SEOUL, Sept 3 — Kpop girl group NewJeans have finally broken their silence on the dismissal of Min Hee-jin as CEO of their music label, ADOR, after six days, reported Korea Herald.
The quintet reportedly expressed concerns and emotional distress yesterday on “Phoning,” a dedicated mobile app for the group's fans.
“Since the CEO was dismissed, it's been difficult in many ways and we have a lot of concerns," member Danielle was quoted as saying.
“For a while, I was in a state of mental breakdown and very anxious.”
Hee-jin was removed from her CEO role by the company's board of directors last Tuesday following a monthslong conflict with the label's parent company Hybe over management control of the sublabel.
While ADOR said Hee-jin would remain on the board and continue producing for NewJeans, she has refused to sign a work contract to stay on as producer for including “toxic clauses.”
Fellow member Minji who lamented that nothing had been properly solved added that, “I feel so sorry that we have to go through this unnecessary trouble, and I felt so frustrated that I couldn't solve anything.”
Not all the members were as straightforward in addressing Hee-jin's removal, with Hanni leaving a trail of breadcrumbs in cryptic messages using emojis that appears to point to support for the former CEO.
The replacement came about four months after the conflict between Min and Hybe surfaced in April, when Hybe accused her of plotting to seize control of her label and take the Kpop group with her, which she has denied.
