NewJeans members voice anxiety over Ador leadership change and uncertainty

Minji of K-pop girl group NewJeans / Yonhap

NewJeans member Minji has shared her thoughts, subtly reflecting on her emotions amid the recent upheaval for the K-pop girl group. This follows the dismissal of former Ador CEO Min Hee-jin and the announcement by Shin Woo-seok, the director behind many of NewJeans' music videos, that he will cease collaboration with the agency.

Minji posted a long message, Monday, on the fan communication platform Phoning, expressing her emotions about the recent events.

Minji began her message by saying, "I was eager for summer to end because of the heat, but now that autumn is approaching ... I find myself feeling restless. There have been many recent events; I wanted to visit and discuss everything, but it’s already been about a week since I last had the chance to do so."

She expressed that she wanted to comfort and reassure the many Bunnies (official fans of NewJeans) who reached out to support her, but felt unable to do so this time.

"We barely have enough time to share all the good stories, so why do we have to go through this unnecessary trouble? I feel so sorry, and I feel frustrated that I can't solve anything," she said.

Minji concluded by sharing her wish: "I don't know how long these disturbing days will continue, and maybe it's selfish to say this, but I don't want our Bunnies and us to have a hard time anymore."

On the same day, Danielle also posted comments, saying, "To be honest, after our CEO was dismissed, I’ve been struggling and dealing with a lot of worries. I think I've been in a bit of a panic for a while. I felt really anxious too."

Danielle expressed her deep concern for her fans, sharing her desire to stay positive despite the challenging circumstances: "But there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think of you all and how you must be feeling. I always wanted to show only bright and happy sides of myself to our Bunnies."

Ador announced on Aug. 27 that although Min will step down from the position of CEO, she will remain as an internal director and continue to be in charge of NewJeans' production work.

NewJeans' member Danielle / Yonhap

Music director's rebellion

Meanwhile, Ador, NewJeans' agency, is currently undergoing a period of upheaval.

On Aug. 27, Ador held a board meeting and dismissed Min, appointing internal director Kim Joo-young as the new CEO.

Although Ador stated that Min would continue to serve as an internal director and oversee NewJeans' production work, Min's team protested, claiming that the decision to remove her was made unilaterally by Ador without her consent.

Amid these developments, on Sept. 2, Shin Woo-seok, the director of NewJeans' hit music videos like "Ditto," "ETA," and "OMG," announced the end of his collaboration with ADOR.

Through his social media, Shin said, "It seems there have been changes in Ador's policies following the change in management," adding that he was asked by the agency to delete all NewJeans music videos and related content that Dolphin Kidnapping (Shin's production company) had worked on and uploaded.

All videos previously posted on the channel operated by Dolphin Kidnapping under the name "Ban Hee-soo" have now been removed.

Shin added, "As of today, it seems impossible for Dolphin Kidnapping to continue collaborating with ADOR."

Ador refutes claim

In response, Ador issued a statement on Tuesday, explaining, "The director's cut of the ETA music video posted by Dolphin Kidnapping on its own social media channel is an edited version that includes elements previously disputed by the advertiser. The video was shared without the advertiser's permission."

It said they only requested the removal of the director's cut video and did not ask for the deletion or halting of uploads of all NewJeans-related videos on the Ban Hee-soo channel or any other channels.

Further, since the copyright of the music video and all related works of NewJeans belongs to Ador according to a contract between Ador and Dolphin Kidnapping, the ETA music video and its edits (including the director's cut) must be posted on our official channel, the agency said.

K-pop quintet NewJeans / Courtesy of Ador

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.