Came across a couple of interesting articles 👀

HYBE’s Planned Loss… Is BTS the Reason?

HYBE posted a 42.2 billion KRW operating loss in the third quarter the first loss since the company went public.This was a shock because experts expected 30–40 billion KRW in profit.

But the market didn’t react badly.
The stock price stayed stable, and investors seem more focused on HYBE’s future growth, not the temporary loss.
Only one securities firm lowered HYBE’s target price.

Experts say HYBE basically did a “Big Bath” meaning the company intentionally took on a lot of expenses in one quarter to clean up old or risky parts of the business, just like washing off built-up dirt.Because they recognized these big costs now, their future quarters will look better. Normally, companies do the cleanse when a new CEO arrives. But HYBE did it for another reason.This Issue Check explains HYBE’s Q3 performance and why it chose to do a Big Bath.

1. HYBE Actually Grew, Even Though It Posted a Loss

HYBE made 727.2 billion KRW in revenue in Q3 37.8% higher than last year.This even beat HYBE’s previous record quarterly revenue.

Two important things stand out:

A. Concert revenue was 245 billion KRW, a 213% increase from last year. It even beat album/streaming revenue (189.8 billion KRW).Analysts say HYBE now has a strong cycle,artists release music the go on tour and tours boost sales which raise demand for tours. An analyst said BTS’s full-group comeback next year will make concert revenue “jump again.”

B. Merchandise and IP licensing made 168.3 billion KRW, up 69.8%. Experts say this area greatly helps profitability because HYBE keeps a larger portion of the revenue compared to music or concerts.

Dispatch wrote a article for Mhj and her minions, will be a long ass one

Do You Understand Now?"...News, 567 Days of Revolutionary Diary

There are six New Jeans !

Their own "revolution" is over. New Jeans has thrown in the towel after 567 days. Hae-rin and Hye- in announced their return to "Adore," and three hours later, Minzy , Hani , and Daniel (unavoidably) announced their participation.

Ultimately, the 567 days of fighting left only scars for everyone. They left behind only quotes like, "There are too many dog guys," "Why do I have to be ignored?", "Do you understand?", and "Are you telling a victim of school violence to go back to school?"

We looked back at the major events over the past year and seven months, from New Jeans' notice of termination to the notice of reinstatement.

1. “There are so many creepy old men, those fers” (2024.4.25)*

Min Hee-jin held an emergency press conference. For about two hours, she criticized HYBE with curses and tears. She said she was subjected to an unfair audit because she internally reported HYBE’s problems.

That day, Min said, “These creepy old men are trying to kill me,” and “You can’t do this job without cursing. There are too many f***ers,” publicly criticizing HYBE executives.

Regarding the accusation of attempting to seize management control, she insisted it was just “casual talk.” Instead, she claimed HYBE betrayed her, saying, “They sucked me dry and then tried to crush me.”

HYBE countered, “There are records in the chat logs showing the same goal (takeover) pursued for months. This is not simple ‘casual talk.’ There is evidence of ‘planning’ and ‘execution.’” 2. “Please give us back CEO Min” (2024.9.11)

NewJeans turned on a YouTube Live. They demanded that Min Hee-jin be reinstated as CEO.

Hyein said, “After the CEO was removed, it was painful seeing the people we worked with suffer from unfair demands and pressure.”

Danielle said, “We were only working hard for our dreams — what did we do wrong? This company just looks inhumane. Please stop tormenting our CEO Min from a human standpoint.”

Minji said, “Unnecessary and exhausting things keep happening to NewJeans,” and emphasized, “What we want is the original ADOR where CEO Min oversees both management and producing.”

However, this live broadcast appears to have been pre-planned. Min used the artists as her speakers. At the time, Dispatch obtained KakaoTalk messages showing Min sharing the livestream schedule with members’ families.

Found an article which goes through the entire session

1. Background :

ADOR is suing Dolphin Kidnapping Group (director Shin Woo-seok’s company) for 1.1 billion won in damages. The issue began when Shin uploaded a NewJeans video which ADOR owns to his own YouTube channel instead of HYBE/ADOR’s official channel. After ADOR questioned him, Shin deleted all NewJeans videos from another unofficial fan channel he ran (“Ban Hee-soo”), and fans became angry at ADOR.

ADOR says the ETA director’s cut should have been uploaded to HYBE’s official channel, which has 78.7 million subscribers. Instead, Shin uploaded it to his own channel with only 480,000 subscribers. ADOR claims this caused financial loss to HYBE and ADOR and gave benefits to Dolphin Kidnapping Group. ADOR also says Shin released the video without permission and damaged ADOR’s reputation.

2.Mhj appeared as a witness for shin’s side

Min Hee-jin appeared in court as a witness, on behalf of Dolphin Kidnapping Group. This was her first time appearing in a lawsuit unrelated to her own stock dispute.

Min testified that in the industry, it is normal for music video directors to upload completed projects to their own social media or websites, not just the company’s channels. She said written contracts are unusual and that most agreements are verbal. According to her, doing everything in writing would create too much paperwork.

Min stated that the upload was verbally agreed upon in a meeting with five people, including Thor, the Vice President of Creative at Apple. She said she had the authority to approve the upload because she was the CEO and producer. Min said it would make no sense for her to ask Apple for permission when ADOR owns the copyright.

3.why she picked that clown Shin and the approval to upload on his site

Min said Shin is not originally a music video director. She said when she doesn’t use industry-standard directors, she usually ends up tired and stressed, so she normally avoids that. But she explained that Shin believes the structure and production approach of music videos should change to become creative. According to Min, Shin didn’t even want to shoot the video, but she wanted to create meaningful work and believed in his creativity. She said she wanted to use his “sense,” and although the word “trust” felt strange to her, she wanted to use his instincts and let him express his creativity.

Regarding the upload itself, she said the approval was of course verbal. She repeated that the copyright belongs to ADOR, and since she was CEO and producer at the time, she had the authority to approve it. She said it would be strange for her to ask Apple for permission.

When ADOR claimed, “Wouldn’t that decrease YouTube revenue?”,
Min replied, “That’s a foolish and absurd argument.”

She clarified that from her perspective, that’s how ridiculous the claim sounds. She argued that uploading to Dolphin Kidnapping Group’s channel benefits ADOR because it exposes the video to a wider audience not just fans who follow idol content.

Min said after she was removed from ADOR, she received an email about this from ADOR. She said Kim Ye-min, her manager , reported the email to her but she didn’t reply. She said that Lee Do-kyung kept asking whether they had discussed the matter, and Min and her team wondered why HYBE was nitpicking again, because they already felt HYBE was trying to harass her with various tactics. She also said she found it strange that they even asked. Regarding the email’s content, she said “I’m not an important person, and I don’t remember.”

Another article which goes through each sides argument , kinda condensed since it was toooo long to paste

Source side

1. “Min did NOT cast NewJeans. Source Music did.”

Source Music says Min claimed:“I found the NewJeans members. I cast them. I branded them.”

They explain how each member was recruited by source and not Mhj
•Minji cast by Source Music before Min even joined HYBE.
•Haerin street-cast in Anyang. In the contract video, Haerin’s mom says it’s surprising they came to Anyang.
•Hyein Source Music’s CEO personally convinced the parents.
•Danielle moved when a Source staff member changed companies; Source Music cast her.
•Hanni selected through HYBE + Source’s global audition in 16 countries. Min never appeared as a judge.

2. “The members did NOT join believing they were HYBE’s first girl group.”

Source Music states that Min claims the members joined thinking they would be HYBE’s first girl group, but video evidence shows otherwise. Danielle’s mother repeatedly asks for a guarantee that if debut plans fall apart, Danielle would be allowed to choose whether to stay or leave the company. Hyein’s mother asked similar questions. Source Music explains that if the families were promised a guaranteed “first debut,” they would not have asked for backup plans. They also emphasize that in the entertainment industry, promising trainees that they will debut first before any final lineup is unrealistic and impossible, and Min knows this because she has worked in the industry for years. 3. “Min delayed work and tried to take the team to her own label.”

Source Music says they originally planned:
•NewJeans to debut in September 2021.
•Source Music = project owner
•Mhj = branding
•Bang Si-hyuk / HYBE = music production

But the schedule got delayed 10 months. Internal reports state that Min repeatedly failed to meet schedules, refused collaboration, and pushed to expand her control. KakaoTalk messages show the Source Music CEO constantly trying to chase Min for progress, while Min replies that organizing her personal label is her priority and that she wants NewJeans transferred to her label

Source Music also claims Min was in constant contact with a shaman, who advised her to take the entire group. Messages show Min saying she wanted the team for herself and was willing to break the project if she couldn’t get them. Source Music concludes that Min wanted to take NewJeans not for artistic reasons but to launch her own label with them as her first group.
From the article
At the time, the plaintiff could not understand why the defendant was acting this way. Only later after seeing her KakaoTalk conversations with a shaman did they understand. In the messages, Min says, ‘I won’t debut the girl group under Source. I’ll put my label name in the credits.’ In another message, she says, ‘I will complete planning for my label in April and push Source without yielding.’ The shaman suggests: ‘Tell So Seong-jin to make another girl group,’ implying that Min should take the entire team that later became NewJeans.”

Source Music still attempted to debut N-Team in 2021 and S-Team in Q1 2022. But the defendant continued demanding the transfer of N-Team. Internal reports show concerns that if coordination with Min failed, S-Team would have to debut first. In Slack messages, former HYBE CEO Park Ji-won reported to Bang Si-hyuk that Min said, ‘I don’t care when S-Team debuts; I just want N-Team transferred to M Label as the first team.’ In shaman messages, Min even says, ‘The protagonist appears last,’ meaning she wanted NewJeans to debut after LE SSERAFIM. Thus, the transfer and debut order were the exact opposite of what Min claimed