--- title: In Rare Revolt, NewJeans Accuses Hybe of Discrimination description: The popular K-pop group’s public demands to their management company—related to their dismissed producer—have stunned an industry long controlled by a few powerful firms. canonical: https://time.com/7020589/newjeans-hybe-kpop-dispute-management/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-09-12T07:30:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T18:16:45.779Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: In Rare Revolt, NewJeans Accuses Hybe of Discrimination og:description: The popular K-pop group’s public demands to their management company—related to their dismissed producer—have stunned an industry long controlled by a few powerful firms. og:url: https://time.com/7020589/newjeans-hybe-kpop-dispute-management/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt66f5cd72add21cb5/698a5ad947ca387f953bdfd3/newjeans-hybe-dispute.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: NewJeans Hybe K-pop Dispute og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: In Rare Revolt, NewJeans Accuses Hybe of Discrimination twitter:description: The popular K-pop group’s public demands to their management company—related to their dismissed producer—have stunned an industry long controlled by a few powerful firms. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt66f5cd72add21cb5/698a5ad947ca387f953bdfd3/newjeans-hybe-dispute.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # In Rare Revolt, Girl Group NewJeans Accuses Major K-Pop Label, Hybe, of Discrimination ## Video: NewJeans | Profiles in TIME 2023 [Watch (HLS stream): NewJeans | Profiles in TIME 2023](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hVQ3ycPq.m3u8) (2:28)  _Published 2023-10-12. The popular K-pop group’s public demands to their management company—related to their dismissed producer—have stunned an industry long controlled by a few powerful firms._ by [Sohee Kim / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Sohee Kim / Bloomberg Sep 12, 2024 7:30 AM UTC  NewJeans at a fashion event in Seoul on Sept. 3, 2024. NewJeans at a fashion event in Seoul on Sept. 3, 2024.The Chosunilbo/JNS/Imazins/Getty Images by [Sohee Kim / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Sohee Kim / Bloomberg Sep 12, 2024 7:30 AM UTC Popular K-pop group NewJeans took to YouTube to demand [Hybe Co.](https://time.com/collection/time100-companies/5953582/hybe/) reinstate their ousted long-time producer by Sept. 25, escalating an ongoing dispute and stunning an industry controlled by a handful of powerful management firms. Hybe’s shares dived as much as 6.2%—their biggest intraday fall in a month—after the five-member group announced their demands in a surprise YouTube live-stream Wednesday evening. The women accused Hybe of discrimination and called for measures to protect NewJeans, one of the most lucrative and popular K-pop bands that generated 100 billion won ($73 million) of revenue last year, according to a company filing. **Read More:** [_NewJeans Is Taking K-Pop—and the World—By Storm_](https://time.com/collection/next-generation-leaders/6278552/newjeans/) Hybe didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. NewJeans’ ultimatum underscored a deepening revolt against the management company. It comes after Hybe ordered Min Hee-jin to step down as CEO in August and gave her two months to work on the group’s album. In doing so, Hybe defied an earlier court order that barred Hybe from dismissing Min as the head of sister label ADOR, which produces NewJeans, according to a statement from Min’s lawyer. “If our message has been properly conveyed, we hope chairman Bang and Hybe will make a wise decision to restore ADOR to its original state by the 25th,” NewJeans member Minji said at the end of the video, referring to label chairman [Bang Si-Hyuk](https://time.com/6161246/hybe-bang-sihyuk-bts-interview/). The power struggle at Hybe has wiped out 27% of Hybe’s market value since the dispute between Min and the company first surfaced in mid-April. Hybe started an internal audit of Min’s activities, accusing her of trying to seize control of ADOR. They took their disagreement to court, where a judge ruled the producer should remain head of the sister label. “All we want is this legal conflict to be resolved and have our working environment returned back to normal the way it was before,” another member Hanni said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7020589/newjeans-hybe-kpop-dispute-management/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7020589/newjeans-hybe-kpop-dispute-management/"},"headline":"In Rare Revolt, Girl Group NewJeans Accuses Major K-Pop Label, Hybe, of Discrimination","datePublished":"2024-09-12T07:30:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T18:16:45.779Z","description":"The popular K-pop group’s public demands to their management company—related to their dismissed producer—have stunned an industry long controlled by a few powerful firms.","url":"https://time.com/7020589/newjeans-hybe-kpop-dispute-management/","keywords":["celebrities","wire","overnight","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt66f5cd72add21cb5/698a5ad947ca387f953bdfd3/newjeans-hybe-dispute.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sohee Kim / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt66f5cd72add21cb5/698a5ad947ca387f953bdfd3/newjeans-hybe-dispute.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NewJeans Hybe K-pop Dispute","caption":"NewJeans attend the 2025 S/S Seoul Fashion Week opening event in Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 3, 2024.","creditText":"The Chosunilbo/JNS/Imazins/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7020589/newjeans-hybe-kpop-dispute-management/","name":"In Rare Revolt, Girl Group NewJeans Accuses Major K-Pop Label, Hybe, of Discrimination"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"NewJeans | Profiles in TIME 2023","description":"The popular K-pop group’s public demands to their management company—related to their dismissed producer—have stunned an industry long controlled by a few powerful firms.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/hVQ3ycPq/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-10-12T17:15:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hVQ3ycPq.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/7020589/newjeans-hybe-kpop-dispute-management/","duration":"PT2M28S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/7020589/newjeans-hybe-kpop-dispute-management/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```