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Another controversy erupted after Min Hee Jin, the CEO of the ADOR label under the entertainment powerhouse HYBE, claimed that "Chairman Bang Si Hyuk copied my ideas to create BTS."
On April 23, the music industry reported that HYBE had seized ADOR's computers and uncovered at least three key documents. These were identified as work diaries written by Mr. A, a close associate of Min Hee Jin, with dates of March 23, 2024, and March 29, 2024.
The diary from March 23 revealed an intention to pressure HYBE for independence. Meanwhile, the one from March 29 included statements such as "Eventually exit" and "Make sure we are untouchable" under the 'goals' category.
According to Yonhap News, another document discovered during HYBE's audit contained evidence of Min Hee Jin stating, "Chairman Bang Si Hyuk copied my ideas to create BTS."
Additionally, during a recent internal meeting at HYBE, Min Hee Jin reportedly claimed, "ILLIT copied NewJeans. So did TWS and RIIZE; they also copied NewJeans."
On April 22, HYBE claimed to have detected signs of Min Hee Jin from ADOR attempting a takeover and initiated an internal audit. HYBE's audit team uncovered evidence of confidential contracts being leaked and efforts to persuade HYBE shareholders to sell ADOR's stocks. As a result, HYBE requested ADOR to hold a shareholders' meeting and sent a letter asking for the resignation of Min Hee Jin, who is the second-largest shareholder of ADOR.
In her defense, Min Hee Jin stated, "The core issue of this incident lies in the 'ILLIT's NewJeans copy incident'." She asserted that HYBE's new group, ILLIT, is essentially an imitation of NewJeans.
Furthermore, Min Hee Jin's press release, which focused more on ILLIT's alleged copying rather than the allegations of a takeover of ADOR's management rights, has drawn criticism for unnecessarily implicating the NewJeans members.
Established in 2021 with a 16.1 billion KRW (~11.7 million USD) capital investment from HYBE, ADOR gained significant publicity as the 'younger sister group of BTS' upon their debut.
Min Hee Jin's remarks on the alleged copying have sparked anger among BTS's ARMY and fans of ILLIT, TWS, RIIZE, and others.
