Min Hee-jin Reveals HYBE Internal Whistleblower’s Testimony that ‘ILLIT Plagiarized NewJeans from the Planning Stage’
According to the materials submitted to the court by former CEO Min’s side on this day, text messages and a recording transcript from a HYBE internal whistleblower were included. The whistleblower sent a text message to an ADOR representative, saying, “I would like to speak to you about the similarities between ILLIT and NewJeans.” The subsequent call transcript includes statements such as, “I honestly really didn’t expect this. It’s so obvious. I really couldn’t have imagined they would make it exactly the same,” followed by the whistleblower answering “Yes, yes, that’s correct” when asked if BELIFT LAB’s creative director had requested the documents to be shared.
The whistleblower continued, “When I see BELIFT LAB uploading videos (refuting the NewJeans plagiarism allegations), it seems like the exact same materials have been submitted to the court, and I felt very uncomfortable thinking ‘They looked at all of this and referenced it, so why do they keep denying it?’”
Former CEO Min’s side claimed, “The whistleblower delivered the NewJeans planning proposal that former CEO Min originally created to BELIFT LAB, and came forward with the tip-off because the content was too similar to ILLIT’s planning proposal,” adding, “When we raised these plagiarism allegations, HYBE’s side framed us with false breach of trust charges.”
[Legal Slide] HYBE’s Unfair Treatment and Harassment
[Header Information]
Law Firm: SHIN & KIM
Top Banner: I. The Origin of the Case – The Debtor’s Act of Betrayal and Harassment
Main Title: HYBE’s Unfair Treatment and Harassment
Sub-Section (B): B. The Debtor’s (HYBE) Neglect of BELIFT LAB’s Plagiarism of NewJeans
[Message Log 1: Left Screen]
Sender: [Name Blurred] (Whistleblower/Informant)
Recipient: Dong-hoon (VP Shin Dong-hoon of ADOR)
[Name Blurred]: Hello Dong-hoon, I am [Name Blurred] who worked at the [Team/Dept Blurred]. Since I don’t know anyone at the label, I am contacting you, Dong-hoon, somewhat abruptly because I’ve heard your name. I ask for your understanding. The content I wish to tell you is regarding similarities. (It might not be a big deal for me to try to tell you this haha, but I thought it would be better to mention it.) May I contact you regarding this? If you are not the person in charge, it is okay if someone else contacts me.
Dong-hoon: Hello [Name]. What kind of similarity do you wish to speak about?
[Name Blurred]: It is regarding the similarity between ILLIT and NewJeans.
[Message Log 2: Right Screen]
[Name Blurred]: It is regarding the similarity between ILLIT and NewJeans.
Dong-hoon: Yes, shall I give you a call?
[Name Blurred]: Yes.
[File Attachment 1]: 21Team_LaunchStrategy_0513_StorytellingTeam_Sharing_W.pdf
[Name Blurred]: This is the material I received from the CBO Office back then.
[Name Blurred]: The BELIFT LAB material is too large to send via text message; could you let me know just one personal email address?
[File Attachment 2]: BELIFT_LAB_Debut_Girl_Group_Direction_0920.pdf (drive.google.com)
[Name Blurred]: Sending via Google Link! Please let me know if you can’t see it.
The materials submitted to the court by former CEO Min’s side on this day included text messages and a recording transcript from a HYBE internal employee affiliated with BELIFT LAB who came forward as a whistleblower. The internal employee reported that ILLIT’s creative director had requested the NewJeans planning proposal from the initial conception stage of ILLIT, and that ILLIT’s planning proposal was identical to that of NewJeans.
At the request of ILLIT’s creative director, the whistleblower delivered the NewJeans planning proposal they possessed along with the BELIFT LAB (ILLIT) planning proposal so the similarities between ILLIT and NewJeans could be compared. According to the transcript, although the whistleblower delivered the materials at the request of ILLIT’s creative director, they expressed, “I really couldn’t have imagined they would make it exactly the same.” The transcript also contains the whistleblower answering “Yes, yes, that’s correct” when asked whether ILLIT’s creative director had requested the documents to be shared.
[Legal Slide] HYBE’s Unfair Treatment and Harassment (Page 10)
[Header Information]
Law Firm: SHIN & KIM
Top Banner: I. The Origin of the Case – The Debtor’s Act of Betrayal and Harassment
Main Title: HYBE’s Unfair Treatment and Harassment
Sub-Section (B): B. The Debtor’s (HYBE) Neglect of BELIFT LAB’s Plagiarism of NewJeans
[Transcript Content]
Whistleblower: Yes. So, if this… anyway, regarding [what I delivered] [Annotation 1], discussing what this was between both sides without revealing the source is honestly [redacted]… Anyway, I would prefer to be left out of it if possible. So if ADOR views my delivery of this material as a problem on my part, or… honestly, I really didn’t know it would be like that. It’s so obvious. I really couldn’t imagine that they would make it exactly the same, but anyway, despite that, I really did [think that], but if you feel uncomfortable about that part, please tell me.
Whistleblower: But back then, that was really… how should I say it? I just thought that material had already become very “Group-ized” (shared widely within the corporate group), so I showed it to them back then.
Shin Dong-hoon: Yes. So, [Name Blurred] asked you to share it?
Whistleblower: Yes, yes. Yes, that’s right. [Annotation 2]
Whistleblower: When I see videos uploaded by BELIFT LAB, it seems like the exact same materials I saw are submitted to the court, and then “Why do they keep denying it when they made it after seeing and referring to all of this?” That part made me feel very uncomfortable, in my heart.
[Annotations in Purple Boxes]
[Annotation 1] (Pointing to “what I delivered”): NewJeans Planning Draft
[Annotation 2] (Pointing to “[Name Blurred]”): ILLIT Creative Director
The whistleblower then expressed discomfort at BELIFT LAB’s continued claims that the plagiarism allegations are false, saying, “It seems like the exact same materials have been submitted to the court, and I felt uncomfortable thinking ‘They looked at all of this and referenced it, so why do they keep denying it?’”
[Legal Slide] HYBE’s Unfair Treatment and Harassment (Page 11)
[Header Information]
Law Firm: SHIN & KIM
Top Banner: I. The Origin of the Case – The Debtor’s Act of Betrayal and Harassment
Main Title: HYBE’s Unfair Treatment and Harassment
[Main Arguments: Right Side]
The internal whistleblower admitted that ILLIT copied NewJeans’ planning from the conceptual stage,
and despite the fact that the similarity between the two groups was acknowledged in the preceding provisional injunction decision,
the Debtor (HYBE) conversely claims that the suspicion of ILLIT’s plagiarism is merely the Creditor’s (Min Hee-jin) spreading of false facts.
[News Clippings: Left Side]
Article 1: “NewJeans-ILLIT Plagiarism Controversy appearing even in National Assembly Audit… What is the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s response?” (Reporter Kim Tae-ho)
Article 2: “[MBIG News] Is it too identical?! Girl group choreography video appearing in National Assembly Audit”
Thumbnail Text: “Plagiarism Dispute National Assembly Audit Full Video. ‘The choreography is very similar!!’ NewJeans · ILLIT heating up the National Assembly Audit venue!”
[Legal Text: Bottom Right Box]
Preceding Provisional Injunction Decision
(2) ① Opinions were presented among the public before and after ILLIT’s debut that ILLIT’s concept, choreography, styling, etc., are similar to those of NewJeans. ② Articles 5 and 4 of the exclusive contract concluded between ADOR and NewJeans members stipulate that if a third party infringes upon or obstructs NewJeans’ entertainment activities, ADOR has the duty to take necessary measures to exclude such infringement or obstruction. According to Article 15, Paragraph 1 of the above contract, NewJeans members may terminate the exclusive contract if ADOR violates this duty. ③ The Creditor (Min Hee-jin), as an internal director and CEO of ADOR, bears the duty of care of a good manager or duty of loyalty to take necessary measures to protect the value of NewJeans, which is ADOR’s core asset. ④ The legal representatives of NewJeans…