It was previously reported that HYBE and ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin are currently in the midst of a power struggle. Min Hee Jin had allegedly been trying to usurp management rights to ADOR from HYBE, leading to HYBE launching an audit against her and the current board of management.
Although there have been many reports about the issue, Korean outlet Hankyung released an exclusive scoop into the mechanisms and motivations behind the feud. In an interview with Min Hee Jin on April 22, 2024, it was claimed that she had been afraid that NewJeans would be taken from her, due to a new girl group’s debut under HYBE.
In March 2024, ILLIT debuted under BeLift Lab, a subsidiary label under HYBE. Since pre-debut, many fans have already been claiming that ILLIT’s concept and overall image were too similar with NewJeans. Some even went as far as claiming that ILLIT had plagiarized NewJeans.
ILLIT copying NewJeans is not something that BeLift Lab did themselves, but HYBE was related to it as well. HYBE, who claims to be the leader of K-Pop, was blinded by profits, and they are copying successful culture contents without any hesitation at all. ADOR has never allowed anyone to copy NewJeans’ results.
— Min Hee Jin
Prior to the audit, Min Hee Jin and the other internal management board for ADOR have already sent their statements and requests to BeLift Lab continuously, but have not been able to receive responses. Just the previous week, ADOR had already set an official message to them, asking “for a statement regarding the violation of NewJeans’ brand value due to plagiarism.”
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