Director Shin Woo-seok Files Criminal Complaint for Defamation Against ADOR Management

Dolphiners Films director Shin Woo-seok has initiated legal action against ADOR.

According to SPOTV News on November 8, Director Shin Woo-seok filed a criminal complaint on November 4 at Seoul Yongsan Police Station against ADOR CEO and HYBE CHRO (Chief Human Resources Officer) Kim Ju-young and Vice President Lee Do-kyung for alleged defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.

Dolphiners Films director Shin Woo-seok directed the music videos for NewJeans’ hit songs including “Ditto,” “ETA,” and “OMG.” He also operated the YouTube channel Ban Heesoo, which featured NewJeans as captured through the camcorder of a character named Ban Heesoo—a personification of the NewJeans fandom, Bunnies—garnering explosive response from fans both domestically and internationally.

ADOR stated on November 8, “We have no personal animosity toward Director Shin Woo-seok, who created wonderful works with NewJeans,” but added, “Because we cannot overlook actions that violate contracts or infringe on ADOR’s intellectual property rights, we already filed a civil lawsuit against Dolphiners Films and Director Shin Woo-seok approximately two months ago, seeking accountability for breach of contract and damages for tortious conduct.”

They continued, “It is deeply regrettable that Director Shin Woo-seok has filed a baseless criminal complaint against ADOR executives without responding to the civil lawsuit.”