Well that next update in the HYBE/ADOR mess came quick, as it was announced that ADOR held a shareholders’ meeting about the possibility of reappointing Min Hee Jin as director and CEO.
Following the request of NewJeans members to reinstate Min Hee Jin as CEO by today, the board effectively rejected that request, though they did say there was already an offer for her to continue to be Director of the company for the rest of NewJeans’ contract.
ADOR resolved to convene an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to reappoint Min Hee Jin as an internal director at today’s board meeting.
Previously on the morning of September 11, ADOR had already proposed to Director Min Hee Jin to take charge of production for NewJeans for the next five years. This period covers the entire remaining duration of NewJeans’ contract.
However, the ADOR board of directors discussed and decided that the request for her to return as CEO is currently not acceptable.
Given that the basic guarantees regarding her position, duration, and authority as the producer in charge of NewJeans have been established, we expect further negotiations on specific conditions to take place in the future.
The details discussed at today’s board meeting and various inquiries were provided in detail via email to the members of NewJeans.
What they’re proposing appears to be similar to what they said her role would be back when they removed her as CEO, except for the offer to produce NewJeans for the duration of their contract, which is essentially framed as their compromise to get her back into the fold.
In response to this, her legal team rebutted any notion that this was a real attempt and compromise. They say that even the reappointment of director is questionable…
This morning, the ADOR board of directors resolved to convene an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to discuss the reappointment of former CEO Min Hee Jin as an internal director. However, since the appointment of internal directors is decided by the major shareholder, HYBE, it is currently uncertain whether Min Hee Jin will be reappointed.
…and dispute that any genuine offer was made about extending her contract.
Meanwhile, the ADOR board of directors announced on the morning of September 11 that they had proposed to Min Hee Jin to take charge of producing NewJeans for the next five years. However, while there was talk of extending the contract period, there was no sincere proposal to remove numerous toxic clauses that were in the draft such as the unilateral termination rights. The phrase “compromise proposal” is nothing but wordplay.
Min Hee Jin is wary that extending her term under a flawed contract would not guarantee the normal activities of NewJeans as artists. Therefore, she has clearly expressed her intention to return as CEO and has requested a concrete contract from HYBE that reflects their sincerity. She feels great anger at the repeated media play before any negotiations, with no agreed-upon details regarding the parties involved, the duration, or the authority.
Effectively, they frame this as mediaplay on HYBE’s part, like they’re trying to be reasonable, but in effect have changed nothing. They make mention of HYBE seemingly downplaying NewJeans’ accomplishments, and question whether the statement is intended to sow division between Min Hee Jin and NewJeans. They consider her role as CEO critical to all this in order to ensure HYBE doesn’t meddle, so basically this is far from over.
This result surely had to be expected by NewJeans and whoever is advising them (I hope it’s lawyers as well and not just Min Hee Jin/their parents), so the ball is back in their court to respond as a group, while it’s clear Min Hee Jin plans to continue with her injunction lawsuit.