Min Hee-jin, the former CEO of ADOR, pushed back in court against allegations that she granted a sweetheart deal to a producer she once dated.
During a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court on a lawsuit between HYBE and Min over the termination of a shareholder agreement and a put option, HYBE presented a service contract tied to NewJeans’ projects.
According to HYBE, ADOR paid BANA―the label that handled NewJeans’ music production―33 million KRW per month, plus additional labor costs for CEO Kim and others. The deal also included an incentive equal to 5% of the group’s total annual gross revenue from releases.
HYBE argued that in 2022 BANA collected fees amounting to roughly twice the total settlements paid to all NewJeans members, and that incentives swelled to around 1 billion KRW, even as ADOR posted an operating loss.
Min acknowledged both her past relationship with Kim and parts of the contract terms, but denied any favoritism, insisting the agreement was struck on merit. She said the compensation wasn’t excessive by industry standards and argued that rewarding high performers with aligned incentives is the fair way to keep them long term.
Addressing claims that the BANA deal required board approval she did not obtain, Min said she believed HYBE’s former CEO had given the green light.
The court set the next hearing for January 15.
Photo: Baik Seung-Chul
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)