The group NewJeans has announced their return to ADOR, meaning they will once again be under the same roof as other HYBE girl groups. During their previous dispute, NewJeans had mentioned LE SSERAFIM from HYBE’s label Source Music and ILLIT from Belift Lab, and many eyes are now on how these groups will coexist again.
LE SSERAFIM and ILLIT were unexpectedly brought up during the conflict between NewJeans and ADOR. In the legal battle, NewJeans’ side claimed that HYBE had continuously discriminated against and restrained NewJeans compared to other groups under the company, while ADOR had stood by and done nothing. They cited examples of unfair treatment, such as the launch of ILLIT allegedly damaging NewJeans’ brand value.
Previously, former ADOR CEO Min Heejin also argued that “HYBE debuted LE SSERAFIM first instead of NewJeans, even though NewJeans was supposed to be HYBE’s first girl group,” and that “ILLIT copied NewJeans.” Because she mentioned the artists by name, those groups suffered reputational damage at the time.
As a result, these artists were exposed to public backlash and became targets of ridicule and malicious comments, even on posts and content unrelated to the dispute.
Since both Min Heejin and NewJeans contributed to dragging their peers into the conflict, the two fandoms are now expressing anger over NewJeans’ “return to HYBE.” Attention is focused on whether NewJeans, returning after a year, will be able to reconcile not only with HYBE but also with its sub-labels and the other artists under the company.
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