NewJeans’ former label ADOR has accused its ex-CEO, Min Hee Jin, of overpaying production company Dolphin Kidnapping Group that produced some of the group’s most popular music videos. According to ADOR, Min Hee Jin paid the company a total of 3.30 billion KRW (approximately 19 crore INR) in 2023 for producing four music videos for NewJeans. Read on to know more.
ADOR Accuses Min Hee Jin Of Overpaying Dolphin Kidnapping Group For NewJeans’ Music Videos
ADOR has alleged that Min Hee Jin had granted production company Dolphin Kidnapping Group excessive finances for their work with NewJeans. The money paid to the company by Min reportedly accounts for 25% of their annual revenue, which is estimated to be around 13.2 billion KRW (101 crore INR).
ADOR pointed out that production companies usually charge anywhere between 200 million KRW (1.1 crore INR) and 300 million KRW (1.5 crore INR) per video. However, Min Hee Jin allegedly approved payment contracts exceeding 1 billion KRW (7.69 crore INR) to Dolphin Kidnapping Group, per project, an amount far higher than the usual industry rate. ADOR has questioned the reasoning behind such unusually high payments and the frequency with which Dolphin Kidnapping Group was awarded contracts.
In addition to this, HYBE’s subsidiary label has also accused its former CEO of improperly intervening in external contract reviews. The company submitted a KakaoTalk message as evidence where Min reportedly forwarded a stock purchase agreement between Dolphin Kidnapping Group and Kakao Entertainment to ADOR’s deputy CEO, identified as ‘L’, who was previously an accountant. In the message, Min allegedly requested ‘L’ to review the agreement.
ADOR also brought up a contract that was signed between Dolphin Kidnapping Group and Kakao Entertainment that included a clause to achieve a specific operating profit. The label questions whether Min Hee Jin’s inflated contracts were made to help the Dolphin Kidnapping Group meet this target.
The company additionally argued that Min’s decision to upload NewJeans’ “ETA (Director’s Cut)” music video to Dolphin Kidnapping Group’s YouTube channel instead of HYBE’s official channel resulted in financial losses for both HYBE and ADOR.
Also Read: Court Dismisses Former Ador Ceo Min Hee Jin’s Allegations Against Source Music!
Dolphin Kidnapping Group is known for producing multiple popular music videos for NewJeans like ‘ETA,’ ‘Ditto,’ ‘OMG,’ and ‘Cool With You.’
Also Read: NewJeans Lose Legal Fight Against ADOR, Group Denied Exit From Label
Source: Koreaboo