Former TO1 Jayn Lee's exclusive contract with HYPEER has come to an end

This megathread is about the ongoing dispute within HYBE and the management of sub-label ADOR. Substantial news developments may be posted to the subreddit (outside of the Megathreads). Moderators will only approve posts that focus on statements by relevant parties, official representatives, or legal authorities. Unofficial commentary, fandom activities, speculation, or blind items will not be acceptable. Articles or translations should ideally be presented as neutrally as possible. Titles or content that are obviously sensationalized or intended to persuade readers to one perspective will be removed. English-speaking news outlets that have relatively more neutral reporting include Soompi, Yonhap News, and Korea JoongAng Daily. THIS POST MAY BE LOCKED OR UNLOCKED AT VARYING TIMES based on what the moderators are able to manage during their shifts. Please be patient with us while we work to balance keeping up with the queue and our own lives. DISCLAIMER ABOUT SOURCES: We prefer to focus on official statements from companies or other vetted sources. There will be widespread speculation and rumor-heavy articles, but until presented in an official capacity we consider them unsubstantiated. As Mods, all we can do is compile and summarize, but we are not investigators or journalists. Summary of Previous Megathreads ONE and TWO and THREE contains HYBE's audit of ADOR and Min Hee Jin's 1st press conference. FOUR summarized all events up to April 30th, 2024. FIVE and SIX contains potential ADOR embezzlement, MHJ's injunction and hearing, and a letter from the parents of NewJeans. SEVEN and EIGHT and NINE contains MHJ's injunction granted May 30th and remaining ADOR CEO, HYBE replacing ADOR board members, BELIFT LAB's video regarding plagiarism and lawsuit against MHJ. TEN and ELEVEN and TWELVE contains ex-ADOR employee's sexual harassment case, band Shakatak's plagiarism claim, HYBE 2.0 and ADOR restructuring with new CEO Kim Joo Young, MV director drama, the NewJeans livestream, MHJ's 2nd injunction filing and public events/interviews. THIRTEEN and FOURTEEN and FIFTEEN contains an interview with NewJeans' parents, Hanni and CEO Kim Joo Young at the National Assembly, MHJ's reappointment as director, Kim Taeho at the National Assembly, HYBE's Weekly Industry Report leak, the court's dismissal of MHJ's 2nd Injunction, ADOR board's vote against making MHJ's CEO again, NewJeans' certified letter of ultimatum to ADOR, rejection of Hanni's workplace bullying claim by labor ministry, MHJ's resignation from ADOR, and NewJeans' contract termination press conference. SIXTEEN and SEVENTEEN and EIGHTEEN contains ADOR's 26-page response to NewJeans' certified letter, Dispatch's exposé on MHJ's alleged strategy to leave HYBE, ADOR seeking validity of NewJeans member contracts, KMCA/KOSPO statements concerning tampering, the creation of the 'jeanzforfree' Instagram account, visa concerns, Employee B's MHJ defamation mediation failing, Davolink Chairman details, first hearings for Belift Lab and Source Music vs MHJ damages cases, dismissal of former ADOR VP's workplace harassment case against HYBE/ADOR, ADOR's injunction to halt NewJeans ad deals, and NewJeans rebranding to NJZ. MEGATHREAD NINETEEN covered mid-February to early March. Contains: Reports around Hanni's visa concerns and political involvement of National Assembly member Park Ji Won, NJZ parents establishing and posting to their PR Instagram account, the conclusion of three related allegations of 'workplace harassment' with no charges against HYBE/ADOR or ADOR CEO Kim Jooyoung, the joint press conference of 5 major industry organizations regarding tampering and contractual integrity, and the provisional injunction hearing for ADOR's complaint to restrict NJZ's music activities along with new ad deals until contract validity is determined. MEGATHREAD TWENTY covered the rest of March. Contains: The provisional injunction hearing and results two weeks later granting the injunction in ADOR's favor, NewJeans' activities at ComplexCon, NewJeans' filed objection to the injunction ruling and hearing set for early April, progress for Employee B, and general media/articles around the injunction results. MEGATHREAD TWENTY ONE covered all of April. Contains: HYBE's annual shareholders' meeting, the 1st hearing for confirmation of ADOR's contract validity with NewJeans, the hearing for NewJeans' objection to the injunction ruling and subsequent rejection of their objection by the judge one week later, and the 2nd hearing regarding shareholder agreement termination validity between HYBE and MHJ was designated to run jointly along with the case around exercising put/call options. Articles / Timeline 250422 This day marks one year since HYBE launched their audit of Min Hee Jin and ADOR's management. Happy(?) 1st anniversary of the Megathreads! 250502 The 3rd hearing for Min Hee Jin vs. Belift Lab was set to take place but postponed to July 18th at Belift Lab's request. Each side is due to present their arguments/documents regarding plagiarism issues at the next meeting. (Source: Maeil Kyungjae) 250530 We learned that ADOR had filed for 'indirect enforcement' after their injunction was granted and NewJeans performed at ComplexCon back in March (Filed on April 4th according to the statement from NewJeans' representatives linked below). On the 30th, the 52nd Division of the Seoul Central District court further granted this request. The 'indirect enforcement' ruling means that each individual member of NewJeans will be fined 1 billion won (approx. $725,000) if they continue with entertainment activities independent of ADOR, which would be in violation of the injunction. This enforcement with potential fines does NOT apply to any of NewJeans' independent activities between the granting of the injunction and the granting of this 'indirect enforcement'. These fines will only apply to future activities going forward, or at least until rulings with NewJeans' appeal or the main contract validity case changes anything (next hearing on June 5th). (Source: Chosun Biz, MK Sports) The Korea Herald: Court orders NewJeans to pay Ador 1 billion won for each unauthorized activity Discussion Post Korea JoongAng Daily: Court orders NewJeans members to pay ADOR $725,600 for every independent entertainment activity A statement by NewJeans' representatives was made later in the day primarily acknowledging the indirect enforcement ruling, but reiterating that it is temporary and will no longer have an effect if NewJeans win their appeal of the injunction. (Source: Ilgan Sports) The 2nd hearing for Source Music's damages lawsuit against Min Hee Jin took place at the 12th Civil Affairs Division of the Seoul Western District Court. (Quick recap: 1st was January 10th, 2nd was previously scheduled for March 14th, postponed per Source Music's request). Legal representatives were present. Source Music had a 20-minute presentation prepared, but Min Hee Jin's representatives objected to the inclusion of KakaoTalk messages in the presentation. They claimed the messages were illegally obtained and requested the hearing to be closed/private. Source Music denied the messages were obtained illegally, claiming they were gained from company devices with consent. The court went with a temporary compromise to keep the hearing public, but not allow discussion/display of the messages until they were reviewed again. A special hearing to review the messages will take place June 27th. (Source: Sports Today) 250605 The Seoul Central District Court Division 41 held the second hearing for ADOR seeking confirmation of validity for their exclusive contract with NewJeans. Only legal representatives were in attendance. NewJeans' side primarily argued that ADOR had not met their obligations and that their evidence they were preparing to support NewJeans' activities, like finding a new producer, was inadequate. ADOR's side argued that NewJeans' reasons for allegedly terminating their contract continually changed, indicating they are arbitrary and being made up with retroactive hindsight. The issue of some evidence being collected illegally also came up again from NewJeans' side. Judge Jung Hoe-Il specifically inquired if both/either sides were willing to come to an agreement, encouraging them to do so. NewJeans' representatives strongly indicated this was unlikely as the trust in ADOR had completely collapsed. ADOR's representatives indicated they could see negotiating an agreement once the court comes to a final decision. The 3rd hearing was set for July 24th. (Sources: X Sport News, Maeil Kyungjae) 250612 The next hearing regarding the Shareholder Agreement termination and exercising put/call options lawsuits between HYBE and Min Hee Jin was held at the Seoul Central District Court's 31st Division. Arguments from each side mostly re-tread what we've already covered. HYBE's side argued they were justified in ending the shareholder agreement due to the threat Min Hee Jin posed to the company. Min Hee Hin's side argued the timing of the audit/termination did not align purely with that concern and that some KakaoTalk messages and emails were obtained illegally and not admissable as evidence. HYBE also indicated they had a witness to give testimony at the next meeting, which the court accepted. The next hearing with closing arguments, was set for September 11th for both lawsuits. (Sources: Maeil Kyungjae, TV Daily, Sports Today) 250617 Following up from April 16th when NewJeans appealed the court's decision to uphold the injunction and halt on their independent activities, the Seoul High Court reaffirmed the earlier decision. The court rejected NewJeans' appeal. They determined there was no significant change in the material/arguments presented for the appeal and the original decision to grant ADOR's injunction was justified. There was further clarification that the management conflict between HYBE and Min Hee Jin, and her no longer being NewJeans' producer, did not constitute a valid argument for the alleged collapse of trust between ADOR and NewJeans. The group's withdrawal from ADOR is considered arbitrary, that their artistic freedom or activity is not impeded since they are able to do so within their exclusive contract, and that any damages resulting from attempting independent activities are self-inflicted. (Sources: Yonhap News, NewsPim, News 1) The Korea Herald: K-pop High Court rejects NewJeans appeal, upholding ban on independent activities Post Soompi: Seoul High Court Denies NewJeans' Appeal Of Injunction Decision Looking Ahead: June 27: Special hearing for Source Music vs. MHJ to review KakaoTalk messages as evidence July 18: 3rd hearing for Belift Lab vs. MHJ (postponed from May 2nd) July 24: 3rd hearing for ADOR seeking confirmation of validity for their exclusive contract with NewJeans September 11: Next hearing regarding the Shareholder Agreement termination and exercising put/call options lawsuits between HYBE and Min Hee Jin Ongoing Legal Complaints/Investigations: HYBE's report to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) regarding potential insider trading by ADOR management (Korea JoongAng) HYBE's complaint against Min Hee Jin for 'breach of trust' (Yonhap) Belift Lab's complaint against Min Hee Jin for defamation (Soompi) and additionally for business interference (The Korea Herald) SOURCE MUSIC's lawsuit against Min Hee Jin for damages in regards to the disruption of business/defamation of LE SSERAFIM (Korea JoongAng) and additionally regarding alleged false claims by MHJ for the launch strategy of N Team/NewJeans (Soompi) British band Shakatak's plagiarism claim against NewJeans' 'Bubble Gum' (Yonhap) Min Hee Jin and HYBE executives filed reports against each other back-to-back (Soompi and Korea JoongAng) Former ADOR Employee 'B' filed complaint against MHJ in relation to sexual harassment cover-up and workplace mistreatment. (JTBC) MV Director Shin Woo Seok filed a lawsuit against ADOR CEO Kim Joo Young and ADOR VP Lee Do Kyung for defamation. (Korea JoongAng) MHJ's lawsuits against Belift Lab's Kim Tae Ho for defamation (Yonhap), HYBE CCO Park Tae Hee and PR Director Cho for breach of duty (Yonhap), and HYBE executives and Dispatch reporters for defamation. (Soompi) (One or both of these might be re-statements of earlier suits.) ADOR's lawsuit to determine validity of their contracts with NewJeans (Soompi) Link back to MEGATHREADS 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 GROUND RULES IN COMMENTS If you have come to this subreddit to discuss anything, you are choosing to participate in a moderated space with rules of conduct enforced by human beings. All users are subject to the discretion of moderators to manage this space even if it's in ways you don't agree with. Do not Insult users, fans, or artists. Don't denigrate a certain demographic of people (age, gender, nationality, etc). NO harassing, threatening, or wishing harm on anyone. Do not incite fanwars, reference old tribal resentments between different fandoms, or assume the worst of fellow users. Do not bring wild conspiracies from somewhere else on social media that have no clear or substantiated sources. Do not accuse other users of being a bot or paid shill. Do not abuse the report button. We report any form of report abuse directly to Reddit Admin. Refrain from linking to or discussing other subreddits. Do not encourage brigading in any way. Allow other subreddits and their mods to run their communities how they see fit. DO mention your sources and any use of AI/machine translation tools for quoting Korean articles. DO take care to link sources responsibly. Seek information sources which are reasonably neutral and are not affiliated with accounts known to insult or hate artists. Keep in mind that Allkpop, TheQoo, PannChoa and similar sites are banned in this subreddit. THE MODS KNOW there will be bots, trolls, bad actors, and oblivious new users coming to the subreddit. We will do what we can to mitigate the impact of them. But you alone are responsible for your own behavior. Express your opinion or arguments without breaking our conduct rules or we will be obligated to remove your comments. submitted by /u/KPOP_MOD [link] [comments]

Ew trump. I do not support any misogynistic, white nationalist, incel, hitler-like (esp. Musk), racists at all and neither does this sub and apparently neither does reddit as a site as a whole. He stands against everything Kpop stands for which is an art form from a formerly colonized people from a country that is rising up against colonialism and hatred. Anyone who comments anything negative to this, or tries to defend that orange guy will be banned permanently. Go somewhere else, we don't want your lower kind here. This is why American women everywhere are going 4b EDIT!!!: 4B 4B4B4B4B4B!! 4B IN THE SOUTH, 4B IN THE NORTH, 4B FROM TEXAS TO ALABAMA, FROM BYU TO COLOMBIA! 4B ALL FIFTY STATES! A CONVICTED PEDO AND FELON IS NOW PRESIDENT SO IF YOU'RE A WOMAN WITH ANY SELF RESPECT 4B, 4B, 4b (ESPCIALLY THE CONSERVATIVES!!!!) submitted by /u/Kpop_Love_Forever [link] [comments]

Hey folks! Over in r/kpop we just posted a new special Town Hall that is focused only on the Flairs we use to help organize our posts based on content categories. Link to r/kpop's 'All About Flairs' Town Hall We included announcements for new flairs here on r/kpoppers and also on r/kpophelp. The following is the section relevant for this subreddit. NEW FLAIRS! Connect - This flair will be used for anything where fans are trying to socially connect with each other. Announcing new K-Pop subreddits or Discords, looking for mutual fans on social media, wanting to meet up at a concert, seeking fans in a region to form a dance group, networking for a fan project, announcing a K-Pop night at a club, etc. Research - Academic surveys related to K-Pop or fandom topics. We'll keep an eye on these new flairs to see if they create any confusion or need adjustments. Let us know if you have any thoughts, concerns, or questions! submitted by /u/alleybetwixt [link] [comments]

Yes, it’s been months and we’ve all pretty much moved on from this album, but this is something i’ve been wanting to discuss for a minute now and decided why not lol. As an album, Alter Ego was met with mixed reviews. Some people love it, some hate it, some don’t care for it. I wanna talk more about misconceptions and expectations that many critics had. Specifically its authenticity and how it shows who Lisa is both as an artist and a performer. The concept is pretty straightforward. Five characters (or Alter Egos) all who represent facets of Lisa both the person and the artist. Each Alter Ego has her own style, story, theme, and set of songs on the album. This concept garnered criticism. Biographies aside, many saw this concept as childish, not authentic, and others viewed it as creative and fun. I personally thought it was a fun concept for her. While I do agree five characters may have been too much, I don’t actually mind it. This goes into another one of the album’s criticisms. The lack of cohesion. On the surface, yes, the album itself isn’t the most cohesive unless you understand the concept she’s using. This also ties into the lack of “authenticity”. Here’s where I wanna say one thing, Lisa herself NEVER stated Alter Ego would be an introspective look into her neither would it be an album where she’d be spilling personal stories. If you actually watch her interviews and read the magazines she’s done, the story behind the album is pretty simple. As she was just recording songs, Lisa found herself having so much fun that she and her team decided to build an album using various genres, sounds, and themes and built the Alter Ego concept around it. This album wasn’t for Lisa to tell personal stories. It was meant as a way to show the world what she could do. The way she could switch genres and sound good doing all of them. Her solo era was never to tell personal stories. It was to experiment. This also had its own criticisms. Prior to the announcement of the album, many claimed she didn’t have a signature sound or image. That’s the entire point. From Rockstar all the way to Alter Ego, Lisa’s been experimenting sounds, styles, genres, looks, etc. Personally, I feel like when the album released, many were simply looking for something that was never gonna be there. Alter Ego isn’t an introspective look into who Lalisa is. It’s an album where Lisa shows the world that she can easily switch between pop to hip hop to ballads, etc. Whether her next album continues this theme or she tries something else is up to her. Lisa has always been a performer first. It’s what she does. She shines on the stage. And what better way to emphasize that than by trying out new and different things. Getting out of her comfort zone. While she’s been in the industry for essentially a decade now, her solo career is till rather young. It’s all about trial and error. Now that’s not to say i don’t acknowledge criticisms. Her rollout could’ve been so much better and I will even admit as a massive fan, the album is carried by the concept and production. The lyricism isn’t the albums strongest area but that’s not the worst thing in the world. This is the first time we see Lisa as songwriter on a lot of the tracks and whether it’s one her or the teams she wrote with, it’s all about growth. Learning. Not everyone’s gonna be Taylor Swift at the first swing. To end it all, Lisa’s Alter Ego, at least from my eyes months later, isn’t a “bad” or “boring” album. It’s a misunderstood album where she tried something new and some loved it, some didn’t, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. There will never be a song or an album in the world that everyone loves. (anyways i’d love to hear other’s thoughts and opinions on all of this) submitted by /u/Outrageous-Ad7806 [link] [comments]

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Pic: rose blackpink submitted by /u/whoarre [link] [comments]

(DISCLAIMER: This is no way meant to mock or shame any idol's tone.) This might just be me but I personally find it relatively hard to figure out who is singing in a bg song that I try to become a new fan of than any ggs that I've tried. Like even in case of girl groups like twice or momoland with kinda more number of members, when I started to listen to their songs, i KNEW who was singing just didn't know the name. But in case of bg's, (enhypen and NCT 127 recently) I don't know why but I simply can't figure it out. For example, in case of enhypen, in 'Brought the heat back', Heeseung's and Jungwon's chorus sounded SO similar to me in first atleast 15 plays of the song. Also in 'Sweet venom', the second part of the chorus, i CAN'T figure out who is singing other than Sunoo. This is mostly the case in higher parts of songs in enhypen for me. Now in NCT 127, i discovered them from 2 Baddies on Spotify so i didn't watch the mv first handedly. So in the first and second verse I thought there was one guy with like really deep voice who was rapping along with Mark but on watching the mv, turns out there were two??? I didn't notice the switch AT ALL and mind you i had the song on repeat for a whole week before i decided to watch the mv today. Also in some TXT songs like Tinnitus, i couldn't figure out if it was Soobin or Beomgyu singing. Please don't jump me, I love all of these groups. I'm just sharing an experience. 😭 submitted by /u/Commercial-Many-1407 [link] [comments]

I think there's countless of examples for this, but I'm writing this after listening to 'Pretty please' from Hearts2hearts. I don't know much about them as a group (other than that they're from SM), but I got the mv in my recommended and decided to check it out. I LOVE the vibe of the song, it's very 1st-2nd gen remeniscent and the chorus is just lovely, but the rap part they have after the second chorus just completely threw me off. It just... doesn't fit the vibe of the song. I think this is a very common theme with SM songs, and just Kpop songs in general. We get it, Kpop idols get assigned positions, and giving the rappers in the group no time to show off their skills wouldn't be the right way to go about it, but some songs really just don't need it. I know this is a personal opinion and I'm sure countless of other fans weren't bothered by it, but personally it just kind of puts a stain on an otherwise flawless comeback imo. Then again, you can never please all fans and I get that. Just to preface if it wasn't made clear by my post already, but this is not at all intended to be a hate post, just a discussion about a recent comeback and my personal opinion submitted by /u/Due_Improvement_5699 [link] [comments]

Was anyone here when the mainstream 3rd gen groups debuted? My K-Pop era started in 2016, pretty late i assume. This October, TWICE is turning 10. If you were there for their debut, how do you feel now? Given their rise to fame and how many records they have beaten as a 9-membered girl group surviving for a decade. Would really love to hear some kind words for the girls. submitted by /u/SeparateClassroom117 [link] [comments]

There are many examples in kpop of this, in sure everyone can think of times when their own group was treated this way, but I'll be fully transparent and say yes, this post was sparked by Aespa's recent performance on The Jennifer Hudson show, so that's what I'll talk about, and the response to it. Aespa sang live and the crowd was ecstatic the whole time. They also had back up dancers present, which really improved the vibes of the performance since the choreo really doesn't work well without them. J Hud is also a great host with high energy. I watch her show on the afternoons I have off from work, so I knew she'd be great too. Basically, it was a complete 180 from the GMA show. Considering the main criticism for Aespa is that they lip sync, I'm happy for them that they sang live. It would be pretty messed up to go on The Jennifer Hudson Show of all talk shows and not sing live, so I'm glad they didn't do that. The performance is already showing the clear distinction between those who gave legitimate criticism and those who were just hating. Those who were criticizing just for the opportunity to bash them are already moving the goalposts. "Umm singing live is the bare minimum, are we really going to praise them?" Yes, because the whole point is that the change in direction is exactly what we were asking of Aespa, and we were listened to. Vocal support is how you show something is moving in the right direction and you'd like to see more of it. What's the point of criticizing someone if, when they do actually make changes according to the criticism, you just shade them more? Why criticize if you don't care if they change anyway? What's the point, other than just to jump on a trend of bashing someone? We'll see if Aespa starts to sing live more going forward. I certainly hope so because there is a certain flair live performances have to offer that pre-recorded vocals can't measure up to. submitted by /u/SageSageofSages [link] [comments]

i know this was eons ago but i remember about it every once in a while and it seems way too fucked up to be real, i mean, are they just really good actors? submitted by /u/Powerful_Ad8668 [link] [comments]

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I was doing some work today when I came across a playlist video on youtube and suddenly What's happening starts to play I've never heard the song before and I liked it so much That I paused the video and looked who was the group, and suddenly I fell into the B1A4 rabbit hole and all their discography is so much to my taste I'm so flabbergasted as to why I never really heard much of them not even back in the day when I watched the music shows weekly religiously or was in the look for any new group to add to my playlist, didn't their management promote them much or what? I feel so betrayed, nonetheless I just added a lot of new bops to my playlists. submitted by /u/Ryocchi [link] [comments]

Park Junhee, leader of group A.C.E submitted by /u/Beautiful_Yellow_682 [link] [comments]

After their disastrous GMA performance, Aespa seems to have heard all the criticism and improved drastically. Firstly, they sang LIVE. And they sounded excellent. Then they greatly improved on their stage presence, which showed in the energy from the crowd. Also they brought the backup dancers back, allowing the choreography to shine and covering up their own flaws in dancing. Honestly, they danced better here than I've seen in any Rich Man performance (but I could be wrong). The outfits were beautiful, and there's nothing to really improve in the visuals department. Although I will say I miss pink hair Giselle. Overall, it's nice to see groups respond positively to feedback and do better instead of living in an echo chamber of fans. What do you guys think of their improvement? submitted by /u/CrazyGailz [link] [comments]

Rules: - keep it lighthearted please - no serious submissions! Ex: Kim Seungmin for Main Vocalist - you may submit multiple people but make multiple comments for them - disbanded idols and survival show contestants count - all generations and all genders - ai/digital idols count - people who have collabed with Kpop groups can be submitted (ex: Terry Crews because he did a collab with le sserafim once) - an idol can win multiple spots, there’ll just be a clone of them - most upvotes comment wins - roughly every 24 hours there will be a new vote - if there are multiple comments for one idol, the highest will be counted Winners of day 6: Oli London Peter the cockroach Gwima the Great Now let the chaos continue, who’s the person who gets shipped all the time? submitted by /u/DaGayEnby [link] [comments]

Off the record was founded by cjenm in September 2018 to manage the groups fromis_9 and IZ*ONE, after izone disbanded in 2021 not long after that cjenm announced the launch of their new integrated label called WAKEONE with Stone Music Entertainment, ONEFECT Entertainment, Studio Blu, and Off The Record Entertainment to be integrated as one into WAKEONE. So all the artists under those labels like duo davichi, soloist Roy Kim and boygroup T01 are moved to wakeone Except fromis_9 who was moved to Pledis. So Why off the record didn't take fromis with them when they intregated into wakeone? Yk since flovers always complained about how Pledis mistreated them maybe wakeone would treat them better if they were under them instead of pledis. submitted by /u/Chemical_Mobile_6613 [link] [comments]