ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin And HYBE Feud

Submission 1,853

Part of a series on K-Pop. [View Related Entries]

Overview

ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin And HYBE Feud, also known as ADOR Vs. HYBE Fallout, refers to allegations of power struggles, corporate espionage, plagiarism and leaked information between HYBE, a South Korean multinational entertainment company responsible for K-pop groups (most notably BTS) and ADOR (an independent label under HYBE responsible for the K-pop girl group NewJeans). The feud erupted in late April 2024, as documents about HYBE's audit revealed an alleged coup orchestrated by ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin, who claims her company was being exploited and accused HYBE of allowing its subsidiary, BELIFT Lab, to plagiarize NewJeans' concept for their new girl group, ILLIT.

Background

On April 22nd, 2024, the South Korean news outlet Dispatch exclusively revealed that ADOR‘s CEO Min Hee Jin wanted to break away from HYBE, alleging she "has secretly approached investors and looked for a way to buy HYBE’s shares in ADOR." The article also claims the CEO "wrongfully obtained sensitive internal information about HYBE" and that HYBE was able to obtain information and evidence that she has also abused employees.^[1]^[2]

Also on April 22nd, YouTuber^[3] @moluccensis posted an essay video explaining the ongoing feud between ADOR and HYBE (shown below), which amassed over 54,000 views and 2,100 likes in a day.

Developments

April 2024 HYBE Audit Against ADOR

On April 22nd, 2024, several South Korean news outlets reported that HYBE invoked an audit against ADOR CEO and asked Min Hee Jin to resign after Dispatch revealed her reported "coup" attempt. According to the news outlet Pinkvilla,^[4] the audit alleges ADOR leaked sensitive information, including "contract details between ADOR and HYBE" and that CEO Min Hee Jin and her team "clandestinely attempted to tarnish the reputation of HYBE and its artists by manipulating public opinion negatively."

ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin Accused HYBE of Plagiarism

In response to HYBE's audit, ADOR CEO Hee Jin released a statement highlighting BELIFT LAB’s, a rival K-pop label, rookie group ILLIT’s alleged plagiarism of NewJeans as a central concern. In her statement, she also claims that HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk produced ILLIT’s debut album, saying, "The copying of NewJeans by ILLIT was not done independently by BELIFT LAB but also involves HYBE."

On April 22nd, 2024, X^[5] user @nwjnsbts posted a translated version of the statement (shown below), which amassed more than 910 likes and 270 retweets in a day.

Online Reactions

Amid the feud between ADOR and HYBE, K-pop fans used humor to comment on the situation. For example, on April 23rd, 2024, X^[6] user @its_min22 posted a scene from Disney Channel's Hanna Montana show in which she is accepting an award while a fight is happening in the background (shown below) paired with the caption "NewJeans going to events while Ador and Hybe are fighting." The post amassed more than 33,000 views and 1,600 likes in a few hours.

TikTokers also commented about the K-pop drama, as user @priscillakwon^[7] posted a video on April 22nd explaining CEO Min Hee Jin vs. HYBE feud (shown below, left), which received roughly 1.2 million plays and 110,000 likes in one day.

On the same day, TikTok^[8] user @zuha_clips posted a video of a girl from the K-pop group Le Sserafim walking inside HYBE's building whiteout "knowing what's going on." The post (shown below, right) garnered more than 137,000 plays and 27,000 likes in a day.