Director Shin Woo Seok took a strong stance against HYBE on September 3, 2024. Previously, he took to Instagram to declare that he would be unable to continue to work with the new ADOR. The deletion of the videos on Ban Heesoo‘s YouTube channel, an incremental part of the NewJeans “Ditto” lore, was also done allegedly due to a request by the new ADOR management.
NewJeans “Ditto” MV Director Renounces All Future Collaboration With ADOR Following Management Change
In response, ADOR claimed that they had not asked Dolphiners Films (and Shin Woo Seok) to delete the videos but only to stop uploading anymore. ADOR also claimed that Shin Woo Seok was violating artist rights by uploading the videos without permission. Following this, Shin Woo Seok stepped up to deny ADOR’s claims, hitting back with a strong stance. He claimed that the videos were agreed upon originally.
What are you even saying? I confirmed online once more regarding the agreement between us for the upload of director’s cuts. At that point in time, in order to create the work, the three companies agreed upon uploading the director’s cuts on a channel from Dolphiners Films. But the new ADOR is lying, claiming that we uploaded the director’s cuts without permission. I wonder why you guys are dragging in an unrelated third party for your media play? These are actions that completely ignore the unwritten rules of the advertising industry and also betrays the basic trust essential in business.
ADOR is the one who asked me to delete the videos, claiming that they contain the artists’ portraiture rights and hence can only be published on their official channel and not a third-party channel. They unilaterally sent a proof of contents [legal document] to request that if we do not delete the videos by Monday morning, they would be requesting twice the price of services from us as a fine for violating the contract. You guys already threatened us like this, so what are you saying now? Could it be that you guys only found out about the existence of Ban Heesoo’s channel after we deleted them?
— Shin Woo Seok
In addition, Shin Woo Seok disagreed with ADOR’s claims that they had not asked him to delete the videos. He claimed that he would have no reason to delete the videos otherwise.
Logically speaking, which director would burn their own works by their own hand? What reason would I have to do so? The videos on Ban Heesoo’s channel are an extension of “Ditto,” which I directed. The videos and the channel were personally requested by me of [old] ADOR [to post], without any pay, just for the fans. So why would I delete them all of a sudden without any reason?
— Shin Woo Seok
Lastly, Shin hit back at the new ADOR and HYBE, hinting that the company may host grudges against him for openly showing support for Min Hee Jin, as well as for not agreeing to work on other groups’ music videos after the success of “Ditto.”
Dolphiners Films have worked hard to turn music videos into good pieces of work, and we worked [on Ban Heesoo’s videos] without pay, both for fans and to increase the level of completion [for “Ditto]. And we deleted the videos based on the unfair requests made by the current ADOR, which overturned the existing agreement between us. You guys didn’t even know the terms of our agreement, so just what are you so upset about that you turned Dolphiners Films into someone who spreads lies and breaks the contract? I don’t know if it’s because I wrote the petition to support Min Hee Jin, or because rejected to work on HYBE’s other music videos, or because you are stepping up to erase NewJeans, but I hope you don’t cloud the truth with your dirty media play. Even if I say this, I know you’ll do it again.
— Shin Woo Seok
Previously, Shin Woo Seok submitted a petition to court in support of Min Hee jin. Many other workers also expressed their support for Min.
List Of ADOR Workers Who Submitted Petitions Go Viral, Including NewJeans’
