Source Music files 500 million won lawsuit against ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin

Source Music, the agency of the group Le Seraphim, has filed a lawsuit for damages against Min Hee-jin, CEO of Adore.

According to the legal community on the 15th, Source Music recently filed a lawsuit against CEO Min at the Seoul Western District Court, demanding 500 million won in damages for defamation, obstruction of business, and insult.

The amount of the lawsuit was determined to be a portion of the damages suffered by Source Music, so there is room for it to increase in the future.

Source Music is known to have raised three major issues in the lawsuit. ▲CEO Min’s claim that he personally cast the members of New Jeans. ▲CEO Min unilaterally broke his promise to debut New Jeans as HYBE’s first girl group. ▲CEO Min’s claim that Source Music neglected the members of New Jeans. It is

widely known that some of the members of New Jeans were actually trainees at Source Music. CEO Min claimed that Source Music neglected them and also raised the issue of Le Seraphim debuting before New Jeans.

At the first press conference on April 25th, she also said, “When we were managed by Source, we were neglected,” and “Everyone came in after seeing HYBE’s first girl group and Min Hee Jin.”

Source Music claimed that Representative Min's remarks gave rise to rumors that Seraphim was a "girl group that received special treatment and harmed other groups," which resulted in severe malicious comments and other damages.

In response, Source Music reportedly obtained evidence that could prove that Representative Min's remarks were false and submitted it along with the complaint.

The evidence reportedly includes circumstances in which Representative Min's delay in handling work as a brand manager delayed the debut schedule of New Jeans, circumstances in which Representative Min was aware and acknowledged that Seraphim would debut before New Jeans, and instances of damage caused by malicious comments.

In addition to Source Music, Belift Lab, the agency of Ailit, also filed an additional civil lawsuit against CEO Min last month for obstruction of business and defamation, refuting the allegations of plagiarism of New Jeans.

Belift Lab criticized Min for using the innocent rookie group Ailit as a scapegoat by disparaging the rookie groups under the label as copycats and knockoffs in order to pressure Hive. On the

9th, CEO Min was investigated as a defendant for the first time. On April 26th, Hive submitted a complaint to the Yongsan Police Station in Seoul requesting an investigation of CEO Min for dereliction of duty, stating, “We have confirmed specific facts that a plan to seize management rights from Adore was established under the leadership of CEO Min Hee-jin.” Afterwards, CEO Min appeared at the Yongsan Police Station in Seoul on the 9th and was questioned for about 8 hours.

In relation to this, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner General George Ho said at a regular press conference held at the Jongno-gu office building in Seoul on the 15th, “We were not able to confirm everything that was needed in the investigation of Representative Min. It seems that additional investigation is necessary.” In addition, it has been reported that HYBE is also considering additional civil lawsuits if Representative Min’s charges are confirmed.

source: https://m.entertain.naver.com/article/468/0001077157