According to music officials, NewJeans will abandon HYBE with this huge penalty if the latter does not accept the group’s request by the 25th.
On Wednesday, girl group NewJeans issued an ultimatum to HYBE president Bang Si Hyuk to restore ADOR’s original system, including the reinstatement of former CEO Min Hee Jin until September 25.
In August, Min was fired from her position as the label’s leader, approximately four months after battling HYBE for breach of trust.
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The quintet addressed the matter in an emergency live broadcast via a now-deleted YouTube channel.
During the livestream, the members declared their full support for Min and confessed that they too had suffered a lot of mistreatment from management and artists when the discord broke out within HYBE-ADOR.
In the entertainment industry, it is common for idols to express dissatisfaction or requests to their agencies. Usually, this leads to the artist filing an injunction to suspend the validity of their exclusive contract, once the changes are not met after giving a certain deadline.
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READ ALSO: NewJeans Gives HYBE Deadline to Reinstate Min Hee Jin as ADOR CEO: “This Is the Only Way We Can Get Along…”
According to the Fair Trade Commission’s standard exclusive contract, if a performer or affiliated agency fails to comply with the terms of the contract, they can request corrective action within a two-week grace period and initiate a contract dispute if corrections are not provided.
Because NewJeans has set a time limit for HYBE to respond only to them, officials believe the group could be setting itself up for a contract dispute if their demands are not met.
According to sources within the music industry, HYBE is unlikely to reinstate Min Hee Jin to her CEO position by the 25th. Therefore, NewJeans faces possible termination of contract by paying a large penalty.
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The expected penalty is over KRW 300 billion or a whopping USD 225.4 million. The law stipulates that to determine the amount of the penalty, the “average monthly sales for 2 years” will be multiplied by the “number of months of the exclusive contract period remaining” before the contract is terminated.
NewJeans debuted in 2022, and ADOR, which only features the group as a solo artist, had sales of approximately KRW 110.3 billion last year, or approximately USD 83 million.
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Written by Eunice Dela Cruz
