South Korean girl group NewJeans is allegedly facing controversy over plagiarism and neglect, according to a letter reportedly written by their parents. The letter was addressed to ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin and submitted on April 3, before being released publicly on May 13 by a South Korean news outlet. However, HYBE, the parent company of NewJeans, claimed in response that the actual authors were Min and an unnamed ADOR vice-president. The statement denied any allegations of wrongdoing and characterised the letter as part of a personal campaign by Min to take over the management of ADOR.
The letter complained of similarities in concepts across a group at another label run by HYBE to the detriment of NewJeans and accused HYBE of neglecting the group’s wellbeing. Elsewhere it claims that NewJeans, who are signed to ADOR, had been promised they would not be HYBE’s first-ever girl group. ADOR and HYBE have been embroiled in a struggle over ownership of NewJeans for several months, with a forthcoming ADOR shareholder meeting to vote on sending Min packing as a result.
HYBE reps claim that Min suggested the letter be written to discourse a breach of shareholders’ agreements, and that other claims of plagiarism, which are not specified, are part of a wider scheme towards a hostile takeover of ADOR by Min. HYBE has said they plan to provide evidence to investigate “personal greed” now that they have evidence of Min “bring[ing] in the artists and their families in her own battles.”
Despite HYBE’s claims, statements in the release reveal NewJeans’ parents to be concerned with their daughter’s mental wellbeing and the seemingly similar concept between NewJeans and another girl group which has not been identified
Read the full article on NME here: Read More