News Hybe/MHJ Civil War Megathread (12 Viewers)

[Selfmate]

NewJeans Formation Dispute Heads to Seventh Hearing

Min Hee-jin, Source Music Clash Over 500M Won Damages in Legal Battle

The legal battle between former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin and Source Music over the formation of NewJeans reignites. The two sides continue a damages lawsuit worth around 500 million Korean won, disputing claims including 'who discovered and nurtured the NewJeans members,' unfulfilled promises to debut the group as HYBE's first girl group, and allegations of neglecting trainees.

The 12th Civil Division of Seoul Western District Court will hold its seventh hearing on the afternoon of the 21st regarding the damages claim filed by Source Music against former CEO Min.

The lawsuit began with statements made by former CEO Min during her conflict with HYBE, concerning Source Music and NewJeans' debut process. Source Music filed the 500 million Korean won damages lawsuit in July 2024, arguing that Min's claims were factually incorrect.

Source Music identified three main issues: Min's assertion that she personally cast NewJeans members, her claim that the promise to debut NewJeans as HYBE's first girl group was unfulfilled, and her remarks implying that Source Music neglected the members.

Source Music argues that these statements damaged the company's reputation and harmed its group Le Sserafim. In response, Min's side contends that her statements are not false and reflect her direct experiences and internal circumstances during NewJeans' planning and debut process.

Another key issue in the trial revolves around KakaoTalk conversations. During previous hearings, both sides clashed over whether to submit full conversation records to verify the context of partially disclosed messages.

Source Music argued that partial messages could distort meaning and insisted on reviewing the full conversation between NewJeans members' mothers and Min. Min's side countered that they had lost the phone used for the conversations, making additional submissions difficult.

Source Music also requested that CEO So Sung-jin be called as a witness. However, the court decided to proceed by accepting a written statement instead of conducting a witness examination. So's potential testimony regarding the casting and trainee transfer process of NewJeans members remains a critical variable in future proceedings.

The case began its first hearing in January of last year, with proceedings temporarily concluding once. However, the court reopened the trial before rendering a verdict, prolonging the legal battle. Following the June hearing, today's resumed trial has drawn attention to how the conflicting claims about NewJeans' debut process will be resolved.

Source: https://www.chosun.com/english/kpop-culture-en/2026/08/21/H6DX5ZTRM5CMXA425XBKGBGKHQ/

 

[Selfmate]

ILLIT’s Creative Director Loses Lawsuit To Min Hee Jin

She filed against Min for slander.

ILLIT‘s creative director Serian Heu has reportedly lost a civil lawsuit involving former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin, drawing renewed attention to the long-running plagiarism controversy surrounding ILLIT and NewJeans.

The lawsuit was reportedly filed by Heo over alleged false statements and defamation, following Min Hee Jin’s highly publicized claims regarding similarities between ILLIT and NewJeans.

According to an account from someone who attended the court proceedings, Heo’s side argued that the fundamental issue was whether the plaintiff had clearly proven that Min Hee Jin had stated specific false facts.

The defense reportedly argued that Min Hee Jin had not specifically singled out Heo as having copied anything. Rather, her controversial comments had been expressions of criticism surrounding allegations of similarities between the two groups that were already being discussed by both the media and the public.

“The question is whether saying ‘A copied B’ constitutes a false statement. Even before the defendant’s remarks, suspicions of copying between A and B had already been raised among the public and in the media. We ask that these circumstances be considered comprehensively.”

Another issue reportedly raised during proceedings concerned allegations that NewJeans’ parents had requested an internal investigation into suspected plagiarism.

According to the courtroom account, the defense argued that any investigation resulting from the parents’ request was conducted internally within HYBE, rather than being an attempt to publicly spread the allegations.

They further argued that this issue was separate from the comments made during Min Hee Jin’s infamous press conference, which the plaintiff had taken issue with. The case has now attracted significant attention online following claims that Heu lost the lawsuit.

Some Min Hee Jin supporters have interpreted the result as proof that the accusations of “copying” or “plagiarism” were legally established as true. However, a loss in a false-fact defamation damages lawsuit does not necessarily mean that a court affirmatively ruled that ILLIT plagiarized NewJeans. Depending on the judgment’s reasoning, a claim can fail for other reasons, including failure to establish that a particular statement was a false assertion of fact, that it specifically concerned the plaintiff, or that the other elements required for liability were satisfied.

The development nevertheless marks another legal turn in the years-long dispute surrounding Min Hee Jin, HYBE, ADOR, and ILLIT, with fans now waiting for the full judgment to become available.

Source: https://www.koreaboo.com/news/illits-creative-director-loses-lawsuit-min-hee-jin/
Original Source: https://theqoo.net/hot/4320567489

 

[RandAlThor]

lol trust me bro we lost that phone.....

 

[Selfmate]

Min Hee Jin’s Major Lawsuit Win Triggers Heated Response

The judgement was released to the public recently.

Min Hee Jin, the former ADOR CEO and creative mind behind the girl group NewJeans, recently achieved a major lawsuit win against Serian Heu, the creative director of ILLIT.

The lawsuit was originally filed by Heu, accusing Min Hee Jin of false claims and defamation after she made explosive allegations of plagiarism regarding similarities between ILLIT and NewJeans.

Heu lost the lawsuit in August 2026, but the official judgment was made public only recently, which explained in detail why the lawsuit was dismissed. The court stated that Serian Heu was never mentioned explicitly by Min Hee Jin. Her allegations were related to the concept and creative vision behind ILLIT’s debut, but Heu never had any front-facing role in the group’s debut.

In addition, the judge noted that the backlash Heu faced after Min Hee Jin’s publicized claims was mostly self-inflicted, primarily due to the “middle finger” picture she posted on social media during Min Hee Jin’s press conference.

The judgment also took account of the evidence presented showing that during the earliest stages of ILLIT’s debut, Heu’s team had explicitly requested the planning materials of NewJeans, and it was actually handed over to them by HYBE. Since the paper trail regarding this material sharing was logged as a matter of objective fact, the court ruled that Min Hee Jin exposing its timeline didn’t constitute defamation.

The 12-page judgment has sparked heated reactions online, inviting further criticism of Serian Heu.

Source: https://www.koreaboo.com/news/min-hee-jin-major-lawsuit-win-heated-response/
Original Source: https://theqoo.net/square/4347807660?page=3

 

[Selfmate]

The court ruled in favor of former CEO Min Hee-jin (currently Okarekoz), who raised suspicions of "Newzins plagiarism" by the group's ILLIT, in a damages lawsuit filed by Bilibrap creative director A.

According to the legal community on the 18th, the Civil 22nd Division of the Seoul Western District Court (judge Park Geun-kyu) rejected all claims filed by A against former CEO Min and former Deputy CEO Shin Amugae on the 21st of last month.

A insisted that the two should jointly pay 100 million won and delayed damages, but the court did not accept it.

The lawsuit began in April 2024 when former CEO Min made a claim in an official statement to the effect of "plagiarism of New Jin's by Billifrap ILLIT" and held a press conference two days later.

A claimed that former representative Min defamed himself by making false claims through statements, press conferences, and subsequent court statements and e-mails. Shin was also held liable for damages, saying he conspired with former representative Min for related actions.

However, the court found it difficult to identify Mr. A as a victim of defamation. At that time, it was mainly considered that A's name or position was not directly mentioned in former representative Min's official statement and press conference. It was judged that the expression comparing the overall entertainment activities of the ILLIT, such as hair, makeup, costumes, choreography, photos, and videos, with New Jeans was also difficult to identify a specific area or individual in charge of A.

The claim against Shin was also rejected. The court judged that the evidence submitted alone was insufficient to admit that Shin conspired with former representative Min in related activities or participated in illegal activities jointly, such as helping former representative Min in his actions.

The court also mentioned the post that A posted and deleted on his SNS at the time, and the situation in which comments and video attacks against A continued, centered on his fandom.

Accordingly, the court concluded that there was no reason to claim damages as the premise that A was identified as a victim of illegal activities was not established. Other issues such as falsehood or illegality of the remarks were not separately judged.

As A did not appeal the ruling, the lawsuit was finally confirmed in favor of former representative Min.

Meanwhile, former CEO Min is facing a damage delivery lawsuit worth 2 billion won filed by Bilibrap against him.

Source: https://www.mk.co.kr/en/society/12156592

 

[RandAlThor]

The hate is strong

 

[Selfmate]

The hate is strong

there's plenty more lawsuits to come