According to SPOTV News on November 8, Director Shin filed a complaint on November 4 with the Seoul Yongsan Police Station against ADOR CEO & HYBE CHRO Kim Joo-young and Vice President Lee Do-kyung, alleging violations of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection (defamation).
In response, an ADOR representative told MyDaily, “ADOR holds no personal grievances against director Shin Woo-seok, who helped create great works with NewJeans.”
However, they added, “Since we cannot overlook acts that violate contracts with ADOR or infringe on ADOR’s intellectual property, we filed a civil lawsuit against Dolphin Kidnapper and director Shin Woo-seok about two months ago for contract violations and damages for illegal acts.”
The representative further commented, “It is very regrettable that director Shin Woo-seok has filed an unfounded criminal complaint against ADOR’s executives without responding to the civil lawsuit.”
Shin Woo-seok, who directed music videos for NewJeans’ hit songs like “Ditto”, “ETA” and “OMG”, has also been running the YouTube channel “Ban Heesoo”, featuring NewJeans’ content through the perspective of a character named Ban Heesoo, who captures the group on camcorder—a format that resonated widely with fans both domestically and internationally.
As tensions rise between NewJeans and ADOR, which recently underwent leadership changes following HYBE’s dismissal of former CEO Min Hee-jin, Shin claimed that ADOR requested the deletion of NewJeans-related content he had produced. In particular, the Ban Heesoo channel has had a significant impact, resonating with fans of all ages and creating a unique narrative that appealed to fans from teens to adults in their 30s and 40s.
ADOR, however, refuted Shin’s allegations, stating that they had only requested the takedown of a specific director’s cut for the “ETA” music video, which had previously been a point of contention with an advertiser, and denied that they requested the removal or suspension of all NewJeans-related videos.
As both sides continued to dispute the truth regarding the video deletions, Shin accused ADOR of media manipulation, claiming they were pressuring him by sending a certified letter demanding double payment for services rendered. In response, ADOR argued that Dolphiners Films and Shin had violated their contract.
Shin subsequently announced his intent to submit evidence, including recordings, emails and other documents, claiming that ADOR was distorting the situation and attempting to use him as a pawn. He stated, “I will release necessary recordings, emails and documents sequentially and will proceed with a defamation suit against CEO Kim Joo-young and Vice President Lee Do-kyung.” He has now initiated legal proceedings to establish the facts.
This legal battle is part of a larger dispute that began with allegations of a hostile takeover within HYBE and ADOR, escalating the conflict between HYBE and former CEO Min Hee-jin. NewJeans’ fans are calling for Min Hee-jin to be reinstated as ADOR’s CEO, and Min herself is asserting her right to reassume the role based on a shareholder agreement.
Although the court dismissed Min Hee-jin’s injunction request against HYBE on October 29, her legal team stated that the ruling does not imply support for HYBE’s position, adding, “If ADOR directors continue to violate the shareholder agreement by not reinstating Min as CEO, we will actively consider taking further action against HYBE for breaching the shareholder agreement.”
Source: Daum
