🔗 2024-11-28 Team Bunnies Statement

NewJeans Fandom Team Bunnies,
We support the NewJeans members and urge the guarantee of their free activities.

As eyewitnesses and witnesses who have watched the situation caused by HYBE closer than anyone else since April of this year, NewJeans fans fully support and cheer for the position of the NewJeans members.

Today (November 28), NewJeans members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein announced their position that they “will terminate their exclusive contract with ADOR as of midnight today and wish to continue their musical activities freely and happily.”

1. As the members specified in their press conference, it is HYBE and the current management of ADOR, composed of HYBE executives and employees, who broke the relationship of trust in the contract. Even though the deadline for the certification of contents (legal notice) demanding corrective measures was today, the ADOR management did not implement any significant corrective measures. Instead, yesterday (November 27), the day before the deadline, they only released an evasive statement intended to shift blame without accompanying actions, clearly revealing that they are not fulfilling any of their obligations.
2. The instances of contract violations and breach of trust by the current ADOR management and HYBE are too numerous to list. According to HYBE’s “Weekly Music Industry Report” (weekly industry trend report), which HYBE’s top management, including current ADOR CEO Kim Ju-young, circulated weekly, HYBE has perceived NewJeans as a competitor since immediately after their debut, mentioning that they “can just discard ‘New’ and start a fresh.” Even the disclosed documents are this severe; we cannot even fathom how severe the undisclosed containment and discrimination must have been. HYBE and the current ADOR have violated the basic obligation to support label artists so they can display their talents and qualities to the fullest and to maximize their profits.
3. Instead of supporting NewJeans, HYBE’s PR executives contacted media outlets to disparage NewJeans’ achievements and tried to create negative public opinion. This is a fact proven by the transcript between the head of HYBE’s PR office and a reporter from the Seoul Shinmun. Nevertheless, HYBE has not apologized to the artists or anyone else regarding this matter, and the current CEO of ADOR has also expressed no position on this issue to date. Furthermore, they illegally leaked the members’ trainee videos and sensitive personal information to media outlets, leading Team Bunnies to file criminal complaints. Regarding the protests from the artists’ legal representatives about the leaked videos, current CEO Kim Ju-young took no protective measures with the irresponsible excuse, “Let’s watch the results of the fans’ complaints.”
4. HYBE has been obstructing NewJeans’ activities for months since last April. Just a few days before NewJeans’ comeback schedule, they announced to the media the start of an illegal audit, framing them with “usurpation of management rights,” which cannot legally be established. In that process, thousands of articles and malicious comments poured out, and the NewJeans members and their families had to endure groundless speculation and condemnation. NewJeans fans also remember that time as a nightmare. Despite requests to stop the media play, HYBE did not consider protecting the members at all. Also, even now, they do not actively request correction reports from media outlets that publish personal attacks, malicious comments, and false facts about the members. The fact that the fandom is performing this role instead shows that the agency has failed to fulfill its basic duty to protect its artists.
5. Crucially, HYBE abruptly dismissed CEO Min Hee-jin, who was the executive producer of NewJeans and the CEO of ADOR, immediately after their activities ended, and the members learned of this fact through articles without prior discussion or notification. Former CEO Min Hee-jin was the person who planned NewJeans and collaborated with the members not only on album production but also on long-term strategy and branding in advertising, fashion, and culture, creating their current achievements; she was a CEO and producer trusted by the members. However, due to the unilateral dismissal of CEO Min, the 7-year blueprint came to nothing, the future and color of NewJeans became unclear, and all activities, including the follow-up album for the second half of the year and the domestic fan meeting that were being prepared immediately, were completely canceled.
6. NewJeans fans expressed serious concern that HYBE’s HR executive, who has no experience in the entertainment industry, was appointed as the new CEO at a time when NewJeans had entered an important growth phase in their third year of debut. As fans feared, ADOR’s new management ruined relationships with NewJeans’ key partners in just one week. Fans currently judge that the ADOR management has neither the ability nor the will to protect or support NewJeans any longer. This distrust stems from HYBE’s appointment of incompetent and irresponsible management for the purpose of excluding Former CEO Min Hee-jin, who raised internal issues at HYBE and strove to protect the artists, while being indifferent to NewJeans’ growth and support. HYBE responded irrationally and emotionally to NewJeans and ADOR, who were recording outstanding business performance managerially, thereby seriously damaging the value of NewJeans. Furthermore, they caused a situation where the credit of the name NewJeans was intentionally tarnished in the industry, placing them at the center of unnecessary controversy.
7. Since April, HYBE and some media outlets representing HYBE’s position have been misleading public opinion by framing NewJeans—who tried to resolve problems internally within HYBE and faithfully continue activities as part of ADOR during the contract period with CEO Min Hee-jin—with “tampering.” Regarding this, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism has already apologized during the National Assembly audit for creating negative public opinion with remarks that could cause confusion. The NewJeans members love “Team NewJeans” more than anyone and have done their best for the normalization of ADOR. In particular, even after the current situation started by HYBE in April, they faithfully fulfilled their promised album activities and entertainment activities more than anyone else and recorded amazing results. However, the entities that broke and destroyed this trust are none other than HYBE and the current ADOR management. Furthermore, it is also HYBE, the current ADOR management, and some media outlets sympathizing and colluding with them that are continuously engaging in acts to deceive the public and fandom by misleading the essence of the situation.
8. The NewJeans members demanded the current management implement corrective measures regarding HYBE’s infringing acts several times, but all were disregarded. After the first live broadcast stating their position on September 11, the HYBE management did not implement any answers or follow-up measures other than saying they would “respond according to principle.” Also, regarding the certification of contents demanding corrective measures sent in the names of the 5 members on November 13, CEO Kim Ju-young released a statement under ADOR’s name simply saying “it is regrettable” on November 27, just one day before the deadline, without any apology or specific future measures regarding the bullying incident by another label, claiming this was the implementation of measures according to the certification of contents. HYBE and the current ADOR management have never once faithfully responded to or taken responsibility for the repeated calls for fulfillment of obligations and demands for rectification.
9. Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, the final person responsible for the HYBE situation, has remained silent, hiding behind the scenes without making any effort to settle the situation until the end, despite the public demands of the NewJeans members and public opinion. Even though HYBE’s “Weekly Music Industry Report,” which Chairman Bang Si-hyuk meticulously reviewed even directing the addition of recipients, was an unprecedented exposure containing contents that would shock the same industry and failed to keep even the principle of “respect and trust” which is the foundation of an entertainment company, he maintains silence to the very end. Also, he refused the National Assembly’s demand for a national audit related to this situation citing his location as a reason, and did not express any position or make an apology. As the initial instigator and final person responsible for the current situation, Chairman Bang Si-hyuk has never once fulfilled his responsibilities and duties as the Chairman of HYBE, and this has led to an equally irresponsible attitude from HYBE and the current ADOR management, causing the current chaos.

This HYBE situation is not a “management dispute” as portrayed by some media. It stems from an attempt to socially ostracize a member who protested against the corruption and problems piled up inside the company and tried to correct them. HYBE, the so-called No. 1 large corporation in the entertainment industry by asset size, illegally leaked personal information, mobilized media power to form negative public opinion against an individual, and tried to cover up internal corruption by inflicting pain on an individual through excessive lawsuits. In that process, HYBE infringed on the personality rights of its artists, including minors, defamed them, and virtually sacrificed the group NewJeans. Such actions by HYBE not only hinder the development of the K-pop industry but also infringe on the human rights of its members and run counter to the company’s business interests. Those involved who committed illegal acts must be held legally responsible, and we must ensure that such a situation does not recur. Also, there must never be any disadvantages to the artists who have suffered damage.

We express our sincere gratitude to the NewJeans members who have consistently given joy and emotion to fans with good music and heartfelt activities, sometimes even in difficult situations, since their debut in July 2022 until now. NewJeans Fandom, Team Bunnies, will stay with you until the end so that the NewJeans members can continue their beautiful journey sharing the true joy of music with trustworthy people in a safe and happy environment as before.