South Korean multinational entertainment company HYBE failed in its attempts to retain former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin as NewJeans producer, who rejected the offer, citing “unreasonable” contract terms, according to recent media reports.
A proposed contract from HYBE would have extended Min’s role as NewJeans’ producer until her contract with its subsidiary label expires on November 1, with a demand that the contract be signed by August 30, according to Min’s public relations agency, Macoll Consulting Group. Accompanying the tight timeline, HYBE is also accused of the alleged inclusion of “harmful” clauses.
“Hybe’s announcement that Min would continue to work with NewJeans, as reported on August 27, was never agreed upon,” Macoll Consulting said in a statement cited by The Korea Herald.
“It is unrealistic to expect the successful completion of crucial production tasks, such as preparing for NewJeans’ world tour in 2025, under such a short-term contract,” the agency said.
According to Min’s previous contract with HYBE, the music producer was set to be ADOR’s CEO until November 1, but sources reported that the entertainment company may have terminated Min’s contract in July of this year. This is not necessarily surprising, considering HYBE filed a breach-of-trust complaint in July, followed by Min’s own complaint with the police against five HYBE executives.
In a statement to Korea JoongAngDaily, Min claimed that ADOR decided she would keep producing for the K-pop group without discussing it first with her, as well as suggested that the board of directors dismissed her as CEO against her wishes, which Min described as a “grave violation of the shareholders’ contract.” However, ADOR countered, stating that Min virtually took part in the meeting held in accordance with the law. It was in said meeting that the board “made the optimal decisions for the future of ADOR and NewJeans.”
Min’s replacement as ADOR CEO is Kim Ju-young, an existing member of ADOR’s board of directors and HYBE’s chief HR officer. “With these personnel and organizational changes, we aim to provide strong support for the continued growth and success of NewJeans,” ADOR said.
Another contentious point in the contract was a one-year non-compete clause. Min argued that the clause was disproportionately long given the short duration of the proposed agreement and shared concerns that his non-compete clause could have allowed ADOR’s parent company to terminate her contract early.
HYBE argues that a one-year non-compete clause is an industry-standard for executives, defending its offer and claiming it was solely stretching Min’s role as an internal director at ADOR for the remaining two months of her existing contract.
“It is the industry norm for companies to enforce a one-year non-compete clause,” a HYBE official reportedly said.
Before she was nicknamed the “mother” of NewJeans, Min was a creative director at SM, working on visuals for groups such as Girls’ Generation, EXO, f(x), and SHINee.
By 2019, Min joined Bit Hit Entertainment, BTS’s agency, as chief brand officer, helping reintroduce the company itself as today’s HYBE Corporation. HYBE runs as a multi-label system where its artists work with different subsidiary labels. It was in 2021 that HYBE officially announced Min would become the CEO of ADOR (short for All Doors One Room), which she co-founded. The NewJeans mother has played a key role in the label’s success, as well as the rising K-pop group’s debut.
Despite Min’s rejection of the proposed contract, HYBE stated it remains open to future collaborations with the music producer.
“We don’t have a producer yet to work with NewJeans. If things don’t work out, we will have to find an alternative,” the HYBE official quoted by Korea Herald as saying: “However, that outcome would suggest she did all this for financial gain in the end.”
