ADOR’s CEO Min Hee-jin has released a statement in response to reports to HYBE’s audit, highlighting BELIFT LAB’s rookie group ILLIT’s alleged plagiarism of NewJeans as a central concern. The allegations of cultural appropriation and corporate mishandling exacerbate the divide between the two parties.
On April 22, HYBE launched an audit against ADOR’s management, including CEO Min Hee-jin, following reports of ADOR’s purported efforts to break away and become independent.
Following the news, ADOR addressed the ongoing feud. In her statement, Min Hee-jin accuses HYBE, including its head, Bang Si-hyuk, of benefiting from the imitation of ADOR’s artist, NewJeans, by ILLIT.
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“HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk produced ILLIT’s debut album. The copying of NewJeans by ILLIT was not done independently by BELIFT LAB but also involves HYBE. HYBE, a leading company in K-pop, is blinded by short-term profits and is mass-producing unoriginality by copying successful cultural content without hesitation,” a part of the statement read.
As per them, the rookie girl group is copying NewJeans in terms of ‘hair, makeup, clothing, choreography, photos, videos, and event appearances.’
Despite this, HYBE has not acknowledged the error and has directed to remove Min Hee-jin from her position. She disputes HYBE’s accusations of attempting to steal from the company, asserting that “it is incomprehensible how a legitimate complaint to protect the cultural achievements of our artist NewJeans could harm ADOR’s interests or how it could be an act of seizing control of ADOR.”
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ADOR further added that they will exhaust all legal measures “to protect the cultural achievements that NewJeans has worked for and to prevent further infringement due to copying.”
The statement concludes with ADOR hoping that HYBE and BELIFT Lab will acknowledge their mistakes, respect the cultural accomplishments of others, and make positive contributions to the entertainment industry.
