision on the injunction as soon as possible.
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