Exclusive Report on NewJeans’ Non-Participation in GRAMMY Museum ‘HYBE Artists’ Exhibition
According to an Xports News investigation on the 15th, the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles proposed to ADOR in March that they would “give NewJeans the most prominent spot,” but NewJeans’ participation did not materialize. It is reported that ADOR declined to participate, citing that NewJeans would have too small a presence in the ‘HYBE Exhibition.’
According to sources, the organizers reached out, saying they would ensure that “visitors would see NewJeans-related exhibits first upon entering the exhibition.” HYBE also reportedly relayed the organizers’ intentions to ADOR and requested their participation, expressing their desire to have NewJeans be part of the ‘HYBE Exhibition.’
Unfortunately, due to ADOR’s refusal, NewJeans was unable to be included in the ‘HYBE Exhibition.’ The situation sparked controversy online, with speculation that it was due to internal conflict between HYBE and ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin.
Furthermore, since NewJeans had also been absent from Weverse Con held the previous month, the conflict between CEO Min Hee-jin and HYBE became even more highlighted. At that time, HYBE explained that “NewJeans was unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts caused by preparations for overseas activities,” but other artists had also attended Weverse Con despite their busy schedules preparing for overseas performances. This raised suspicions that ADOR was being uncooperative toward HYBE events.
With NewJeans now also absent from the ‘HYBE Exhibition,’ criticism that CEO Min’s uncooperative attitude is the problem has become unavoidable. HYBE had previously given a brief response regarding NewJeans’ absence, stating it was “the label’s decision,” suggesting it was ADOR’s autonomous choice.
“Our decision not to participate in the HYBE Exhibition was by no means an act of non-cooperation. We determined that we would not be able to properly showcase what NewJeans has to offer.”
An ADOR representative made this statement to Segye Biz&Sports World on the 15th regarding NewJeans’ recent decision not to participate in the HYBE Exhibition hosted by the Grammy Museum in the United States.
Some have pointed to this as evidence of internal conflict between HYBE and ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin.
Despite the circumstances inviting speculation, the reason ADOR declined this exhibition was because they determined there was no real benefit for NewJeans.
An exhibition industry source said, “If you think of it in terms of content planning and consider the total as 100, BTS would take up 40 and Bang Si-hyuk 10, making up half of the total. Then there’s also SEVENTEEN, which is a large team. The remaining space would have to be divided among the other teams,” adding, “I don’t think ADOR was unaware of this situation.”
Given this context, it is also puzzling that articles continue to frame the situation with keywords like ‘non-cooperation’ or ‘discord.’
ADOR also stated, “It is only natural that BTS and Bang Si-hyuk, who built HYBE, would occupy the best spots.”
The representative also explained, “What we initially received from HYBE was in March, and it was only at the rough sketch level. There were many unclear details, including some teams not being included.”