A development amidst the ongoing feud between HYBE and its subsidiary label ADOR has been revealed. On May 13, 2024, South Korean news outlet Ilgan Sports released an email sent by Min Hee-jin to HYBE and BELIFT LAB on April 3rd.
In the email, Min Hee-jin had also forwarded a letter written by the parents of the NewJeans members and sent on March 31st, where they had expressed their concerns over the similarities of BELIFT LAB’s girl group ILLIT to NewJeans, HYBE Chairman and founder Bang Si-hyuk’s actions (or lack thereof) towards NewJeans and called out the company to explain themselves.
The email listed down what they saw as similarities between NewJeans and ILLIT, which were the following: concept photos, styling, music video direction, choreography, and content.
The parents of the NewJeans members also added, “As the public criticizes and refutes similarities between the two teams and various controversies and unnecessary comparisons are created, the members are experiencing mental distress in this process in which NewJeans’ achievements until now can be damaged. Not only the members, but their families feel severe fatigue about 000 (BELIFT LAB) being mentioned together in almost all articles about NewJeans and on social media and even feel helpless about not being able to stop this. We are upset and hurt that NewJeans is being used in unnecessary comparative analysis, and it is painful.”
The parents of the NewJeans members also called out Bang Si-hyuk’s behavior towards NewJeans, where there were several times when the HYBE chairman would ignore their greetings.
They ended the email by saying, “As a leader of the K-Pop industry, HYBE should provide a sensible and healthy environment for its labels’ artists. We demand a strong protest against HYBE for the issues mentioned and await their response and corrective measures.”
HYBE, in turn, released a statement on the same day. In it, HYBE mentioned that they had already received and replied to this email by stating (with evidence) that it was not plagiarism.
They also stated that they are in possession of evidence that the emails were part of Min Hee-jin’s plan for the eventual takeover, as well as she had suggested involving the parents to raise issues because if she did it herself, it would be violating the shareholders’ agreement.
HYBE ended their statement by saying, “We cannot help but express our dismay at Min Hee-jin’s behavior, using artists as shields for her personal gain and even putting their parents at the forefront. We urge her not to mislead public opinion and to exercise restraint to protect the value of the artists.”
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