On August 2, the legal representative for Bunnies (NewJeans fandom) stated: “Our office, on behalf of Bunnies, filed a complaint with the Seoul Yongsan Police Station against HYBE, Source Music, and Dispatch for violating the Personal Information Protection Act and the Information and Communications Network Act due to the information leak and defamation caused by the articles.”
They continued, “Although HYBE is ADOR’s parent company, it cannot illegally collect or leak personal information about its subsidiary’s CEO or its artists, nor can it leak confidential information acquired through its duties to third parties. The same applies to Source Music, another subsidiary of HYBE. In addition, articles written based on illegally collected and leaked personal information are being spread online, resulting in serious defamation of NewJeans, with damages that continue to mount.”
The statement stressed, “The continued false accusations and criticisms against NewJeans, resulting from these illegal acts, are causing significant harm and injury to young artists. The Bunnies fandom has come together to rectify this through vigorous enforcement of the law, resulting in the filing of this complaint.”
Previously, Dispatch and other outlets reported parts of a KakaoTalk conversation between former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, an ADOR executive named A, and a shaman. These reports also claimed that Min Hee-jin had been stealing interns from Source Music, based on materials from the time NewJeans members were interns at Source Music.
Lawyer Lee Hyun-gon of Saeol Law Firm commented: “If the leaked KakaoTalk conversation was provided by HYBE internal staff, this constitutes a serious breach of personal information. Even writing an article knowing the intent behind this leak could be considered an illegal act.”
An anonymous legal expert added: “Reporting false information without the consent of the parties involved, using videos and data that only an insider would have access to, could be considered defamation and violation of personal rights. The company responsible for the leak could also violate the Personal Information Protection Act.”
Finally, a representative from the NewJeans fandom stated: “Following this complaint, we will continue to file third-party complaints against malicious posts related to NewJeans. We have already classified and collected thousands of such posts and have hired two additional professional lawyers to file complaints based on their likelihood of prosecution.”
The representative also said: “We will protect NewJeans at all costs and will try to make it clear to HYBE that fandom is a force to be reckoned with. We are also preparing several other actions in addition to this lawsuit, which we cannot disclose at this time.”
Source: Naver
