2024-11-08
Director Shin Woo-seok Files Criminal Complaint for Defamation Against ADOR Management
🔗 2024-11-08 Director Shin Woo-seok Files Criminal Complaint for Defamation Against ADOR Management
Director Shin Woo-seok of the content production company Dolphiners Films has sued the management of HYBE’s subsidiary label ADOR (NewJeans’ agency).
On November 4, Director Shin Woo-seok submitted a complaint against ADOR CEO Kim Ju-young and Deputy CEO Lee Do-kyung to the Seoul Yongsan Police Station. He sued them on charges of defaming his character.
Shin Woo-seok is the director who produced music videos for NewJeans’ hit songs “Ditto” and “ETA.” Based on this, he opened the ‘Ban Heesoo’ channel on December 12, 2022, to share related content for NewJeans fans. Ban Heesoo is a character who captures the NewJeans members with a camcorder in the “Ditto” music video and is a virtual character representing the fandom, Bunnies.
While the videos shared through the Ban Heesoo channel were garnering an enthusiastic response from fans, Shin Woo-seok stated on September 2, “It seems there has been a change in ADOR’s policy after the change in management,” adding, “Due to ADOR’s demand for deletion, all NewJeans MV-related videos and the channel that Dolphiners Films has worked on and uploaded, as well as videos scheduled for future upload, can no longer be disclosed.”
As criticism from fans ensued, ADOR released an official statement via its official channel on September 3, stating, “The ‘ETA’ music video director’s cut uploaded by Dolphiners Films on their own channel was an edit that included parts where there was a disagreement with the advertiser in the past, and it was posted without permission without consultation with the advertiser.” They added, “We only requested the suspension of the posting of that specific director’s cut video to Dolphiners Films; we never demanded the deletion of all videos related to NewJeans, such as the Ban Heesoo channel, or the suspension of uploads. ADOR’s channel operation policy has also not changed.” ADOR added that Director Shin’s claim that they demanded the deletion of all NewJeans-related videos is false information and that they would take measures so that the deleted content could be uploaded to the official ADOR channel.
In response, Shin Woo-seok stated on September 10, “Why do you keep changing your words and lying when it would be over if you just admitted your mistake and apologized?” He clarified, “Even the director’s cut that ADOR took issue with in their statement was content agreed upon by the three parties at the time up to the ending, and there was only a request for partial tagline modification; there is still no problem with uploading the video.”
Along with this, he expressed his intention to take legal action. Shin Woo-seok added, “I think you can just go to court now. They say it’s an easy game legally. It seems that what ADOR wants is to drag out time and avoid public opinion. Since you did not apologize, we will submit or disclose the recordings, emails, and materials we have sequentially as needed, and sue CEO Kim Ju-young and Deputy CEO Lee Do-kyung for defamation.”
As of the morning of the 8th, ADOR has not yet released any particular official statement regarding Shin Woo-seok’s lawsuit. Attention is focused on what position they will announce in the future.
Director Shin Woo-seok of Dolphiners Films has initiated legal action against ADOR.
According to a report by SPOTV News on the 8th, Director Shin Woo-seok sued ADOR CEO (and HYBE CHRO – Chief Human Resources Officer) Kim Ju-young and Deputy CEO Lee Do-kyung at the Seoul Yongsan Police Station on the 4th on charges of violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. (Defamation).
Director Shin Woo-seok of Dolphiners Films produced music videos for NewJeans’ hit songs such as “Ditto,” “ETA,” and “OMG.” He also operated the YouTube channel ‘Ban Heesoo,’ which garnered an explosive response from domestic and international fans by featuring the members of NewJeans captured on a camcorder by Ban Heesoo, a personification of the NewJeans fandom, Bunnies.
Amid the conflict NewJeans is facing with their agency ADOR, which was filled with new management after the dismissal of former CEO Min Hee-jin by HYBE, Director Shin Woo-seok exposed that he received a demand from ADOR to delete work materials, including videos related to NewJeans. This caused significant repercussions, especially since the Ban Heesoo channel is content that shares the unique sentiment and narrative of NewJeans, which people in their teens and twenties are enthusiastic about and those in their thirties and forties feel nostalgia for.
However, ADOR countered that they only requested the suspension of posting regarding the ‘ETA’ music video director’s cut, which had disagreements with advertisers in the past, and that they never demanded the deletion of all videos related to NewJeans or the suspension of uploads.
The truth battle between the two sides regarding the deletion of NewJeans-related videos intensified. When Director Shin Woo-seok expressed anger, claiming that ADOR threatened him with a “certification of contents” (legal notice) claiming double the service payment amount and was engaging in media play with lies, ADOR refuted that it was Dolphiners Films and Director Shin Woo-seok who had actually violated the contract.
Subsequently, Director Shin warned of legal action, stating that ADOR was lying to the public while trying to appease them behind the scenes, using them as a tool to distort the situation. He said, “We will submit or disclose the recordings, emails, and materials we have sequentially as needed, and sue CEO Kim Ju-young and Deputy CEO Lee Do-kyung for defamation.” Ultimately, he chose legal proceedings to prove the truth.
The conflict between HYBE and former CEO Min Hee-jin, which began with allegations of a management takeover attempt, is intensifying. NewJeans currently states they cannot trust the current management and are demanding the return of former CEO Min Hee-jin as the CEO of ADOR. Former CEO Min also argues that she should be reappointed as the CEO of ADOR in accordance with the shareholders’ agreement.
The court dismissed the injunction filed by former CEO Min Hee-jin against HYBE on the 29th of last month, but Min Hee-jin’s side stated, “This does not mean the court accepted HYBE’s arguments.” They added, “If the ADOR directors violate the shareholders’ agreement and do not reappoint her as ADOR CEO, we will actively consider whether Former CEO Min will exercise her rights regarding HYBE’s violation of the shareholders’ agreement.”