NewJeans’ Stylist Team Leader Shares HYBE’s Request for Cooperation

The head of ADOR’s style directing team, who was audited for approximately 5 hours the day before the board meeting, shared, “At my previous company, this was a common practice, so I was not anticipating it to occur here.”

During a phone interview with Ilgan Sports on May 10th, A shared, “I was scared when HYBE’s audit team brought up embezzlement and breach of trust and mentioned the possibility of going to the police station.”

This morning, ADOR announced that HYBE had performed a 5-hour audit on A starting at 7 PM the previous day. Allegedly, during this audit, they acted in an unlawful manner, including visiting the residence of a female stylist late at night.

The audit team of HYBE brought up the concern that A had received styling fees from advertisers. In response, ADOR clarified that it is a common practice in the advertising industry for freelancers to handle hair, makeup, and styling, with individual contracts between advertisers and freelancers. However, ADOR stated that their own styling team is responsible for these tasks instead of using freelancers. They also explained that when determining A’s incentives, they factored in the fees paid by advertisers.

ADOR contended that HYBE was exaggerating the issue of A receiving money directly from advertisers, arguing that A did not cause any financial harm to the company by receiving the same amount from advertisers instead of receiving incentives. As per ADOR, this matter was already discussed with HYBE’s HR and ER departments in February.

A shared, “At my previous company, it was common practice to receive advertising labor costs and ADOR had approved this arrangement as part of our incentives. Therefore, I was not anticipating any issues. I was extremely alarmed when they suggested that this could be seen as embezzlement or a violation of trust.”

The audit committee at HYBE contacted me to review potential illegal actions during the internal audit. Despite my request to postpone the review due to a prior engagement, they proceeded without considering my perspective.

A stated, “At approximately 7 PM, I was on a call on the fourth floor of the office and was about to leave when the audit team suddenly appeared. They requested my cooperation, warning me that failure to comply could result in legal action.”

Additionally, the person clarified, “They informed me that if I did not hand over my laptop, I could potentially be brought to the police station. As a result, at approximately 10:30 PM, an individual arrived at my residence and retrieved my laptop. They also requested my cell phone, but I declined. Following this, I underwent the audit until midnight.”

In response to ADOR’s statement, HYBE countered by denouncing it as “inaccurate allegations made by CEO Min Hee-jin’s party.”In an official statement, HYBE clarified that their audit team lawfully conducted an examination of A on the evening of May 9th, with the auditee’s consent and in a non-coercive environment.