Former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin appeared in court as a witness in a damages lawsuit between ADOR and video production company Dolphiners Films, accused of receiving excessive benefits during her tenure. The third hearing of the 1.1 billion KRW (about 790,000 USD) lawsuit took place on November 11 at the Seoul Central District Court, where Min testified in support of Dolphiners Films.
This was her first court appearance in a case unrelated to her own legal battle with HYBE. The dispute began in August 2023, when Dolphiners Films uploaded the Director’s Cut version of NewJeans’ “ETA” music video to its YouTube channel. ADOR argued that the video belonged to the company and questioned director Shin Woo Seok’s authority to post it. After ADOR’s objection, Shin deleted all NewJeans-related content from his unofficial “Ban Hee Soo Channel,” sparking public criticism toward ADOR.
Shin later filed a defamation complaint, claiming ADOR’s reference to “unauthorized disclosure” damaged his reputation. ADOR responded with a civil lawsuit for damages against Dolphiners Films.
Courtroom Clash Over Management and Favoritism
During the hearing, both sides disputed whether Shin had the right to share the video and whether Min unfairly favored Dolphiners Films.
Min said in her testimony, “It is common practice in the industry for music video directors to post their completed works on personal social media or websites.”
ADOR’s legal team disagreed, arguing that “allowing NewJeans’ videos to appear on an external contractor’s channel, instead of the company’s official one, caused direct harm to ADOR and breached Min’s duty of care as CEO.”
ADOR also referred to court rulings in its contract dispute with NewJeans, noting that “the court dismissed claims related to Dolphiners Films in both the first and second trials.” Min acknowledged this, replying briefly, “Yes.”
When asked about a court statement suggesting she had tried to shape negative sentiment against HYBE by sharing internal materials, Min responded, “This trial is about director Shin Woo Seok’s damages claim,” and declined further comment.
ADOR Alleges Preferential Treatment
ADOR accused Min of providing excessive financial benefits to Dolphiners Films. The company said Min paid 3.3 billion KRW (around 2.36 million USD) in 2023 for four NewJeans music videos, representing about 25% of the firm’s annual revenue of 13.2 billion KRW (roughly 9.4 million USD).
Other production companies typically received 200–300 million KRW (about 140,000–210,000 USD) per video, while Dolphiners Films was paid more than 1 billion KRW (about 700,000 USD) each time. ADOR argued this showed repeated high-value contracts with one vendor.
The company also claimed Min interfered in contract reviews. It presented KakaoTalk messages showing Min forwarded a stock purchase agreement between Dolphiners Films and Kakao Entertainment to Deputy CEO L, an accountant, asking for review.
According to ADOR, the contract included a side agreement requiring Dolphiners Films to achieve 18 billion KRW (about 12.8 million USD) in operating profit by 2026. ADOR suggested that Min inflate budgets and assign extra projects to help the company meet that goal.
Min admitted receiving the contract from director Shin but said, “I did not review its contents. It was likely handled by Deputy CEO L.”
Upload Controversy and Broader Implications
ADOR also criticized Min for allowing the “ETA” Director’s Cut video to be uploaded to Dolphiners Films’ YouTube channel, which has about 480,000 subscribers, rather than HYBE’s official channel, which has 78.7 million. The company argued this benefited Dolphiners Films at ADOR and HYBE’s expense.
The hearing ended after several hours of questioning focused on Min’s testimony. The court is expected to continue reviewing ADOR’s claims of preferential treatment, contract interference, and management responsibility in upcoming sessions.
SEE ALSO: Min Hee Jin updates her Instagram with posts confirming launch of new agency OOAK
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