NewJeans’ ETA MV director files counter defamation lawsuit against ADOR management; Agency reiterates ‘breach of contract’
NewJeans’ music video director Shin Woo Seok has filed a defamation lawsuit against ADOR’s new management following ‘breach of contract’ accusations. Read on to know more.
Previously, in September, Shin Woo Seok from Dolphiners Films, known for directing the ETA, Ditto, and OMG music videos for NewJeans, made a shocking post on social media. He claimed that the new management of ADOR, after Min Hee Jin, asked him to delete all related content on their YouTube channel. In response, the agency refuted saying that they never asked to delete posted content but rather requested to refrain from uploading the director’s cut.
ADOR filed a civil lawsuit against Shin Woo Seok, citing a breach of contract. Now, the music video director filed a counter lawsuit against ADOR’s CEO Kim Yoo Jung, HYBE’s Chief Human Resource Officer, and Deputy Director Lee Do Kyung. He filed the complaint on November 4 at the Yongsan Police Station citing violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection (defamation).
On November 8, ADOR responded to his lawsuit by saying, “We have no personal feelings towards director Shin Woo Seok, who created such great work with NewJeans. However, we cannot condone any breach of contract with ADOR or any infringement of the company’s intellectual property rights.”
They reiterated that they had filed the civil lawsuit two months ago, demanding that they should be held responsible for any breach of contract. “It is very regrettable that Director Shin Woo Seok has not responded to the civil lawsuit and instead has filed a groundless criminal complaint against ADOR’s management,” said the agency.
Director Shin Woo Seok was known to have been working with NewJeans and ADOR for a long time. However, after bringing the claims to light back in September, he mentioned on his social media post, “We had promised future projects with the NewJeans members, which we can no longer fulfill.”
He claimed that the agency had asked him to delete any content or music videos related to NewJeans and not upload any related work publicly in the future. In response, ADOR clarified that they only requested him to stop uploading, not deleting the existing content. The company explained that since the copyrights of those videos belonged to ADOR, it seemed like a breach of contract.