Le Sserafim's agency warns it will take legal action against 'malicious posts'

Source Music, a K-pop agency under HYBE managing girl group Le Sserafim, issued a warning that it will take legal action in response to “a sharp surge of malicious posts” on Friday.

Girl group Le Sserafim [SOURCE MUSIC]

Source Music, a K-pop agency under HYBE managing girl group Le Sserafim, issued a warning that it will take legal action in response to “a sharp surge of malicious posts” on Friday.

The official statement comes as online debates and fan wars intensify following NewJeans’ return to ADOR, another HYBE label.

“We have confirmed a recent sharp surge in malicious online posts targeting Le Sserafim and individual members, including slander, ridicule and spreading of false information,” Source Music said in the statement posted on its fan community Weverse.

Girl group NewJeans [ADOR]

“We have been taking both regular and ad hoc legal actions against malicious posts online,” the label continued. “In particular, acts of damaging the artists’ reputation by presenting inaccurate information or rumors constitute a clear illegal act.

The label vowed to “pursue criminal proceedings without settlement or leniency under any circumstances to hold wrongdoers legally accountable to the fullest extent.”

Girl group Le Sserafim [SOURCE MUSIC]

The warning follows the announcement Wednesday by NewJeans members that they would return to their estranged agency, ADOR, after a nearly yearlong feud.

Online animosity between some Le Sserafim and NewJeans fans dates back to April last year, when former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, who had created and led NewJeans, accused HYBE of sidelining NewJeans to promote Le Sserafim.

During her bombshell press conference on April 25, Min mentioned two certain members of Le Sserafim as being “the reason that NewJeans’ debut was pushed back” while also claiming that another HYBE girl group ILLIT was a “NewJeans copycat.”

Min Hee-jin, former CEO of NewJeans' agency ADOR and the girl group's producer, at a press conference on April 25, 2024, in southern Seoul [YONHAP]

Le Sserafim fans staged a protest campaign on Friday, displaying signs such as “Separate real victim Le Sserafim from real perpetrators,” referring to NewJeans, and “Taking anger out on Le Sserafim for the debut delayed by the CEO? That’s real workplace bullying,” on trucks parked outside HYBE’s headquarters building in central Seoul.

Le Sserafim debuted in May 2022, under HYBE’s Source Music, and NewJeans debuted two months later under ADOR.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]