ADOR’s CEO, Min Hee Jin, is facing serious allegations about the involvement of quacks in the management of the label and the selection of trainees to form NewJeans. The amount of money the CEO allegedly spent is mentioned.
Earlier in the emergency press conference, Min Hee Jin, CEO of ADOR, held an emergency press conference to respond to allegations of a shaman’s involvement in ADOR’s management raised by HYBE. The “mother” of NewJeans claimed that the shaman was just an acquaintance.
However, according to conversations revealed by Dispatch recently, the relationship between CEO Min and the shaman seems to be more than just an acquaintance. On July 23, Dispatch revealed a conversation between CEO Min and shaman A regarding the company’s operations after cutting ties with Source Music.
The two discussed creating an independent label, taking trainees from Source Music, and getting Bang Si Hyuk to withdraw from their project. CEO Min even asked the shaman for a review to select the members of the debut group.
CEO Min reportedly sent photos of trainees to the shaman for his opinion. The shaman gave comments such as “This person looks like a fool. I can see the second soul in his eyes,” and ‘I don’t see much in Danielle, but she would be good to debut in the US.’
In short, shamans played a big role in CEO Min’s final decision in choosing the debut lineup.
CEO Min previously claimed that he had never engaged in shamanic practices. When suspicions arose about the CEO asking a shaman for his opinion on BTS’ conscription, CEO Min claimed that it was an acquaintance.
“The person I talked to was a friend who happens to work as a shaman. Is it wrong to have a friend who works as a witch doctor?” he said.
However, the disclosed conversation revealed CEO Min mentioned a gift of 15 million won (approximately Rp175 million) to the shaman on February 25, 2021. CEO Min also made special requests such as “I hope the girl group project goes smoothly without Bang Si Hyuk’s interference and losses,” and “I hope the reaction to my ADOR label is good.”
CEO Min spent 40 million won on the shaman’s services for two months. The allegation of CEO Min spending this much completely contradicts the claim that he was not involved in quack practices.
In addition, contrary to CEO Min’s claims, Belift Lab has issued a statement casting doubt on the plagiarism allegations, and the reason for the delay in NewJeans’ debut turned out to be CEO Min submitting branding materials eight months late, not Source Music.
In addition to shamanic practices, CEO Min is also facing accusations of stealing Source Music trainees to debut NewJeans under ADOR. In fact, he claimed to have created his own group concept.
On the same day, Dispatch revealed that Source Music had been preparing to debut a girl group since 2018, under the name N Team (now NewJeans). The initial goal was to debut them in the third quarter of 2021. Initially, Source Music was in charge of choreography and group management, HYBE founder Bang PD was responsible for music, and CEO Min was in charge of branding.
However, CEO Min wanted more authority in the group. In March 2021, Source Music CEO So Sung-Jin agreed and ADOR CEO became the sole leader of the project. CEO Min also became responsible for the girl group’s music and choreography. However, the N Team project failed to materialize.
Responding to the report, ADOR denied the claims. Threatening to take legal action, the label stated, “The report is false and defamatory information. We are currently preparing to take punitive action.”
