HYBE Suspected Of Running Smear Campaigns Against Min Hee Jin Through Its PR Subsidiary
This article is part of our coverage of HYBE vs. ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin. You can read more and view the entire timeline here.
HYBE is facing a damning allegation amid its ongoing legal battles with former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin.
According to an exclusive report by Hankyoreh, executives and associates of a US-based public relations firm, TAG PR, which HYBE previously acquired and sold, have been sued on allegations of taking part in organized smear campaigns online. US-based PR firm Jonesworks and its founder, Stephanie Jones, reportedly filed an amended complaint against TAG PR in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on December 8, naming the firm’s founders and associates as defendants.
A copy of the said complaint was obtained by Hankyoreh, which showed that TAG PR has been accused of conduction organized smear campaigns since May of last year to steal the clients of Jonesworks. The plaintiff alleged that TAG PR officials used rumor-based claims, online posts, and news articles to attack them, and that they carried out similar offensives against other figures as well, including Min Hee Jin. They added that anonymous online forums, social media platforms (SNS), and online media articles were all used in the process.
The complaint provided a list of websites cited, which were allegedly used by TAG PR to target different individuals. One of them was “minheejin.net,” which the plaintiff described as a website to attack Min Hee Jin. Since the website no longer exists, its content is not verifiable. However, according to the domain records of WHOIS, “minheejin.net” was created on September 27 of last year, shortly after HYBE acquired TAG PR. It was shut down exactly one year later, on September 27, 2025. In this year’s third-quarter report, HYBE revealed that it had disposed of all its AG PR shares. Hence, the operation period of “minjheejin.net” roughly overlaps with the company’s acquisition and sale timeline.
A HYBE representative addressed this case, stating that it had nothing to do with HYBE or HYBE America and reflected one-sided claims. They categorically denied that HYBE or any of its subsidiaries ever engaged in activities like the ones described in the complaint. Despite this denial, this lawsuit is being considered a potential pitfall for HYBE in its ongoing legal battles with Min Hee Jin.
- “Even just looking at Theqoo, it seems like there are a lot of paid commenters.”
- “That’s crazy.”
- “HYBE seems to take public-opinion battles and media play really seriously. There are probably a lot of paid commenters here, too. Also on the recent posts about Min.”
- “It was so obvious. I could even see Min trying to stir up chaos again, lol. I’m just staying out of it because you can see the whole flow.”
- “Everyone must have felt it except for the hardcore fans. Even on Theqoo, there seem to be so many IDs. Or maybe it’s just a lot of hardcore fans? You could really feel them working on it, flooding the hot posts for the past month or two.”
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