a computer fast enough and with enough storage to not make editing a pain. It's helping me brush up on my editing and content management skills - something I had once, but back in 2004-2008 during the pre-HD days of Final Cut Pro and miniDV formats. What I'm saying is that I'm really happy I dropped nearly $4k on a computer to spend a month editing cute raccoon videos.

Any input on the editing?

For those of you who are sick of raccoons - I'm sorry. It's a phase and I know it's intense but I have a feeling it won't last much longer and I'll latch onto something else. Until spring when the raccoons come back.

Top image

Bottom waiting for hostages

/r/stupidpoll

!anticommunists

That group has been deleted https://t.co/TICeriaLlA

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025

This was the best thing Biden did and they ruined it

screaming HE IS SO SNEAKY! IT'S 7 AM! AHHHH!

On tonight's episode:

We begin the NewJeans Saga. Join us for a brief look at the history of the major players in the scandal, as well as the opening volleys of a feud that could alter the landscape of pretty ricefoids shaking their hips on stage for ever.

Who is MHJ?

What exactly is, a NewJeans?

Why do I keep using Twice for the OP?

Find the answers to all of this and more, right after these messages from our sponsor:

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programing.

Christmas Thread Theme

Introduction

On the morning of November 28th, 2024, an official representative of the superstar Kpop group NewJeans announced that the members would be holding a press conference to address the ongoing dispute with their record label, ADOR. Two weeks prior, on November 13th, the group sent a letter notifying ADOR of numerous issues that they considered to be breaches of their contract. Per a (standard) clause in the contract, ADOR had 14 days to respond to and ameliorate these breaches. If it failed to do so, NewJeans would have the option to terminate their exclusive contract, without penalty. With the 14 day deadline set to pass at 12:00 AM KST, November 29th, it seemed premature to call a press conference. However, the group was planning to board a plane to Japan in preparation for promotional activities later that evening, and expressed their wish to update their fans on the situation before ADOR could take advantage of their travel to control the media narrative.

They know what they did

And so, at 8:30 PM, the members of NewJeans and a PR representative met with the press to announce their response to ADOR's failure to rectify the alleged contract breaches. What followed was a bizzare press conference that saw members claim their contract was terminated and that they:

• were no longer under contract with ADOR after midnight

• would not need to pay a termination penalty

• would begin seeking other oppurtunities while finishing scheduled events with ADOR

And the really bizarre part...

• would not seek to confirm the termination of their contract via legal action.

This, of course, raised numerous questions amongst the entertainment reporters present who have a solid grasp on how contract terminations work. I'm sure the dramatards in the audience who understand contract law, or are capable of tying their own shoes, have many of the same questions. Thankfully, the girls took some time to take questions from the press.

An excerpt from the press conference. Did you understand?

Always a good idea to check the specifics after terminating the contract

Leaving the world with more questions than answers, the members of NewJeans boarded a plane to Japan to resume promotional activities, setting the internet ablaze with discussion of what was in the future for NewJeans. Well, in order to predict the future, one must first understand the past.

And that past can only be found...

...In the K-Hole.

The Main Players

HYBE

The illegitimate love child of Kim Jong-Un and Xi Jinping Bang Si-Hyuk

HYBE Corporation, initially founded by Bang Si-hyuk in 2005 as Big Hit Entertainment, is the largest of the big 4 record companies in Kpop, with a market capitalization almost 4x greater than that of their next largest competitor, JYP Entertainment. Their success is directly tied to that of their most popular group, BTS, who during their heyday, generated more GDP for South Korea than the Korean domestic airline industry. This great financial success provided Big Hit Entertainment with the opportunity to acquire numerous smaller record labels including Source Music, which would later go on to debut the girl group Le Sserafim, in 2019 and Pledis Entertainment (Seventeen and Formis9) in 2020

With these new labels under their belt, Big Hit Entertainment restructured itself as HYBE Corporation in 2021, structuring all of their various sub-labels underneath the new Hybe Label division. During the years proceeding the re-structuring, HYBE developed plans to debut numerous gril groups, and leading these plans was the former Visual Director for SM Entertainment, Min Hee-jin (MHJ).

Min Hee-Jin

Born in 1979, MHJ began her career in Kpop as a graphic designer for SM Entertainment (one of the other big 4 companies in Kpop) in 2003. Eventually she was promoted to creative director, where she oversaw all visual branding for a number of SM's gril groups, including Girls Generation, Red Velvet, and f(x). Her impact on the industry in this role was massive, as she shifted artistic direction within the industry towards the idea of more experimental "concepts".

You can think of a group's concept as the overarching theme of the group, impacting everything from album art, photoshoots, music videos, and costumes to public behavior and even the type of music the group produces. The concept of an artist can remain static for years on end (think of how Motley Crue have always been party boy rockstars), or change over time (compare the early music and style of The Beatles to their later work.)

Leaving SM in 2018 due to burnout, it wasn't long before she found herself hired by Big Hit Entertainment to oversee the rebranding to HYBE Corporation. It was also announced that MHJ would be the creative lead for multiple new girl groups, as well as the producer for a label that HYBE would launch in the next few years. MHJ took part in initial planning for a new girl group with Source Music, but in 2021 HYBE established the ADOR sub label and named her as the CEO. The first act to debut under ADOR would be the girl group MHJ had begun developing with Source Music, NewJeans.

NewJeans

Upcoming January 2025 Vogue Korea cover featuring NewJeans

Auditions for Mhj's new girl group began in 2019 under Source Music. Initially planning to debut in 2021, this was pushed back to 2022, ostentibly due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Officially debuting on July 22nd of 2022, NewJeans quickly became one of the biggest acts in all of Kpop. Their achievements speak for themselves:

• First idol group in history to occupy the #1, #2 and #3 spot on every chart in Korea for 3 consecutive months with Ditto, OMG, and Hype Boy

• NewJeans surpassed 5 billion total points on Circle Digital Chart in only 64 weeks, second only to BTS (53 weeks)

• First girl group to ever chart 5 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in the same calendar year in K-Pop history

• Set a Guinness record for fastest artist to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify and also became the fastest Korean act in history to reach 3 billion streams

Newjeans debut single and MV, Hype Boy, released July 22nd, 2022.

This groups massive success on the charts led them to become one of the most sought after brand endorsements in the advertising industry , with them eventually going on to work with Nike, Coca- Cola, McDonald's, Apple, Levi's, and Calvin Klein. NewJeans was so successful on this front that In April 2024, Forbes Korea reported that the group had earned ₩30 billion (~$20 million) in advertising in the course of a single year. to put this in perspective, Patrick Mahomes had total estimated off-the-field earnings of $25 million in 2024.

You know you've made it big when even your slop meal gets to go on tour.

Hanni

The Vietnamese-Australian member of a Korean girl group's English male name is Harry.

Born to Vietnamese parents in Melbourne, Australia, Phạm Ngọc Hân's (20) first experience in the entertainment industry was as a member of the Australian kpop dance cover group AEMINA. In late 2019, she was the only person to pass the Plus Global Auditions, the first set of auditions for the girl group that would become NewJeans. Hanni is widely considered to be the best vocalist in the group

Minji

Marcus the Cleanup Queen

Born in Chuncheon, South Korea in 2004, Kim Min-ji began training with Source Music in 2017. She was likely the first member selected for NewJeans, as she was the anonymous face of the Plus Global Auditions that selected Hanni. Often acting as the de facto leader, Minji is the oldest member and one of the best dancers in the group.

Dani

Her male English name is Demitree.

In 2005, Danielle Marsh was born to an Australian father and Korean mother in Newcastle, Australia. Moving back and forth between Australia and South Korea as a child, Dani's first experience in show business was as a child actor in South Korea. She began her kpop career as a trainee at YG Entertainment ( the last of the big four Kpop companies), leaving the company and joining Source Music in July 2020. Probably the most popular member internationally, Dani is a talented vocalist who provided the Korean dub of Ariel for the live action Little Mermaid movie.

Haerin

This Kang's name is Stephen

Originally from Seoul, South Korea, Kang Hae-rin dropped out of middle school in 2020 at the age of 13 to begin training with Source Music, later earning her GED. A taleented singer and dancer, Haerin is also a global ambassador for Dior.

Hyein

(Male name) Collin is the reason we need pedobear.

Lee Hye-in was born in Incheon, South Korea in 2008, making her the youngest member, or maknae, of NewJeans. Getting her start as a child model, she also was a member of a kid's group called U.SSO Girl from 2017-2018. She later went on to star on a YouTube children's channel called PocketTV. She eventually joined ADOR as a trainee in 2021. Despite being the youngest member of the group, Hyein has the most showbiz experience in the group.

Now that we've had a chance to meet the stars of our story, we are finally able to see where the NewJeans/ADOR drama truly began. But first, it's time for a...

Cookie Break

After the success of their debut single Hype Boy, NewJeans quickly followed up with the lead single of their self-titled debut EP, Cookie. As @0BS3SS10N mentioned in the comments of our previous episode, there was something a little off about this song.

With most of the song in Korean, the lyrics, once translated into English, are something else:

Now, these lyrics wouldn't be too bad in and of themselves, at least compared to western music, save for one small problem; the majority of the group was underage when the song was released. At the time of release, Dani and Hanni were 17, Haerin was 16, and Hyein was 14(!). Only Minji was over the age of 18 at the time. This generated a great deal of controversy in western markets due to the sexual tone of the lyrics.

https://old.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/wdclrx/newjeans_cookie/

https://old.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/comments/wdd6bg/new_jeans_just_officially_debut_with_the_release/

Link

A solid summary of the drama

As @ftincel touched on above, the scandal was complicated by a report of a pattern of weird, borderline pedophilic behavior surrounding MHJ. She had numerous pictures of underage girls and a 15 year old Brooke Shields on her Instagram, and had also been accused of over sexualizing underage idols while at SM Entertainment.

Link

HYBE, ADOR, and NewJeans themselves argued the song was actually about burning a CD for someone (to bake a CD is a euphemism for burning a CD in Korea) and that the translator who worked on the MV above had mistranslated the lyrics. Most Westerners didn't buy this, pointing out that two of the people in the group (Dani and Hanni) were native English speakers. However, as is common with scandals related to Kpop idols, there were plenty of fans who were ready to eat up the cover story.

Link

https://old.reddit.com/r/unpopularkpopopinions/comments/wrsspn/cookie_by_new_jeans_isnt_as_sexual_as_people_make/

https://old.reddit.com/r/NewJeans/comments/wkle0q/serious_discussion_thread_the_cookie_and_min/

Let's see what /mu/ had to say at the time:

You know it's bad when even 4chan thinks you've gone too far

I think this is a compilation of translated comments from Korean sites. If not, someone needs to investigate this guy.

With all of that background info and the Cookie drama out of the way, we can begin our story in earnest.

The Beginning of the End

The Audit

On April 22nd, 2024, bombshell news dropped that HYBE would be launching an internal audit of ADOR and it's executives, due to concerns that MHJ was trying to attract investors to take the label independent. At the time, HYBE owned about 80% of ADOR, with the remaining 20% being held by ADOR executives, predominantly MHJ.

HYBE alleged that MHJ and a VP at ADOR, identified only as Mr. L, were working in collaboration to "free" ADOR from HYBE. The scheme included Mr. L passing classified info about HYBE to MHJ. Mr. L had previously worked with HYBE, most relevantly during its IPO, before being transferred by the company to ADOR. Once HYBE became aware of the plan, the audit was triggered, executives electronics were examined, and plans to remove MHJ as CEO of ADOR were initiated.

Illit

For her part, MHJ released a statement alleging that the audit was an illegal attempt to oust her as CEO In retaliation for her accusing Illit, a new Kpop group under HYBE's sub-label, Belift Labs, and their producers of "copying" NewJeans.

https://www.koreaboo.com/news/min-hee-jin-official-statement/

April 23rd and 24th

The next day, April 23rd, HYBE responded that it had clear evidence that MHJ had been planning to take ADOR independent long before Illit had debuted. The main piece of evidence for this was an unreleased internal document detailing MHJ's plans.

https://m-en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20240423006400315

On the 24th, various ADOR executives tried to distance MHJ from the discovered internal document, but a report from Dispatch (basically the Korean TMZ) revealed that she had almost $73 million in put options on HYBE.

Link

April 25th

The Next day, April 25th, HYBE made public it's initial findings from the audit and stated it's intention to report MHJ to the police.

A leaked conversation between MHJ and another ADOR executive, A

In response MHJ called her own press conference that day, which ran for almost 2 hours.

the entire press conference summed up by mhj lawyers pic.twitter.com/3qrfngiz3H

— 𝓪⁷ (@JlNSONYEONDAN) April 25, 2024

During this press conference MHJ touched on a number of topics, including:

• Reiterating that the only cause of the audit was an internal complaint she filed over Illit's "plaigerism"

• Complaining that her shareholders agreement that she signed with HYBE was unfair and currently being renegotiated.

• Alleging that she was promised NewJeans would be the first of HYBE's new girl groups to debut. Instead Le Sserafim was allowed to debut first. (Remember this one, it will be important later on)

• Claiming that she would take legal action against HYBE for seizing her and other executive's electronics

• Stating that all of ADOR's internal discussions about seeking outside investors and breaking away from HYBE were merely jokes

• Tacitly admitting that she would consult a Korean Shaman to help make business decisions (again, more on this at a later date)

The entire press conference is a trip, and this all is just a snippet. We'll do a deep dive into the press conference and it's after effects next week, but for now, let's see how the internet reacted:

Reddit Reacts

Warning:: May contain spoilers for future parts of the saga.

https://old.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/1ca2gc4/hybe_launched_audit_into_ceo_of_newjeans_agency/

https://old.reddit.com/r/kpop_uncensored/comments/1ccn2j5/my_takes_from_the_min_heejin_press_conference/

https://old.reddit.com/r/popheads/comments/1ca90ty/hybe_initiates_audit_of_adors_management/

https://old.reddit.com/r/popheads/comments/1ca90ty/hybe_initiates_audit_of_adors_management/

/mu/ Reacts

That's all the time we have for this week, but I hope that I was able to whet your whistle for the drama we have ahead, because theres quite a bit of it.

On next week's "In the K-Hole"

• A deep dive into MHJ's April 25th press conference and auxiliary accusations!

• The parents of NewJeans speak up!

• New legal challenges!

• And much, much more, all next week!

I hope you enjoyed this episode, as well as your upcoming holidays. A very merry Christmas to you all and yours...

... From the bottom...

... Of the K-Hole.

Second clip

!animalposters !cats

In;b4 "le heckin sportsball sucks!!!"

Time to tell no one. Job application asks if you have a disability? Nope, nah, zero, ive never been disabled in my entire life. I'm so abled that actually I'm super abled, my IQ is 300 and I came out socializing before I was even born.

If you can't be clocked as an neurodivergent and weren't already doing this, you are in fact mentally disabled and saying this would be a lie.

Obviously horrible but also obviously was going to happen as soon as the orange guy got into office. Neurodivergent people were targeted in 1930's Germany. Orange man surrounds himself with Nazis. The frick did people think was going to happen?

You forgot to say it only impacts US.

Ireland has definitely been trying to improve attitudes towards all kinds of disabilities too.

I notice it's typical for Americans to perceive that they are centre of universe. Very sad approach to reality

yeh the Australian government is developing specific policy to enable greater employment of neurodivergents and action plans for support of neurodivergents in the workplace

We're all living in America!

I don't know... All I know is that my entire life my autism has been a barrier to my work experiences rather than a key. I can just cloak my autism. I'm pretty slow and without something like Ritalin or Concerta I process things very slow. My work speed has never been enough for any of my bosses and I've been fired from electrical jobs multiple times for it.

DEI has never benefited me.

!crossword Six across: slow, as a fire.

It's time to mask 100% all the time for your own safety

You were able to act normal this whole time and you were just choosing not to?

wo

It's always at least twice. I guess I'm getting old.

@TournamentFishing here it is as best as I understood the promp:

!birdposters !furries !zoochads new bird just dropped

!art wings is hard. the final frontier for me to conquer

this fricking peanut is now seared into my brain

but its nice to be unemployde again

New York Magazine literally cropped all the black people out of this cover photo and then complained that “the entire room is white” https://t.co/gCatY1lZzG pic.twitter.com/VhoaiJhqg1

— Christopher Barnard (@ChrisBarnardDL) January 27, 2025

absolutely foul

bongs in the comments seething lol

https://old.reddit.com/r/shittyfoodporn/comments/1ifzctm/british_chinese_food/makl354/?context=8

!goyslopenjoyers thots?

Rust is C++ minus jank. It's beautiful, it's a better language in every imaginable way. Yeah its full of but if chuds have a problem with that, maybe try making a better language?

Total victory btw.

Ye is a trendsetter after all. It would be really funny if they treated it like saying BIPOC and didn't let white prople do it.

https://kiwifarms.st/threads/allthefallen-ninja-now-allthefallen-moe.38831/page-45#post-20148554

https://www.mattinopadova.it/cronaca/molesta-allieva-dodicenne-docente-condannato-qhvgxhjt

uncanny!, even the hairline looks the same!

One year 2 months to Duilio Flora, 43, who has a prior conviction for possession of child pornography behind him. The episode happened on the first day of service

PADUA. The little student who reported being molested by the after-school teacher on the first (and only) day of the teacher's service at the Casa del Fanciullo "il Melograno" educational center on Santonini Street was believed. Thus came the sentence of one year and two months (suspended) for Duilio Flora, a 43-year-old from Brindisi, a graduate in engineering, computer scientist and science teacher in schools, currently suspended from teaching and present in the courtroom: the sentence was pronounced by the Padua gup Mariella Fino at the end of an abbreviated trial, an alternative rite that provides by law for a discount of one third of the sentence. Very serious was the charge charged: sexual assault against the 12-year-old pupil with a double aggravating circumstance, the victim's age under 14 and the fact that she was in his care for educational reasons.

The judge also applied the ancillary penalties of perpetual disqualification from public office and, in particular, from facilities frequented by minors. Flora, moreover, had a previous record (plea bargain of a sentence converted to a fine of 5 thousand euros) for possession of child pornography. Finally, an immediately enforceable provisional award of 5,000 euros was established, 3,000 for the little girl, 2,000 for her mother who constituted a civil party with attorney Aurora D'Agostino. This is an advance on the compensation that, as for the remaining part, will have to be quantified by the civil judge in a separate judgment.

The defense (entrusted to lawyer Luisa Granata) had always insisted on the defendant's innocence, firm in rejecting all charges. Prosecutor Sergio Dini, on the other hand, had urged a sentence of one year and eight months, believing that all the elements gathered during the investigation were sufficient to prove the defendant's responsibility.

The abuse occurred on the afternoon of Sept. 14, 2015, at the center attended by the little girl: her mother is alone, works, and the Municipal Social Services helps her by paying her tuition so that the little girl (good and diligent) can be tutored in doing her homework for a few hours in the afternoon. The 12-year-old is in class with other classmates and is doing her math homework. The teacher is buzzing around her and increasingly trying to shorten the distance with her: his hand insists on touching her until it reaches her private parts. Fortunately, the student immediately tells another teacher at the center about the incident. And the complaint is triggered: the next day the professor is "invited" to leave the school.

The victim had been questioned in the center "The Sunflowers" by a psychologist on behalf of the prosecutor: experts had assessed her testimony as credible.

What a wholesome way to end the year!, 2025 sure looks promising!, may 2025 be the year that TTD and TPD is finally achieved!

!libertarianhunters !soyteens

!lgbt !cuteandinvalid Pokemans

Halo time

The woman from this post just made a thread seething about it.

my heart is telling me Making a post is now creating a separate webpage.

This is a silly post lol I love living in Japan, but it was not easy to get here. You cannot just move to Japan because you want too. You also underestimate how soul crushing those teaching jobs actually are. People on those salaries are just barely getting by. Gay marriage is not even legal here and Japan is a much more conservative country than most people think

wouldnt you think about the face tattoo all fricking day it would drive me insane thinking about it