A lawsuit filed in the United States has uncovered explosive allegations that a public relations firm—until recently owned by K-pop giant HYBE—participated in organized online attacks against various public figures, including former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin.
Jonesworks, a US-based PR firm, and its founder Stephanie Jones filed an amended complaint on December 8th in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit names the founder of TAG PR (The Agency Group PR LLC) and others as defendants.
The plaintiffs allege that starting in May of last year, TAG PR orchestrated a “smear campaign” to damage the reputations of rivals and poach clients. The lawsuit claims the defendants used anonymous websites, social media bots and coordinated news articles to attack targets, including Hollywood actors and activists.
In a shocking twist, the court documents explicitly list ‘minheejin.net’ as an example of the attack websites created by the defendants. The complaint describes it as “a site attacking Min Hee Jin, the former CEO of Korean label ADOR.”
Although the website is currently defunct, domain records expose a timeline that aligns closely with HYBE’s ownership of the PR firm. The domain ‘minheejin.net’ was created on September 27, 2023, shortly after HYBE America acquired a 51% stake in TAG PR in August 2023. The pattern continued to the en,d the website was shut down on September 27, 2024, exactly one year after it launched, after HYBE announced it had sold its entire stake in TAG PR in the third quarter of 2024.
The plaintiffs argue that ‘minheejin.net’ shares “identical characteristics, scripts, and digital fingerprints” with other attack sites targeting American figures like actress Alexa Nikolas.
Digital forensics performed on a former employee’s phone revealed proposals for website creation and strategies for disseminating negative press, according to the complaint. The lawsuit alleges this evidence proves the defendants operated a “small business creating false defamatory websites to target their clients’ adversaries.” This evidence has been submitted through the US court’s discovery process.
When reached for comment, a HYBE official denied any involvement in the alleged smear campaigns.
“This issue is from a legal dispute unrelated to HYBE or HYBE America and represents the assertion of one party,” the official stated. “Neither HYBE nor HYBE America has been involved in matters such as those specified in the complaint, beyond normal public relations activities.”
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