Posts by onwards

Quote from crystalblues

The show was advertised as JYPE just training them and then they were going to be under Republic Records, the entire thing from the get go was not handled the way it was promoted to the auditionees

Okay now THIS makes sense - thanks for the context. They signed on thinking they'd be under one of the biggest US record companies and would barely have any relation to JYP after the training was done. With this angle, it makes sense that Republic was hoping the show would get a huge following and when it didn't they half abandoned the group and show which makes the whole issue of who has been responsible for them so much more confusing and explains why she was thanking JYP at the same time as calling them out for abuse.

Since they apparently have been in a dorm in LA since January, who are the staff that have been taking care of them all this time?

Quote from Popper-of-Ks

Well this would explain why VCHA went dark.

I think we all know Kpop has a dark side that we conveniently ignore for our own benefit, and I'm not trying to excuse any of the industry's shady business practices, but to me this sounds like a combination of the Kpop system being fucked up and this particular group being completely unprepared for the rigors of it. I think most Korean trainees go into the process with at least a decent idea of what to expect, while these foreigners were completely blindsided. That doesn't make any of it right, of course, but it would explain why she's so flabbergasted about being in debt to the company, a business practice that even casual Kpop fans are well aware of.

If someone tried committing suicide due to their experiences at JYP, that's something the company should hold themselves accountable for, and they should play an active role in getting that person the help they need, but she also shouldn't be revealing that information unless she has the person's permission.

I will also say that I don't appreciate her making it sound like she "contributed to JYP's profits" by performing at "large venues" that were headlined by Twice, not her or her group. Quite frankly, I very seriously doubt that anyone was actually there to see them. Including something like that in her lawsuit really makes me question her intentions, as does revealing this information during the comeback of a major JYP artist, when she's had the better part of a year to do it. If she was so affected by her experience, where was the urgency to speak up? Did she think helping others who possibly find themselves in a similar position was something that could wait? And if she truly had such a shitty experience, why is she thanking them anyway? These aspects of her statement just irk me.

I would like to see the Kpop industry change for the better, but it's so stuck in its ways that I don't know how likely that is.

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Honestly, I'm surprised about the 'going in blind' thought from you. Like yes they are very young but knowing its a Korean company, did none of them, nor any of their families do a vague google search on what its like to be a trainee in Korea? Like every industry has shady business going on, but its rare for it to be so well known, to some extent far more well known that the western music industry's dark side and none of them googled or even read the contract they were signing? Considering the long history in the west of artists getting screwed over by contracts, not one parent thought to read this contract and ask about the debt involved? Not saying its wrong or right for Korean parents to sign knowing all this, but clearly they go in at least somewhat informed so its mad to me they'd sign up to a show to be in a group, get through all the auditions and get onto the show and at no point research into what its like.

If they didn't I'm totally not shocked they expected to be paid not in debt, but the problem is the western industry does work similarly, you get your advance to make your album, if it flops you get nothing till the advance money is paid off and you may end up working for them for free for a time. Considering they literally debuted, opened for Twice, had a CB then dropped out of lollapalooza, I honestly don't know where that money would be coming from because haven't their fans been angry for months because they haven't been doing anything?

Sadly I'm not surprised about anything she mentioned, just a reminder that every company loves good publicity and for many the idea of 'eating balanced diets' is a marketing tool.

Apparently they all live together in a dorm in LA, and have done since at least January 2024, so it remains to be seen who was in charge of them and where all this went down.

Lol, its all about the investors, thats the only reason they want to keep them, to the point of trying to make MHJ happy with that random director job and then saying they have a tour and CB lined up for them next year after they announced the contract end.

Don't forget, Hybe has been trying for years to show stability by showing they have a wide range of very successful groups so if BTS don't renew the company won't go belly up.

Yeah 17 is big, but they renewed which means more money to the members vs the company, TXT is nearing the end of their initial contract and the other rookie groups they have debuted combined haven't been half as profitable as newjeans. Why else do you think the shareholders finally started making statements and they are trying to push through with that Ador BG? They NEED to show long term profitability and Ador as a whole was their best example of that.

Even if they didn't give newjeans CB's like they were planning, the ad deals they had would have still blown the majority of Hybe groups out of the water incomewise. Don't forget they managed it the same year the majority of Hybe groups were on tour. Thats also why they launched the lawsuit to 'confirm the validity of the contract', they hope it'll go quicker than the damages claim so it will reassure investors they haven't lost a huge cash cow.

Quote from vzal

I thought the same after the first listen but no, her part is great. Imo the only underwhelming part about the song was the chorus. Should have got Nayeon on both choruses.

Agreed, hate to mention it because she always gets dragged for having too many parts but they really needed her in the first chorus

So now IST is saying this is a lie and they promised to give the 'right to use' the trademarks to the members....which still isn't the point. If IST isn't promoting and in charge of the management of the group, why do they need the trademarks and want to keep getting income from the trademarks?

Either sell it to one hundred or sell or give it to the members.

May not be directly fraud but is definitely fraudulent misrepresentation which is under the same umbrella legally.

Only way he doesn't do jail time is if the gov consider the optics too bad for the rep of South Korea internationally, which is likely why he is still in the US and doing everything he can to improve his image and plaster himself all over US award shows as the representative kpop king maker. But considering the financial times has been making articles since the first MHJ incident, it likely isn't going to work, things have spread far and wide and the stink is only growing as MHJ and newjeans are finally free.

When they lose that first case against MHJ and she follows up with an interview, expect charges to be raised. I mean, this is the same gov that is in the process of taking down kakao M a peg or two and I think the main reason they are going after them is that shutdown which took out the entire country because kakao owns everything. They likely got embarrassed by the lack of anti-competition enforcement which led to it.

Quote from Yama-Chan

The telegram screenshots are already being exposed as photoshopped. We've seen this movie before.

The more HYBE media plays using Shitpatch, the worse they look.

If this is the best smoking gun they could find, I've been giving them more credit than they deserve, and I hadn't exactly been giving much of any credit since this all started.

....wow Hybe really wants MHJ to sue them into bankruptcy huh?

I bet she is also going to launch an overall one aimed at dispatch itself, not just those two reporters already named and watch how fast they will squeal on Hybe.

Quote from Yama-Chan

This is the best they can come up with?

All this does is help cement NewJeans' claims that ADOR has failed to uphold their duties to protect them and are hence in violation of their contractual obligations.

Otherwise, where is the ADOR statement condemning this Shitspatch article? Exactly.

Nobody is falling for this media play outside of the old Korean incels, who are the source of the information in the article, and the delusional HYBE stans on reddit

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Thats the funniest part. Hybe just keeps proving their point, Ador is unable and unwilling to protect them. Hybe just keep digging.

This just shows how important it is to listen to the people you employ for specific areas. No way would their legal team green flag this, same to PR. Hybe hires people with the appropriate qualifications then ignores their opinions and acts based on the whim of a toddler with a bloated ego.

Quote from bTTTSSSSS

Hello.

This is Macol Consulting Group, responsible for media communications on behalf of Min Hee-jin, former CEO, along with Sejong Law Firm, representing her.

Min Hee-jin has filed a lawsuit against former HYBE CEO Park Ji-won and HYBE's Chief PR Officer Park Tae-hee, accusing them of violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, including charges related to cyber invasion. She has also filed a lawsuit against Dispatch reporters Kim Ji-ho and Park Hye-jin for defamation under the same law, and the case has been submitted to the Yongsan Police Station.

Since April, the defendants, Park Ji-won and Park Tae-hee, have actively used illegally obtained private conversations, adding false information to them, in an effort to create negative public opinion about Min Hee-jin.

Dispatch's Kim Ji-ho and Park Hye-jin, fully aware of the above intent, have continuously published false articles to defame Min Hee-jin's reputation, spreading untruths.

Kim Ji-ho and Park Hye-jin today also wrote articles that were completely different from the truth, fabricating content based on one-sided claims, adding their own assumptions without fact-checking.

With this lawsuit, we hope that a thorough investigation will reveal the serious lies and deceit of the defendants, and that they will take legal responsibility for their actions.

https://m.entertain.naver.com/article/241/0003398744

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At a certain point you've got to wonder if Hybe or any of the top brass she is suing are gonna end up bankrupt with all these cases she clearly has lots of evidence for. Also feel bad for the police and judges. Everytime they get a day off Hybe pulls some mess and MHJ or team bunnies launch a lawsuit in retaliation.

NGL its low key funny how Hybe has tried so hard to demonise MHJ with endless insane articles, that they've instead improved her image and made her semi bullet proof.

No matter what comes out about her or what 'proof' they drop, people are just going to dismiss it as Hybe media play and them being petty.

Like Dispatch could say she's being investigated for attempted murder and I'd think Hybe forged some text of her being mad at some dude who died of natural causes. Wild how things change in a year.

Wow, so insane. Goes to show the effort put in comes out in sales because even fans have limits to buying badly made stuff

Quote from reverie1

Japanese tokkis complain about this everytime too. Almost all of big Japanese Kpop twitter/tiktok/youtube accounts are paid by Hybe since the beginning of the conflict. Even on YahooNews Japan (equivelant to Naver in Korea) there isnt a single good article about Newjeans. Cultural thing is a plus too since its well known that Japanese workers tends to stick to one company their whole life and usually afraid to go against the big company. They admitted it themselves.

Honestly it says alot that its so culturally difficult to quit a job that theres people you can pay to quit your job for you. Not to mention the pure volume of manga whose start is 'main character healing after being worked to death at a 'black company' but now I get to have actual meals, sleep and have a work life balance'. Then theres the way they praise ' inemuri' literally working so hard you fall asleep in the streets and its good because clearly you worked hard. Clearly no matter how bad their job is, some are willing to stick it out and are shocked when people don't.

Quote from wizone4life

I am confused about whether is it legal for NJs to terminate their contract without the approval of Ador because I don't think it is legal.

Contract is a legal agreement that is signed for both side. In order for one side to terminate a contract, they need to show that the other side have violate any term that is written on the contract at the court. Like you cannot just held a press conference, said that Ador violate terms and we can leave hybe with the clause without paying.

I don't think Ador will let them go so they will take this to court.

Honestly y'all need to stop with the pretend legalese with no legal training or qualifications apart from 'I think it should be like this'.

Everything always depends on the contract but yeah if its in the contract (as is here) its legal and pretty normal. If you think a party has breached their contract, normally both parties want to continue the relationship so will try to fix it first and give time to remedy the situation (both of which will be outlined in the contract). If it isn't, in accordance with whatever termination process was written into the contract, a party will notify the breaching party they are terminating. Yes, one sided and the other normally accepts it no questions asked.

Difference between this and other kpop idol contracts is they get given the right to seek termination, not a straight up termination right like newjeans has.

Difference between this and MHJ's situ is they directly tried to cancel the contract without providing any proof of the breach or providing any chance to remedy the situation which is why she was able to pursue them legally. She was a director, and normally there is a whole load of hoops you need to go through to get rid of one and Hybe followed none of them, hence her lawsuit.

Their contract is clear cut. If Ador don't follow the terms and don't rectify the breaches when notified and given time, Newjeans can terminate the contract by giving them notice. The only money paid is by the party who breached the contract. Here, Ador. THIS IS ALL NORMAL IN CONTRACTS. The only weird thing is how the average kpop contract is so evil to the idol. Not to mention, don't y'all know that if a group reaches the end of their contracted period, even if they haven't paid back the trainee debts they don't EVER need to pay them back? Its true. Why? because they did their duty according to the contract. The reason idols end up paying is they need to 'seek' termination which means they need to prove the company significantly didn't live up to their contract, and considering the majority of the paperwork is handled by the agency, most idols can't get their hands on any proof or don't want the long drawn out fight so pay for the rest of the contract.

Case was never about SA. It was more like work place bullying, the dept that handles such cases in Hybe is the same. MHJ transferred the case to them and funnily enough the head of that dept has now been moved to become the head of Ador. And even funnier, the former employee went silent, right as newjeans pushed for MHJ to be re-instated and she won one of her legal cases against Hybe so they tried to reappoint her as a creative director. Funny that. Right as they want to get her to agree to come back on their terms the case suddenly goes away like it never even existed.

I imagine we will be hearing more soon enough since she has formally quit the job they forced on her.

LMAO - another story dropped about Hybe doing fraud.

하이브, 세금 체납 '비활성' 미국 기업 투자정보 공시 누락 의혹

콘텐츠사업체 Void Music, 지주사 Whalers 지분 인수 후 체납액 공시 안 하다 금감원 민원 접수 후 납부

www.bizhankook.com

Essentially, they bought two companies (Void and Whalers) through Itheca (Scooters company) and didn't report on the financial statements that they were already in debt due to unpaid taxes. From 2021 to now they've listed their assets and liabilities as 0, when in actual fact both were in debt and as far as we can tell still are in debt.

They said Void did content and Whalers is a holding company, but no-one knows what they actually do. They didn't disclose to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Whalers doesn't even have a company address or agent.

My guess, is they had Itheca acquire them so it looked like the value they paid for Itheca was legit to shareholders when they were really grossly overpaying to get Scooter.

Another day, another story of Hybe wasting money and getting closer to jail

Quote from ThePhantomThief

So if they terminated their contract with Ador, how would Hanni be allowed to stay in SK?

Most foreigners working in Korea have their Visa sponsored by the company they are contracted with, and ending the contract risks the visa.

Wouldn't Hanni, who is likely on an E-6 entertainment visa and requires sponsorship by a contracting employer, in particular have to find a new contract and visa sponsor toot-sweet?

Would Hybe be evil enough to make her visa eligibility an issue?

I can imagine at her level there could possibly be some kind of exemption made, but it's something to consider

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My guess is it has something to do with the separate contracts they have for brand deals. If the contract is long enough, they are probs fine to be her sponsor.

Quote from Jeop

So ador is admitting that the weekly reports include proposals from inside the house, rather than just being an "industry reports" + reactions to it?

How sweet of them to confirm all the answers during the NA were bullshit.

just in time for the lawsuits....don't forget they haven't apologised to the other agencies

Adore has now made a statement:

'We regret that we planned and held a press conference to terminate our exclusive contract without sufficient review, even before receiving a response to the certified mail.

Adore, a party to the exclusive contract, did not breach the contract, and unilaterally claiming that trust was broken cannot be grounds for termination.

The exclusive contract between Adore and the members of New Jeans is still valid. Therefore, we hope that you will continue to work with Adore in the future as you have done so far.

We have requested to meet with the artists several times, but it has not been possible. We hope that we can meet with an open mind and have a sincere conversation even now.

Adore will do its best to support the activities of its artists, New Jeans, and help them grow further as global artists.'

LMAO lets see what happens at midnight

Quote from Flovell

I see, this makes more sense. That means they're free now, with no injunction or anything. They can literally start a new group or join a new company right away if they want. The only dispute will be about the termination fees if Ador challenge them (or they the one doing that) and their IP rights. This should be the new norm in every idol's contract. It's more humane and gives the artist more power over their contract, not only benefit the company.

Honestly same, I kind of also wonder what to see what is in the average industry contract.

Quote from Flovell

I'm curious about this because it's interesting that they announced their contract will definitely terminate at midnight. In other cases, like Loona and Omega X or even 50/50, they couldn't come to public like this and had to wait for an injunction and other legal steps before making a confirmation announcement that they're free from their company. They can't do it before that.

Different situations. It all depends on how the contract was drafted and whilst we've been getting snippets of Newjeans', we don't have everyone elses. My guess is the majority of kpop contracts allow idols to 'seek' termination, i.e file an injunction, but if the leaked contract is real, Newjeans' directly gives them the right to terminate and the only point of contention is if they need to pay a penalty.