More than a month after Min Hee-jin, CEO of HYBE subsidiary label ADOR, efficiently prevented HYBE’s try to dismiss her from the job, one other HYBE imprint has reportedly filed a lawsuit towards the embattled government and NewJeans government producer.

On Monday (July 15), Korea JoongAng Daily reported that Source Music, the Korean label below the HYBE Labels umbrella that’s residence to Okay-pop lady group LE SSERAFIM, has sued Min for 500 million Korean received (about $361,000), accusing her of defamation and disruption of enterprise stemming from feedback she made throughout two emotional press conferences she held in April — thereby damaging the LE SSERAFIM venture.

During these press conferences, Min claimed that her lady group venture below Source, the place she beforehand labored, was pushed apart by HYBE after the corporate determined to focus its efforts on LE SSERAFIM, which notably included two members of the massively widespread lady group IZ*ONE. According to Min, that change in focus led her to maneuver away from Source and set up ADOR — a label working below the HYBE Labels umbrella that Min beforehand informed Billboard “started with guaranteed autonomy” — to deal with her venture, which ultimately grew to become NewJeans.

During the press conferences, the ADOR CEO additionally shared what some thought-about disparaging remarks about a number of HYBE artists and Source Music’s expertise casting — telling reporters that future NewJeans member Minji was the one Source trainee she needed to recruit and that she solid the remainder of the group members herself.

Source Music has not shared a press release on the reported lawsuit. Billboard has reached out to HYBE to confirm the lawsuit and provide additional particulars.

While LE SSERAFIM’s Coachella debut in April turned the lady group right into a scorching subject in Korean media over the stress placed on Okay-pop artists, Min’s subsequent remarks turned up the warmth much more. The backlash to her critiques was so harsh that it led NewJeans and its 5 members to disable feedback on their Instagram pages in late June.

The new lawsuit marks the second time a HYBE subsidiary has filed go well with towards Min. In May, BELIFT LAB sued Min for defamation and obstruction of enterprise over her feedback that BELIFT’s breakout lady group ILLIT had plagiarized NewJeans, stating that the label “copied all the formulas that we had with” the group.

The new lawsuit reportedly filed by Source is simply the most recent improvement in a regularly unfolding drama. On July 9, Min reportedly arrived on the Yongsan Police Station in Seoul for questioning after HYBE reported her to authorities for breach of belief. Continuing her proclivity to interact in direct media interactions (as an alternative of placing out press releases and statements like HYBE), a smiling Min left the station after eight hours and, to the press gathered exterior, known as HYBE’s accusations “comedy.”

Amid the commotion, NewJeans has continued rolling out new music. In late June, the group launched its first two singles aimed on the Japanese market: “Supernatural” (which peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100) and the B-side “Right Now” (which peaked at No. 47 on the identical chart) earlier than holding a fan assembly on the well-known Tokyo Dome. Meanwhile, Source Music confirmed that LE SSERAFIM is about to drop new music on the finish of August following the February launch of its EP Easy, which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200.