2025-03-07 Ilgan Sports Injunction Court Coverage

Korean Original: 아일릿 멤버가 하니를 무시했다? 그걸 어도어가 공개했다? [전형화의 직필] - 일간스포츠 

English Translation #1 (@juantokki): https://x.com/juantokki/status/1898002336737640775

English Translation #2 (@NJZBUBBLEGUM): (250307) ILGAN SPORTS - Did an I**** member disrespect Hanni? Did ADOR reveal this? [Jeon Hyung-hwa's Straight Pen] 

Did ILLIT Members Ignore Hanni? Did ADOR Reveal It? 

By Reporter Jeon Hyung-hwa

Did ILLIT members disregard NewJeans (NJZ) member Hanni through words and actions?

On the 7th, as the legal battle between NewJeans (NJZ) and ADOR over contract termination played out in court, both sides submitted new evidence that had not been previously disclosed. Among the materials, one particularly stood out: a newly surfaced detail regarding the controversial “Ignore her” remark made by an ILLIT manager—a remark that even led to Hanni’s appearance at a government audit. This revelation is expected to cause significant ripples.

On the morning of the 7th, the Seoul Central District Court’s 50th Civil Division held a hearing for ADOR’s injunction request against the five NewJeans (NJZ) members, aiming to preserve its agency status and prohibit advertising contract agreements. All five NewJeans (NJZ) members attended the session dressed in black, alongside ADOR CEO Kim Joo-young.

With both sides in fierce opposition, what drew particular attention was the CCTV footage presented by ADOR. During the hearing, ADOR disclosed CCTV footage from May 27, 2024, and later distributed it to the press. The footage showed three ILLIT members bowing at a 90-degree angle as they passed by Hanni in the hallway, and also greeting NewJeans (NJZ) member Danielle in the same manner.

ADOR stated, “Since the CCTV does not have audio recording capabilities, it is impossible to verify the claim that the phrase ‘Ignore her’ was spoken.”

The puzzling part, however, is that the CCTV footage ADOR presented in court was not from the moment Hanni claimed to have heard the “Ignore her” remark from an ILLIT manager.

Last September, during an emergency live broadcast, Hanni stated:

“I was alone in the hallway when another team’s manager and their members passed by. I greeted them, but when they returned, the manager said ‘Ignore her’ loudly enough for me to hear. Even now, I don’t understand why I had to go through that.”

Later, in October, Hanni testified at a National Assembly audit:

“I personally checked the CCTV footage and saw an 8-second clip showing a greeting at the beginning. But 5 to 10 minutes later, when I heard the ‘Ignore her’ remark, that footage was missing entirely. Two security personnel and a chief security officer were present when I checked, and when I asked why the later footage was missing, their explanations kept changing. At one point, they even admitted to deleting it.”

This means the CCTV footage ADOR revealed in court only captured the initial 8-second greeting before the alleged incident. Hanni had previously stated that she greeted the ILLIT members when they entered the room, and that when they later exited, she heard the problematic remark from their manager. However, the footage ADOR disclosed only showed the greeting, not the alleged “Ignore her” incident.

Additionally, ADOR presented text messages between Hanni and former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin in court. In the messages, Hanni wrote to Min Hee-jin:

“I overheard the ILLIT manager saying to just ignore me and walk past. I don’t remember the exact words, but it was something along those lines.”

ADOR highlighted this portion in red and also emphasized Min Hee-jin’s response:

“‘Ignore her.’ This?”

ADOR’s legal team argued:

“Hanni herself initially did not view this as a major issue, but Min Hee-jin escalated the situation by framing it around the phrase ‘Ignore her.’ Transforming this issue into a reason for contract termination is merely an attempt to create a false justification.”

However, the full text of the messages, which ADOR released to the press, contained another statement from Hanni:

“The manager didn’t even look at me, and one ILLIT member kept looking at the manager, saying, ‘Yes, yes, we’ll just pretend not to know her’—or something like that.”

Additionally, ADOR highlighted Min Hee-jin’s message:

“Did the manager specifically instruct them not to acknowledge your greeting?”

Yet, in the continuation of the conversation, Hanni responded:

“One of them hesitated and awkwardly greeted me while avoiding eye contact. The last one did greet me but seemed very cautious.”

This disclosure by ADOR unintentionally confirmed that an ILLIT member had indeed said, “Yes, yes, we’ll just pretend not to know her,” as per Hanni’s original claim.

Prior to this, there had been no clear confirmation of an ILLIT member treating Hanni in this manner. However, ADOR’s release of Hanni and Min Hee-jin’s private messages has now publicly revealed this claim for the first time.

Conversely, in the documents presented in court and later shared with the media, NewJeans (NJZ)'s legal team redacted the portion of Hanni’s text referring to what the ILLIT member allegedly said. Instead, they summarized the incident as follows:

“A Belift Lab manager told other artists, in front of Hanni, to ‘just ignore her and walk past.’ As a result, three members of another artist group did not greet Hanni. Additionally, some members ridiculed her through their words and actions.”

However, NewJeans (NJZ) did not specify exactly what the ILLIT members said or did. Ironically, it was ADOR’s own disclosure of the text messages that provided a concrete version of the events.

Since ADOR and NewJeans (NJZ) interpreted the text messages differently, the court's perspective on these exchanges remains to be seen. However, the fact that ADOR’s public disclosure effectively confirmed an ILLIT member saying “Yes, yes, we’ll just pretend not to know her” is a major issue.

Moreover, ADOR’s lawyer stating, “Hanni herself initially didn’t think this was a big issue, but Min Hee-jin escalated it by fixating on the phrase ‘Ignore her,’” does not deny that the incident happened. Rather, it argues that Hanni was originally okay with it. This also implies that ADOR has not disputed that an ILLIT member indeed said something to that effect, which is a significant problem in itself.

Belift Lab’s CEO, Kim Tae-ho, previously stated in an interview:

“When the ‘Ignore her’ incident surfaced, our members were deeply shocked. They knew the facts exactly. They asked me why this was happening and whether they had done something wrong.”

This statement contradicts the argument made by ADOR’s legal team.

Coincidentally, on the same afternoon, the Seoul Western District Court held a hearing for Belift Lab’s defamation and business obstruction lawsuit against former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, seeking damages of approximately 2 billion KRW (around $1.5 million USD).

With ADOR’s legal team inadvertently revealing key details, how Belift Lab will respond remains to be seen.