Star K-pop producer of NewJeans quits after legal spat with BTS agency / Photo: © AFP
Star K-pop producer of NewJeans quits after legal spat with BTS agency
The South Korean superproducer behind the chart-topping girl band NewJeans resigned from her label Wednesday, following a protracted legal battle with BTS's agency HYBE that has rocked the country's K-pop industry.
Min Hee-jin announced her departure in a statement following what she called a "hellish dispute with HYBE" and vowed legal action against the company.
The saga began in April, when HYBE launched an audit of subsidiary ADOR -- NewJeans' label -- and attempted to push Min out, accusing her of breach of trust.
The move sparked a sprawling legal and PR battle, with Min accusing HYBE of copying her star-making formula for a competing girl band, which has seen the boardroom workings of K-pop hashed out in South Korean courts.
Min slammed HYBE's action against her as a "witch hunt" in a statement Wednesday, saying she would take "necessary legal actions" against the company and individuals over the dispute.
She added that she would embark on "new K-pop journey" in future.
Min, who joined the industry in the early 2000s, is widely regarded as one of the most successful producers in K-pop, having worked with stars such as Girls' Generation, EXO and SHINee.
NewJeans, a K-pop phenomenon that made its debut in 2022 and whose members are all under 20, is among HYBE's most successful K-pop groups along with BTS.
It has topped global charts, including the Billboard 200, and broke the Guinness World Record last year for "Fastest K-pop act to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify".
The members of NewJeans have publicly shown full support for Min and demanded that she be reinstated as ADOR's CEO at a livestream in September.
The girl group also sent a formal legal notice to HYBE last week, demanding six specific actions, including reinstating Min, and warning that failure to meet them could lead to the termination of their exclusive contracts.
ADOR said in a statement Wednesday that it was "regrettable that Min unilaterally notified us of her resignation".
"ADOR will continue to provide our fullest support to NewJeans to help them grow and thrive even further," it said.
(V.Blanchet--LPdF)
