Former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin has spoken about her ongoing feud with K-pop giant HYBE, describing the situation as a “public execution” for “offending” the company.
In a new interview with JoongAng Ilbo, via Korea JoongAng Daily, Min Hee-jin spoke about her feud with HYBE and removal as CEO of K-pop agency ADOR, which is home to girl group NewJeans. “This is nothing more than a public execution of a subsidiary’s president for blatantly offending the parent company,” she told the outlet.
Min claimed in the interview that she is “committed to this challenge” and is refusing to “back down easily” because she feels that is it “crucial to change the rigid dynamic between producers and artists” in the K-pop industry. “Beyond my personal desire to support [NewJeans], I aim to establish a new kind of relationship within a business model,” she said.
During the interview, the music executive also claimed that the feud is not about money, saying that she “could have taken a much larger financial payout by staying silent and not challenging HYBE”. Min also alleged that she was “offered a settlement through HYBE’s lawyer to leave” the company, but claims that she “turned it down because it wasn’t about money”.
HYBE has denied those allegations in a comment to NME: “HYBE has not proposed to Min any negotiation that suggests a settlement to leave ADOR.”
Min’s interview with JoongAng Ilbo took place a day before ADOR rejected a request by NewJeans to reappoint Min as the CEO of the K-pop agency, while announcing plans to retain the music executive as a board member.
ADOR’s announcement came after NewJeans held a surprise livestream on YouTube calling for HYBE to reinstate Min. According to the members, the livestream was held without HYBE’s knowledge and the original footage has since been deleted.