In a Dispatch article, it was revealed that CEO Min Hee Jin sneakily "stole" the current members of NewJeans from Source Music to create her own girl group.
Dispatch Claims NewJeans Was Supposed to Debut Under Source Music — Until CEO Min Brought Members to ADOR
On April 24, the Korean outlet reported on how Min Hee Jin became the "mastermind" behind Source Music's initial financial difficulty, prior to LE SSERAFIM's success.
In the writings, it was detailed how Min entered HYBE and was given the role of a CEO as well as her ploy to take over control of ADOR while benefitting from its parent company.
In the detailed timeline, the media outlet went back to when NewJeans members were scouted as trainees, starting with Minji who joined Source Music in 2017 and followed by Hanni in 2019. Both members passed the audition organized by Big Hit x SouMu.
In 2020, Haerin and Danielle also entered the label, while Hyein was recruited online to join them later. The five members were selected by Source Music CEO So Sungjin to prepare for a new girl group and trained under the company until the second half of 2021.
Amid this, Min Hee Jin was hired by HYBE in 2019 as CBO and she was originally tasked to direct the brands for the multi-labels.
ALSO READ: Min Hee Jin Denies HYBE's Claim She Tried to Seize Management Rights of ADOR: 'It Is Impossible'
Originally, she was supposed to work with Source Music's girl group but she wanted to create her own label first, leading HYBE to make her the CEO of its newly established affiliate company, ADOR.
In the process of selecting members of her group, she chose Minji, Hanni, Haerin, Danielle, and Hyein (NewJeans now). She then gave Source Music the cost of their training.
Dispatch then highlighted that while Min can be called the "mother" of NewJeans who made the members better than anyone else, Source Music CEO So Sungjin "gave birth" to the members and worked hard to give them all the resources for over three years.
Dispatch Points Out Contradicting Remark of ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin
In the article, the media outlet also mentioned how CEO Min Hee Jin is contracting her past remark when she refuted that NewJeans' success is due to HYBE.
"At the time, I received similar investment proposals from other places, so there was no reason it had to be HYBE."
However, NewJeans' success isn't solely due to her because the group is a beneficiary of the HYBE system.
Min Hee Jin also didn't recruit the members from scratch, she formed them while "sneakily stealing" them from Source Music.
If the girl group failed, HYBE would have to bear the entire debt, thus, the glory of NewJeans is not her own.
READ MORE: Min Hee Jin Speculated To Be Behind Youngseo's Departure From ILLIT Ahead of Debut
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Written by Eunice Dela Cruz
