NewJeans’ ETA MV director Shin Woo Seok files countersues ADOR management amidst content dispute

ADOR expressed disappointment over Shin's decision to file a criminal complaint instead of addressing the civil lawsuit.

Music video director Shin Woo Seok, known for his work with NewJeans, has filed a counter lawsuit against ADOR's CEO Kim Yoo Jung, HYBE's Chief Human Resource Officer, and Deputy Director Lee Do Kyung. This follows a civil lawsuit initiated by ADOR in response to a contentious dispute over the handling of content related to NewJeans.

The controversy first erupted in September when Shin Woo Seok took to social media to allege that the new management of ADOR, following the departure of Min Hee Jin, had demanded the deletion of all NewJeans-related content from their YouTube channel. This included music videos like ETA, Ditto, and OMG, which Shin had directed. The agency refuted these claims, asserting that their request was merely to refrain from uploading the director’s cut, not to delete existing content.

Shin Woo Seok's recent legal move, filed on November 4 at the Yongsan Police Station, accuses ADOR's management of defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.

In response to Shin's legal action, ADOR released a statement on November 8, emphasising that their initial lawsuit, filed two months prior, was strictly about a breach of contract. "We have no personal feelings towards director Shin Woo Seok, who created such great work with NewJeans," the agency stated. "However, we cannot condone any breach of contract with ADOR or any infringement of the company’s intellectual property rights."

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ADOR expressed disappointment over Shin's decision to file a criminal complaint instead of addressing the civil lawsuit. "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," the agency remarked.

The roots of this conflict trace back to promises of future projects between Shin Woo Seok and NewJeans, which he claimed could no longer be fulfilled due to the agency's demands. Shin alleged that ADOR had asked him to delete or refrain from uploading any future content related to NewJeans, a move he saw as a breach of their previous agreements. ADOR, however, maintained that their request was solely about the prevention of future uploads, citing ownership rights over the existing videos as the basis for their stance.