Alleged Former ADOR Employee And Victim of Sexual Harassment Shares Detailed Account of What Really Happened With CEO Min Hee Jin
Content Warning
This article is part of our coverage of HYBE vs. ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin. You can read more and view the entire timeline here.
In May 2024, during the first trial between HYBE and ADOR‘s CEO Min Hee Jin, HYBE claimed that Min habitually mistreated female employees of her own company.
According to HYBE’s claims, in March 2024, when an executive-level employee, or “Executive A,” was accused of sexually harassing female employees of ADOR, Min pressured the victims instead of supporting or protecting them.
When a sexual harassment case involving ‘Executive A’ was reported around March 2024, she made unimaginably misogynistic remarks and pressured female employees to adopt a submissive attitude.
— HYBE’s Legal Representatives
In addition, HYBE claimed that Min Hee Jin mistreated her female co-workers, referring to them as derogatory terms and threatening to wrong them. Dispatch reported on the claims made by HYBE—and, at the time, the Korean general public slammed Dispatch for manipulating the text messages in favor of HYBE.
Fast forward to August 8, 2024 (KST), though, an alleged former ADOR employee and a victim of Executive A’s sexual harassment has surfaced with an Instagram account—posting a string of images with a long statement detailing what happened.
View this post on Instagram
“Hello. I am the ‘Person B’ mentioned in CEO Min Hee Jin’s clarification posted on her Instagram from July 31—the one who was referred to with derogatory terms such as ‘b*tch,’ ‘insane,’ and more.
As CEO Min Hee Jin mentioned in a KakaoTalk conversation with Executive A (To quote, ‘If this gets out, it will only make things worse for B. Does B even have the courage to do that?’), I am nothing but a regular employee, lacking in courage. She was right.
The thought of confronting the company CEO who is a star producer with decades of experience in the entertainment industry and who is a skilled veteran in media relations was unthinkable for a mere employee like me. Even now, as I’m writing this, I’m terrified.
However, I cannot tolerate CEO Min Hee Jin anymore for only having defended Executive A while having been abusive in her language and behavior towards the employees working for her. She also went public with the KakaoTalk messages of a former company employee without any consent, in the sole interest of revealing her own grievances. Moreover, CEO Min Hee Jin’s numerous lies, such as claiming that she maintained neutrality, or that the insults were not directed at me, and that the KakaoTalk messages were edited, are unacceptable.
Given that I have received no protection from either companies or the media and have been left with battle scars from fighting this alone, I feel compelled to clarify the facts and address the misunderstandings and injustices, which may make this explanation a bit lengthy and somewhat unorganized. I would greatly appreciate it if you would still read through the whole thing anyway.”
— @202408bbbbb/Instagram
The alleged victim said they had remained quiet when the HYBE vs. ADOR feud went public. But after Min Hee Jin used their name to clear her own, they decided to speak up.
“Please note that after my resignation in April, when the two companies started clashing, I was investigated by HYBE under suspicion, simply because I was a former employee of CEO Min Hee Jin and Executive A. Several media outlets reached out to me, wanting to cover the issues I had raised, but I refused them all as I did not want to become further embroiled in legal disputes between CEO Min Hee Jin and HYBE. I have been living quietly since then.
However, when the details of my case were revealed through Dispatch’s exposé, I was profoundly shocked. The headline contained expressions that were deeply hurtful, and as the person directly involved in the incident, I was able to immediately grasp the context. Nonetheless, know that I double- and triple-checked to confirm the facts before writing this.
Before I get to the main point, I also want to address that right after I reported Executive A, CEO Min Hee Jin and Executive A directed all sorts of abusive language at me and interfered with the investigation. Even though their remarks were made behind the scenes, the level of personal insult was so severe that I thought they might end up feeling at least a little regretful.
I was once a fan of the CEO. I spent tens of thousands of KRW at the Weverse NewJeans Shop and sent polite, affectionate messages in hundreds of KakaoTalk exchanges after resigning for the sake of ADOR. But my feelings and efforts have been trampled and deceived.
Despite CEO Min Hee Jin’s claims that the truth should not be distorted or edited, she has not only distorted the truth herself, but also used private KakaoTalk conversations from after my resignation for her own benefit. Hence, I am writing something I thought I would never have to write my whole life.”
— @202408bbbbb/Instagram
According to the details provided in the post, the victim was not the only one harassed by Executive A. They “took the initiative to adress” Executive A’s behavior “to remove a risk factor from the organization.”
1. I will start by explaining what I experienced at ADOR. During my time working under Executive A there, I endured not only problematic sexual harassment but also various forms of workplace bullying and unfair treatment. I officially notified the company of my intent to resign on March 2. Subsequently, on March 6, I reported the sexual harassment and workplace bullying, and on March 16, I received the results of the report. I resigned on March 21.
I reported Executive A’s unfair directives and sexually harassing comments with ample evidence. Although it was intimidating to report someone with a track record of having caused similar issues—as well as someone of a higher position who had been in the industry longer than I had, I gathered the courage to do so to remove a risk factor from the organization. I was not the only member affected by Executive A’s workplace bullying, and thus, I took the initiative to address the issue.
Executive A constantly criticized and pressured me and other employees in a blameful manner. Even outside business hours, he would frequently send coercive work instructions via KakaoTalk, which gradually eroded my daily life and self-esteem as a person. I’m sure those who have endured baseless bullying in a workplace, where we actually spend much of our lives, will understand the pain that I felt. He would issue non-urgent work instructions through KakaoTalk at all hours, including weekends and holidays, and would even contact me early in the morning, insisting that I respond immediately and subjecting me to stressful reprimands.
In a 40-minute conversation, when the problematic sexual harassment remarks were made, Executive A expressed sexist and discriminatory thoughts such as ‘Having a young woman around is better for creating a nicer atmosphere than just two men having a meal by themselves.’ Moreover, when I replied ASAP to a work-related KakaoTalk message sent by Executive A on a Saturday, he scolded me for causing confusion by responding promptly to his message. CEO Min Hee Jin had sent another message in a group chat during the few seconds he was sending his message, and he insisted that I caused confusion by interfering with a response. This kind of nonsense criticism, which I found completely incomprehensible, was a regular occurrence.”
— @202408bbbbb/Instagram
But both HYBE and ADOR came to an underwhelming conclusion after investigating the alleged victim’s report. Though dissatisfied, they decided not to take further action as they had already put in their notice to resign.
“One other time, I was unexpectedly called in while I was working overtime. I was told, ‘To be considered part of your evaluation, what are your aspirations for working at the company?’ I said I would prepare an answer, but I was then pressured in an aggressive manner, with the implication that if I wasn’t ready to answer immediately, there was no need for me to be at the company.
Around 8:30 PM, when I was about to leave, I was told to hold a meeting in 30 minutes. When I asked if it could be started immediately or if it could be held remotely at night, Executive A raised his voice at me and shouted, ‘Can you explain the entire project right now? If not, how can we have the meeting immediately?’ He insisted on starting the meeting in ’30 minutes.’ In the end, I put together the entire project before the meeting, stayed at the company working late into the night even after the meeting. The difficulty was not in the work itself, but in dealing with the emotional and aggressive reactions to everything. I don’t see how this could be dismissed as a simple misunderstanding between Executive A and me.
Unfortunately, after the investigation, HYBE concluded that it was difficult to determine that sexual harassment and workplace bullying occurred to the extent of warranting a disciplinary action. However, they acknowledged that Executive A’s behavior was inappropriate and recommended that CEO Min Hee Jin issue a stern warning to Executive A. I felt that HYBE’s response, calling for just a ‘stern warning,’ was far too light considering the stress I endured. Nevertheless, since I was leaving the company soon, I chose to endure it and not make any more fuss about it.
I later learned that CEO Min Hee Jin not only refused to give Executive A a stern warning but also actively denied the allegations against him ever since I reported the issue until after the investigation. During this process, CEO Min Hee Jin subjected me to various extreme insults, calling me names like ‘a crazy b*tch’ and swearing to ‘teach me a lesson.’ Instead of verifying the facts and addressing the issues, CEO Min Hee Jin sought to invalidate my report by portraying me as an incompetent whiner who up and left before getting fired. As someone who had been loyal to the company, this treatment is deeply disheartening.
But even in such circumstances, I hoped that the situation for myself and my colleagues would improve. So I gathered the courage to send a KakaoTalk message to the CEO on the day of my resignation. In that message, which went on for hundreds of sentences from March 21, I conveyed as objectively as possible the incompetence and instances of harassment by Executive A. I sent these messages with sincerity, thinking about the organization. It went on from Thursday, the day of my resignation, through the weekend morning.
While I understand the CEO’s effort to mediate and encourage me to reconsider working with Executive A again, simply passing time does not undo the wrongdoings, nor does it absolve the lack of an apology.”
— @202408bbbbb/Instagram
The alleged victim then detailed the KakaoTalk messages that were manipulated in the same manner that Min Hee Jin criticized HYBE for doing to her messages.
2. I will now provide a more detailed explanation about the more current incident. It may be shocking, but the abusive language you saw in the Dispatch exposé was actually directed at me during work. In CEO Min Hee Jin’s clarification, the core of my report (of Executive A) was misrepresented, and the context of what was said between March 6 and March 16 was cunningly edited. KakaoTalk messages that were not work-related were masked as work-related, and small lies wer interspersed, obscuring these facts.
In other words, CEO Min Hee Jin—who has claimed that her clarification and evidence are all true and that there should be no distortion or illegal actions—has in fact edited and publicly released my private KakaoTalk messages, manipulating the entire context. I was deeply shocked and hurt to see my suffering being used for false explanations by someone who should understand my pain better than anyone.
It is disappointing that CEO Min Hee Jin, who cornered me so harshly during my tenure, is now making dishonest statements in her clarification, claiming neutrality and talking about mediation efforts. I’m enraged by her assertion that ADOR was not on holiday period on February 15, despite it being a non-working period. Or her coming up with a fake policy that ‘reports don’t get shared’ even though the report was immediately shared with her and I could have been contacted. Seeing these numerous trivial and deceptive lies being elaborately spun was astonishing.
What greatly disappointed me, to the point where I felt compelled to speak out, was CEO Min Hee Jin’s use of the very manipulation and distortion she had criticized: The public disclosure of KakaoTalk messages without consent, and her denial of the abuse directed at me in the Dispatch exposé, claiming it was aimed at someone else. Additionally, she used the reason of my resignation and its context to spread lies to the public. It is unforgivable that, despite having wronged someone she once worked with, she exploited the situation and never offered a single apology. Everyone makes mistakes, and when mistakes occur, acknowledging and apologizing swiftly is the right thing to do.”
— @202408bbbbb/Instagram
They anticipated Min Hee Jin’s rebuttal to their post, but stood firm about their decision to come forward and emphasized once again that they don’t understand how the situation played out at all.
“I anticipate that CEO Min Hee Jin will argue that the KakaoTalk messages exchanged between her and Executive A were merely casual conversations, and that the real issue lies with the public disclosure of those messages. In response, I would like to comment:
CEO Min Hee Jin, you have published the KakaoTalk messages between me and Executive A in your clarification without speaking a word to me, and have cunningly spread distorted content. It has been weeks now, and you still have not offered me an apology or asked for my understanding.
Given that it is reasonable to suspect your involvement from the investigation stage affected the outcome, this is not a personal matter between you and Executive A but a professional issue. At ADOR, most of the reporting on business happens on KakaoTalk. Therefore, I view conversations about company matters between the CEO and an executive as essentially equivalent to work messenger or email communications.
I also want to inquire about the events that took place between March 6 and March 16. Can you genuinely claim that you acted neutrally and mediated as a head of the company? CEO Min Hee Jin, you shared the contents of my report with the perpetrator, Executive A, in real-time and proposed and reviewed Executive A’s objections, thoroughly aligning yourself with him. Even before the investigation began, you and Executive A were aligned in covering up the report and putting me down for reporting anything at all, casting doubt on whether the investigation was conducted properly.
In cases of sexual harassment or workplace bullying, it is basic common sense to separate the victim from the accused. However, you continued to pressure me by demanding a three-person face-to-face meeting with me, you, and Executive A, or even a four-person meeting including the advertiser present at the HYBE HR or meetings. Mind you, at that time, I was under significant stress from the aggressiveness I had to put up with every time I was in the meeting room with Executive A, so I had requested to be separated from him. So, for you to have been making such demands was devastating. I tried to understand, but this is all just completely incomprehensible.”
— @202408bbbbb/Instagram
Wrapping up the post, the alleged victim warned Min Hee Jin not to make the same mistakes of “distorting” their words again. Looking for an apology, they also warned additional steps—assumed to be legal action—to be taken should the CEO try to “fabricate” their statement.
“When I was communicating with the HYBE HR team, CEO Min Hee Jin made every effort to frame the situation as if I had filed a retaliatory complaint due to incompetence. CEO Min Hee Jin used every form of abuse and insult, calling me derogatory names such as ‘a little f*cker,’ ‘psycho lunatic,’ ‘crazy b*tch,’ and ‘dummy to be taught a lesson.’ She encouraged Executive A to hire a lawyer and sue me for false accusations, and she used her position to nullify my complaint through various means.
Therefore, I would like to ask again whether CEO Min Hee Jin’s claim of maintaining a neutral stance as the head of the company and taking appropriate steps to mediate sounds accurate at all.
In CEO Min Hee Jin’s narrative, I was portrayed as deserving of abuse, a ‘crazy b*tch’ to be ‘taught a lesson.’ According to her, I was not a victim of Executive A’s actions but rather an ‘accursed person’ who left the company due to incompetence and sought to harm others. However, I was simply a dedicated member of ADOR who wanted to perform my duties diligently and contribute to the organization.
Now, I wait for a sincere apology from CEO Min Hee Jin and Executive A. I hope there will be no further mistakes of misrepresentation as there were before. Please correct any misinformation with specific details. And should you continue to claim that my statement is manipulative and false, I will take additional steps to continue revealing the truth.”
— @202408bbbbb/Instagram
Neither Min Hee Jin nor Executive A has responded to the explosive Instagram post at the time of writing.
