Source Music denies Min Hee Jin self-recruiting NewJeans, publishes a series of evidence

At the hearing on November 7, Source Music refuted all of Min Hee Jin's statements regarding the formation of the group NewJeans. The company released a series of evidence, affirming that there was no promise of "HYBE's first girl group".

On the afternoon of November 7, the fourth hearing in the civil lawsuit between Source Music and former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin took place, revolving around a claim for 500 million won in compensation for defamation and damage to honor. Here, Source Music refuted a series of statements by Min Hee Jin related to the formation of the girl group NewJeans, and at the same time published a lot of legal evidence to clarify the truth.

According to a representative of Source Music, Min Hee Jin's statement that "NewJeans was selected by myself" is false. The company confirmed that the entire process of selecting trainees was carried out by Source Music, even before Min Hee Jin joined the company. To prove it, Source Music submitted a video recording the signing process with the members, clearly showing the role of each employee in the search and selection.

Specifically, Minji was cast by Source Music before Min Hee Jin appeared. Haerin was approached by company employees to her home in Anyang to meet her family. Hyein participated in the audition after being directly persuaded by the CEO at the time, So Seong Jin. Danielle is an intern who follows an employee who moves from her old company to Source Music. As for Hanni, at the time of the audition, Min Hee Jin did not participate as a judge and had almost no international influence.

Source Music also refuted the claim that HYBE had promised to let Min Hee Jin debut her first girl group. In the training video, the NewJeans members once expressed their desire to leave if they were not selected, showing that they did not participate in the belief that they were "HYBE's first girl group".

Notably, Source Music published a Slack message that Min Hee Jin sent to HYBE CEO Park Ji Won on July 8, 2021, in which she wrote, "I don't care when LE SSERAFIM debuted. Just transfer NewJeans to M-Label to be my label's first debut team." In addition, in the recording on August 12, 2021 when talking to the fortune teller, Min Hee Jin also said, "The main character must appear last." According to Source Music, these words show that Min Hee Jin himself once wanted NewJeans to debut after LE SSERAFIM, which is in stark contrast to the current claim that HYBE broke the deal.

The company also cited the content of the KakaoTalk message, in which Min Hee Jin repeatedly expressed his desire to withdraw NewJeans from Source Music, even affirming that "the last person to appear is the real winner". According to Source Music, it was Min who requested the group's transfer to ADOR, although she was warned that this could cause the debut date to be changed. Blaming HYBE is an irresponsible act of public opinion manipulation.

Source Music said that Min Hee Jin's false statements caused divisions within HYBE, damaging the honor of both NewJeans and LE SSERAFIM. The company emphasized that the LE SSERAFIM team was pushed into the "Ms. Tam – Step-Aunt storyline", subjected to a wave of heavy attacks at the right time to develop. The fact that the defendant thinks that this situation is "acceptable" just because of personal conflicts is what makes Source Music "shocked".

In addition, Source Music also reacted strongly to Min Hee Jin's statement "Source Music is semi-trainees". The company believes that this statement has seriously damaged its internal reputation, directly affecting employees and artists. They also pointed out the contradiction when Min Hee Jin once said the word "rogue" did not affect her honor, but sued a netizen for calling her by that very word.

Legally, the court accepted the Messenger messaging documents provided by Source Music, rejecting the defendant's argument that this was illegally collected evidence. Previously, the court also accepted KakaoTalk messages in the lawsuit between NewJeans and ADOR.

Source Music concluded that Min Hee Jin's false statements seriously damaged LE SSERAFIM's honor, causing the group to be stigmatized as "favored", facing a wave of malice from the public. The company has been suing Min Hee Jin since July 2024, seeking 500 million won in compensation. Belift Lab – the management unit of LE SSERAFIM – is also suing Ms. Min for compensation of up to 2 billion won.

At the hearing on November 7, Source Music refuted all of Min Hee Jin's statements regarding the formation of the group NewJeans. The company released a series of evidence, affirming that there was no promise of "HYBE's first girl group".

On the afternoon of November 7, the fourth hearing in the civil lawsuit between Source Music and former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin took place, revolving around a claim for 500 million won in compensation for defamation and damage to honor. Here, Source Music refuted a series of statements by Min Hee Jin related to the formation of the girl group NewJeans, and at the same time published a lot of legal evidence to clarify the truth.

According to a representative of Source Music, Min Hee Jin's statement that "NewJeans was selected by myself" is false. The company confirmed that the entire process of selecting trainees was carried out by Source Music, even before Min Hee Jin joined the company. To prove it, Source Music submitted a video recording the signing process with the members, clearly showing the role of each employee in the search and selection.

Specifically, Minji was cast by Source Music before Min Hee Jin appeared. Haerin was approached by company employees to her home in Anyang to meet her family. Hyein participated in the audition after being directly persuaded by the CEO at the time, So Seong Jin. Danielle is an intern who follows an employee who moves from her old company to Source Music. As for Hanni, at the time of the audition, Min Hee Jin did not participate as a judge and had almost no international influence.

Source Music also refuted the claim that HYBE had promised to let Min Hee Jin debut her first girl group. In the training video, the NewJeans members once expressed their desire to leave if they were not selected, showing that they did not participate in the belief that they were "HYBE's first girl group".

Notably, Source Music published a Slack message that Min Hee Jin sent to HYBE CEO Park Ji Won on July 8, 2021, in which she wrote, "I don't care when LE SSERAFIM debuted. Just transfer NewJeans to M-Label to be my label's first debut team." In addition, in the recording on August 12, 2021 when talking to the fortune teller, Min Hee Jin also said, "The main character must appear last." According to Source Music, these words show that Min Hee Jin himself once wanted NewJeans to debut after LE SSERAFIM, which is in stark contrast to the current claim that HYBE broke the deal.

The company also cited the content of the KakaoTalk message, in which Min Hee Jin repeatedly expressed his desire to withdraw NewJeans from Source Music, even affirming that "the last person to appear is the real winner". According to Source Music, it was Min who requested the group's transfer to ADOR, although she was warned that this could cause the debut date to be changed. Blaming HYBE is an irresponsible act of public opinion manipulation.

Source Music said that Min Hee Jin's false statements caused divisions within HYBE, damaging the honor of both NewJeans and LE SSERAFIM. The company emphasized that the LE SSERAFIM team was pushed into the "Ms. Tam – Step-Aunt storyline", subjected to a wave of heavy attacks at the right time to develop. The fact that the defendant thinks that this situation is "acceptable" just because of personal conflicts is what makes Source Music "shocked".

In addition, Source Music also reacted strongly to Min Hee Jin's statement "Source Music is semi-trainees". The company believes that this statement has seriously damaged its internal reputation, directly affecting employees and artists. They also pointed out the contradiction when Min Hee Jin once said the word "rogue" did not affect her honor, but sued a netizen for calling her by that very word.

Legally, the court accepted the Messenger messaging documents provided by Source Music, rejecting the defendant's argument that this was illegally collected evidence. Previously, the court also accepted KakaoTalk messages in the lawsuit between NewJeans and ADOR.

Source Music concluded that Min Hee Jin's false statements seriously damaged LE SSERAFIM's honor, causing the group to be stigmatized as "favored", facing a wave of malice from the public. The company has been suing Min Hee Jin since July 2024, seeking 500 million won in compensation. Belift Lab – the management unit of LE SSERAFIM – is also suing Ms. Min for compensation of up to 2 billion won.