On October 10, Lawyer Lee Hyun-gon posted about this on Facebook, stating, “Although Kim Joo-young and Lee Do-kyung were recommended by HYBE, as ADOR executives, they should be working for ADOR and NewJeans, not for HYBE. Their actions clearly violate their duties as CEO and director of ADOR, causing harm to both ADOR and NewJeans.”
He added, “Park Tae-hee and Cho Sung-hoon, who are responsible for HYBE’s PR, have been leading a negative viral campaign against NewJeans behind the scenes. They have defamed the members, indiscriminately leaked private information such as personal KakaoTalk messages, and engaged in lobbying and illegal requests with journalists.”
Previously, NewJeans’ Hanni claimed during a livestream that she had been mistreated by HYBE, recounting how an idol group’s manager told them to “ignore” her. As the controversy grew, Hanni was called as a reference person for the National Assembly audit, and ADOR CEO Kim Joo-young was also summoned as a witness.
Recently, Hanni reassured fans through the communication platform Phoning, “I’ve made my decision. I will attend the National Assembly. Don’t worry. I’m going for myself and my members.” However, it is still unclear whether CEO Kim Joo-young will appear as a witness.
Meanwhile, HYBE is facing accusations of concealing parts of CCTV footage related to the incident where Hanni was allegedly ignored. The mothers of NewJeans members recently stated in interviews that they requested HYBE to review footage containing the “ignore her” remark, but HYBE responded that the relevant part had been deleted and could not be recovered.
