Two clean filings landed today, and for once, the legal picture got clearer instead of messier. This is NewJeans Daily, and after a week of grinding back-and-forth, today both stories cut against the members at once. We've got Daniel's side claiming she was unilaterally terminated inside the 33 billion won suit, plus a separate prosecution ruling on Min Hee-jin's complaints. Two tracks, and we're keeping them separate. And ADOR basically calling that a lie on the record. Buckle up — we're starting with the return claim. So here's the new piece: Daniel's camp says she tried to return to NewJeans and was unilaterally terminated. ADOR's reply on the record, per STARNEWS, is basically — now you're saying that? That 'now you're saying that' is the first time either side has flat-out contradicted the other about the return talks themselves. Up till this week, it was all 'positive direction' corporate-speak. Right, and now the court has a very specific thing to sort out — who actually reached out to whom. Which is exactly what ADOR said it was going to do — reinforce the case. Mission accomplished, I guess. Now, second track, and it's a different animal entirely. This is criminal complaint procedure, not the civil suit. The Prosecution Service ruled there were no grounds for prosecution on any of Min Hee-jin's complaints against HYBE and Billie Lab executives. And here's what gets me — both of these dropped on June 11. Same day as the first civil hearing Daniel's camp had been pushing to get to quickly. The STARNEWS piece was published on the 11th and updated on the 12th, so the reporting was live during that hearing window. I'm not saying the docket moved with it until we actually see the docket. I'm not gonna dress it up — for the members' corner, today was harder than the rest of the week. Two stories, both cutting the same direction. Harder, and clearer. The battle lines are out in the open now. It's on the Seoul Central District Court to decide what to do with them. From Yoon Sanggeun at STARNEWS:
Subsequently, ADOR argued, citing such content, that "it was determined that Daniel had no intention of accepting the maintenance of his exclusive contract with ADOR," and that "Min Hee-jin pressured the termination of NewJeans' contract with ADOR, persuaded Daniel not to suffer financial disadvantages, and induced contract termination, constituting a breach of fiduciary duty."
Okay, this is the one I've been bracing for all week. Daniel's side now says she tried to return to NewJeans and got unilaterally terminated — a specific claim, dropped right into the 33 billion won suit. And ADOR's answer on the record is basically, 'now you're saying that?' So now both sides are publicly fighting over who started those return talks, and the court has to sort that out. Which — yeah. That 'positive direction' read we've been carrying on the return talks? That curdled fast. One side's calling it a return attempt, the other's calling it news to them. The second hearing got specific, too. The fight was over whether KakaoTalk messages between Min Hee-jin and Daniel about Daniel's band contract were admissible, and the court said it'd weigh that as it heard the case. So the evidence fight is down to specific messages now. Here's Choi Hyejin at STARNEWS:
According to NEWSIS on the 11th, the Criminal Division 1 of Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office, led by Chief Prosecutor Hwang Soo-yeon, decided not to prosecute all cases filed last month on the 27th by Min Hui-jin (CEO) against six executives, including former HYBE CEO Park Ji-won, and four executives, including Billie Lab CEO Kim Tae-ho, on charges of obstruction of business, defamation, and violation of the Information and Communications Network Act.
Here's the concrete part: the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office ruled there were no grounds for prosecution on every criminal complaint Min Hee-jin filed against HYBE and Billie Lab executives. Per NEWSIS, that's ten people — six from HYBE, four from Billie Lab. Ten executives, and every complaint cleared in one ruling. The 'shamanistic management' press-release complaint, the defamation, the obstruction of business — the whole slate, gone. And I want to keep the lanes clean — this is criminal complaint procedure. It doesn't touch the civil damages case against her, which is still very much active. Right, and that's the brutal math of it. Her criminal avenue against HYBE just closed, but the civil suit aimed at her is still standing. After the Daniel piece we just hit, today did not break the members' way. I'd slow that framing down. These involve separate parties on separate legal lanes — Min Hee-jin's complaints and the Daniel-ADOR dispute are different fights. All we can say for sure is one of her flanks is shut. If you like keeping up with NewJeans every day, check out BLACKPINK Daily Podcast — daily BLINK updates on Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo, and Rosé, from solo releases to fashion, charts, tours, and comeback watch. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts.
You’ll find links to everything we discussed today in the show notes, so if a story caught your ear, you can jump in and read more there.
That’s NewJeans Daily Podcast for Friday, June 12th. This is a Lantern Podcast.