The legal battle for damages lawsuits initiated by the girl group LE SSERAFIM's agency Source Music and ILY:IT's agency Belift Lab against former Ador CEO Min Hee-jin is officially starting.
According to the legal community on the 10th, the first hearing for the 2 billion won damage lawsuit filed by Belift Lab against former CEO Min and the 500 million won lawsuit filed by Source Music against Min will be held in the afternoon.
Source Music reportedly filed this lawsuit claiming that a series of statements made by Min regarding the conflict with the parent company HYBE were not factual. Min had alleged at a press conference last year that HYBE had broken its promise to debut NewJeans as its first girl group, that Source Music had neglected the members of NewJeans, and that HYBE was not actively promoting NewJeans.
Belift Lab has accused former CEO Min of obstruction of business and defamation, claiming that she plagiarized the concept of NewJeans, and has filed an additional civil lawsuit. Min's side has also filed a complaint against Belift Lab CEO Kim Tae-ho and others for defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, and has stated that it filed a damages claim lawsuit for 5 billion won.
Former CEO Min resigned from her position as an inside director and left Ador in November last year. In response, NewJeans held a press conference stating that they were no longer affiliated with Ador starting from November 29 of last year, and have since continued their independent activities after fulfilling all scheduled commitments. Ador has filed a lawsuit confirming the validity of their exclusive contract, asserting that the contract remains in effect.