The group has recently escalated its backing of Min, beginning with a surprise livestream that included an ultimatum to reinstate her as ADOR CEO. However, NewJeans has supported Min from the start. Here’s everything NewJeans has expressed since the beginning of the dispute.
Friday, May 17: All five members file a letter of plea to the court on the day a hearing was held regarding Min’s court request to nullify HYBE’s rights as the 80 percent owner of her agency ADOR. It was the first legal action taken by the five members since the conflict between their agency and the agency’s parent company, HYBE, began in April.
Wednesday, July 31: Danielle writes a handwritten letter to her “mother and warrior” Min, who uploaded a picture of Danielle’s letter on her Instagram account with only a heart emoji as the caption. “My beloved CEO, it’s Dani,” the letter began. “It’s been two years already. Our CEO who really did the most, thank you so, so much. So much has happened during the short and long two years that it almost feels like we went through everything we should have in seven years. Maybe it was a sacrifice for the future.”
Wednesday, Sept. 11: NewJeans makes a public demand for HYBE to reinstate Min as the CEO of ADOR in a livestream on YouTube. “We hope that HYBE makes the wise choice to reinstate Min Hee-jin as the CEO of ADOR by Sept. 25,” member Minji said. “The ADOR that we want is an ADOR where the music production and company management are done by Min Hee-jin as the CEO. We make this request as the way to cohabitate peacefully with HYBE.” On the livestream, the group also claims that HYBE has been mistreating them “in uncomfortable and scary ways that make no sense” and that Min was the only protection against such “subtle bullying.”
Monday, Sept. 23: NewJeans members and their parents meet with the current CEO of ADOR, two days before the Sept. 25 deadline they gave the agency to reinstate Min. The quintet’s members and parents met with Kim Ju-young, the current CEO of ADOR, according to a report by entertainment news outlet Ilgan Sports.
Wednesday, Sept. 25: Minji posts an enigmatic message on the group’s online fan community app. “Tonight, filled with so many thoughts,” Minji wrote on Phoning, NewJeans’ exclusive fan community app. “Bunnies always cheer me up,” she continued, referring to the girl group’s fan club, named Bunnies. “Always take care of yourselves and only think of good things. Byeee.”
BY TREVOR TREHARNE [trevor.treharne@joongang.co.kr]
