Jason Jaesang Lee is officially the new CEO of HYBE.
According to a new regulatory filing, he was officially appointed to the CEO role at a shareholder meeting on Thursday (September 12), replacing former CEO Jiwon Park, as part of a leadership change we first reported in July.
However, the executive’s tenure at the helm of the South Korea-headquartered entertainment company appears to have started with a PR headache.
According to local media, following the shareholder meeting, Lee addressed the recent demand made by K-Pop stars NewJeans for HYBE to reinstate Min Hee-jin as the CEO of sublabel ADOR by September 25.
In a rare act of defiance by a K-pop group against its management, NewJeans made the demand during a surprise live stream on Wednesday evening (September 11).
HYBE, which owns 80% of ADOR, removed Min as CEO of the label in August, amid an ongoing dispute in which the K-pop company accused Min of attempting to seize control of ADOR.
When it removed Min, HYBE restructured ADOR, separating production and management functions, and offering Min the role of head producer. Min rejected the offer.
“HYBE is a company which follows the rules and pursues precision management.”
Jason Jaesang Lee, speaking after shareholders meeting
As per this translation in South Korean media, HYBE’s new CEO, Jason Jaesang Lee, said after the shareholders meeting on Thursday that the company will respond to NewJeans’ ultimatum “calmly”.
“It will take some time, but we will stick to regulations and respond calmly,” he said.
He added: “HYBE is a company which follows the rules and pursues precision management. Looking back, those who follow the rules always end up as the winners.”
Speculation is now running rampant in South Korean media that the K-pop giant could lose NewJeans, one of its most lucrative girl groups.
In the surprise livestream on Wednesday evening (September 11), NewJeans members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein gave HYBE two weeks to reinstate Min as CEO of ADOR.
“We hope that HYBE makes the wise choice to reinstate Min Hee-jin as the CEO of ADOR by September 25,” Minji said, as translated by the Korea JoongAng Daily.
“The ADOR that we want is an ADOR where the music production and company management are done by Min Hee-jin as the CEO. We make this request as the way to cohabitate peacefully with HYBE.”
NewJeans member Hyein added during the livestream on Wednesday, as quoted by the Korea Times: “We found out about the [ADORE] CEO’s dismissal the same day it was announced, through the news. It was so sudden and something none of us could have imagined. Honestly, it’s been really tough for us.
“And as an artist under HYBE, the company’s unilateral notice made us sure that they don’t respect us at all.”
However, the group members didn’t say what they planned to do if HYBE didn’t agree to their demand. South Korean media notes that such ultimatums are often a prelude to a K-pop act going to court to have their contract nullified.
“There is no special legal significance to the two-week period. But they may have proposed the two-week period as a practical timeframe for handling legal matters, as it typically takes a company about a week to 10 days to implement internal measures and draft official legal documents,” entertainment lawyer Chong Kyong-sok told the Korea Times.
“This deadline can be interpreted as an indication that if their demands are not met within the given time, they are preparing a response to address the potential non-compliance.”
If NewJeans were to leave ADOR, the label would be left with no artists, and would lose an act that generated KRW 110.3 billion (USD $83 million) in revenue last year, the Korea Herald reported.
The seed of the conflict between HYBE and Min was reportedly Min’s opinion that ILLIT, a new girl group from HYBE label Belift Lab, was copying NewJeans, including its dance moves and fashion.
According to HYBE, Min’s resentment over this triggered her alleged attempt to sever ADOR from HYBE’s multi-label system.
In the months since the dispute became public knowledge in April, a number of anonymous YouTube channels have echoed Min’s claim, with some even accusing ILLIT of plagiarism, including ripping off Favorite Liar, a track by US pop-rock band The Wrecks.
“The company’s unilateral notice made us sure that they don’t respect us at all.”
Hyein, NewJeans
At the end of August, HYBE filed defamation lawsuits against seven of these channels, and on Monday (September 9), it petitioned a US federal court to order YouTube owner Google to reveal the identities of the people behind those channels.
NewJeans’ ultimatum has evidently damaged HYBE’s stock price, with Bloomberg reporting on Thursday (September 12) that shares of the company fell as much as 6.2% in intraday trading that day.
HYBE shares closed down 3% on Friday, at KRW 164,000 (USD $123.25) per share. However, that price was still up 1.55% on the week. Bloomberg noted that HYBE’s share price has fallen 27% since the conflict with Min went public in April.
However, dropping stock prices have plagued much of the K-pop industry this year, with JYP Entertainment down 55% year-to-date, and SM Entertainment down nearly 38% year-to-date, as of market close Friday.Music Business Worldwide
