The video did not have any of the characteristics of K-pop. No catchy tunes, no fancy outfits, no slick dance routines. There are definitely no stars. It was located in a nondescript auditorium with simple white tables and a large projection screen.
But it included screenshots of chats between two industry power players and instantly became the talk of the K-pop world.
It was the live broadcast of an emotional two-hour story presented last month by Min Hee-Jin, the producer of NewJeans, arguably the most popular K-pop act today. He had called a press conference to refute allegations of corporate misconduct by his employer, Hybe, the K-pop colossus behind BTS.
The unusually public and hostile dispute, which has included accusations of plagiarism, chart manipulation and shamanism, has led to the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars of Hybe’s market value. And it has overshadowed Hybe’s relationship with a rising star, NewJeans, while his biggest act, BTS, is on hiatus.
“It’s about money, it’s about control and it’s also about ownership of an artist,” said Andrew Eungi Kim, referring to NewJeans. A professor at Korea University, Mr. Kim studies the country’s cultural influence, a phenomenon known as hallyu.
The BTS members, who are all serving in the South Korean military due to mandatory military service, are not expected to reunite until next year. As some of them have released solo albums, NewJeans has accumulated a lot of praise. Last year he topped the Billboard 200, performed at Lollapalooza and appeared in commercials for Apple and Coca-Cola.
The creative force behind the act is Ms. Min, who was recruited by Hybe to develop an all-girl band. Her reaction against Hybe and its founder, Bang Si-hyuk, has resonated widely in South Korea, where corporate life can be extremely hierarchical.
“She’s like a helpless visionary fighting a giant corporation,” Mr. Kim said.
Hybe, which began nearly two decades ago as a label called Big Hit, has become the dominant force in K-pop thanks in large part to the global success of BTS. It went public in 2020, and a year later its market value peaked at around $12 billion. Its shares have since lost about half their value amid concerns that it would not be able to replicate BTS’s profitability.
Hybe has had success with other groups such as Seventeen and Tomorrow X Together. He has also expanded in the United States with deals such as the purchase of Ithaca Holdings, which manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. In 2022, he released NewJeans’ first single, “Attention,” without the fanfare characteristic of K-pop debuts. The following year was the most lucrative in Hybe’s history: the company posted an annual profit of about 186.6 billion Korean won, or $136 million.
One of the first public signs of turmoil at Hybe came on April 22, when it announced that it was auditing Ador, a subsidiary run by Ms. Min. It accused Ms. Min of illegally attempting to take control of Ador and asked him to resign. Hybe owns 80 percent of Ador, Ms. Min has an 18 percent stake and the rest is owned by other executives. On April 25, Hybe filed a police report against him.
Ms. Min responded publicly the same day with a press conference. Dressed in a green t-shirt with white stripes and a Los Angeles Dodgers cap, she appeared disheveled and broken several times. She rejected Hybe’s allegations and shared screenshots of chats with Bang, the company’s founder, which she said were evidence of a tense work environment.
He also said he had not received fair compensation and accused Hybe of plagiarizing his work with NewJeans to improve other acts. Hybe has denied his allegations.
For Min, the dispute was a tug-of-war between creative and corporate interests.
“The only thing I care about is NewJeans,” Min said in comments that were broadcast live on South Korea’s major broadcasters.
Two days later, a new NewJeans song, “Bubble Gum,” was released as planned.
In a written response to questions, Ms Min said: “It is time to reconsider the nature of the entertainment industry.” For K-pop to continue to thrive, she added, the industry must focus “fundamentally on creators and creation” rather than money and management.
After Ms. Min’s appearance, rumors involving Hybe artists, chart manipulation, and cults circulated online. For fans, this tarnished the image of her favorite acts.
A group of BTS fans took out an advertisement in local newspapers, criticizing Hybe for airing their dirty laundry. Another protested outside Hybe’s offices.
Ian Liu, a NewJeans fan from Jakarta, Indonesia, had a similar sentiment. “Artists are collateral damage,” he said.
Hybe was also involved in a public dispute last year, although it was with outside parties. It was a bidding war for SM Entertainment, another K-pop company, won by Kakao, a South Korean tech giant.
The dispute with Ms Lee, Ador’s chief executive, is headed to court.
“It’s hard to predict what will happen right now,” said Lee Gyu Tag, a professor of cultural studies and anthropology at the Korea branch of George Mason University. “Ultimately, this matter between Hybe and Ador will be a learning opportunity for other agencies to learn how to effectively manage their businesses.”