ADOR Proposes Unreasonable Contract for NewJeans Producing After Min Hee-jin’s Dismissal

As ADOR’s CEO changed from Min Hee-jin to Kim Ju-young, Min Hee-jin’s side released a statement claiming it was a “unilateral notification.”

On the 27th, a representative of Min Hee-jin told Maeil Business Newspaper Star Today, “On Saturday the 24th, we received a sudden notice that a board meeting would be held on the 27th regarding the CEO change, and (Min Hee-jin) attended the board meeting by phone,” adding, “The dismissal resolution was made unilaterally regardless of Min Hee-jin’s wishes. This is a serious violation of the shareholder agreement.”

The representative further added, “The company announced to the media that former CEO Min Hee-jin would continue to handle NewJeans’ producing, but this was also a unilateral notification. There was no consultation.”

On that day, ADOR released an official statement saying, “We held a board meeting on the 27th and appointed ADOR’s inside director Kim Ju-young as the new CEO. New CEO Kim Ju-young is an HR expert with experience in various industries and will be responsible for stabilizing ADOR’s organization and internal restructuring.” The statement added, “Former CEO Min Hee-jin is stepping down from the CEO position but will retain her position as an inside director of ADOR. She will also continue to handle NewJeans’ producing duties.” Additionally, ADOR stated that while the CEO had previously overseen both production and management, this personnel and organizational restructuring would serve as an opportunity to separate production from management.

Min Hee-jin and HYBE have been in sharp disagreement over allegations of attempting to seize management control. Both sides are pursuing legal action on multiple fronts, including breach of fiduciary duty, obstruction of business, and defamation.

Hello.

This is Macoll Consulting Group, handling media communications together with the law firm Shin & Kim, which represents former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin.

We are releasing a statement regarding the unfairness of the Service Agreement sent by ADOR’s Board of Directors to former CEO Min Hee-jin concerning producing duties, as well as to address misinformation reported in the media.

On August 27th, ADOR’s Board of Directors announced to the media that former CEO Min Hee-jin would “continue to handle NewJeans’ producing.”

However, this was entirely unrelated to former CEO Min Hee-jin’s own intentions, and she never agreed to any of the reported content—it was purely a unilateral media play.

Then, on August 28th, Kim Ju-young, Chairman of ADOR’s Board of Directors, sent former CEO Min Hee-jin a contract titled “Service Agreement.”

For what appeared to be a proposal asking her to take on producing duties as announced through the media, the contents were so one-sided and unreasonable that they are difficult to comprehend by common sense.

◇ An Ultra-Short-Term Producing Contract of Only 2 Months

The contract period stated in the Service Agreement is from August 27, 2024 to November 1, 2024—a total of only 2 months and 6 days.

NewJeans successfully completed their fan meeting at Tokyo Dome in Japan last June, and a world tour is planned for 2025. It is astonishing that they think producing an idol group preparing for a world tour can be completed in just 2 months. This demonstrates that the ADOR directors appointed by HYBE are proving their own lack of understanding of the core business.

The unreasonable contract period alone makes it clear that ADOR Board’s claim that “all decisions are made in the best interest of NewJeans” is a fabrication and was nothing more than media play.

◇ ADOR’s Board (HYBE) Can Unilaterally Terminate the Contract at Any Time

The Service Agreement is filled with poison pill clauses that allow ADOR to terminate the contract at its sole discretion.

This means that even the approximately 2-month contract period can be shortened at ADOR’s (effectively HYBE’s) will.

The contract stipulates that ADOR can immediately terminate the contract if it determines that former CEO Min Hee-jin’s work performance is significantly inadequate. There are no clauses regarding any objective basis or criteria.

Furthermore, grounds for immediate termination include cases where it becomes difficult to maintain the contract due to ADOR’s management circumstances, or when ADOR’s CEO determines it necessary according to ADOR’s needs. This effectively allows ADOR (essentially HYBE) to terminate the contract at will, whenever they want. It is a loophole that keeps the door open to exclude her from these duties at any time, for any reason.

Additionally, contrary to the publicly announced justification of “separating management and producing,” there is a contradiction where termination is possible if “business performance is deemed significantly poor” even though she would be a producer. Other unreasonable clauses abound, such as “imposing excessively broad compliance requirements” and “a non-compete period that is six times longer than the 2-month contract term.”

No one can deny that ADOR and NewJeans achieved unprecedented success under former CEO Min Hee-jin’s leadership, with their originality and distinctiveness being widely recognized.

Nevertheless, sending a contract with such unreasonable contents raises serious doubts about whether HYBE genuinely wants former CEO Min Hee-jin to continue producing NewJeans. This can only be regarded as a deliberate act to “induce the producer to reject the contract” and use it as a stepping stone for another round of media play.

ADOR’s Board of Directors demanded that this unreasonable contract be signed by today, August 30th. However, former CEO Min Hee-jin has determined that signing is not possible, and in anticipation of more distorted news reports that may follow, we are releasing this statement.