The girl group NewJeans has partially won a significant lawsuit for damages against a YouTuber who sexually harassed them, a fact that has only recently come to light.
According to a report by News Journal on the 11th, Judge Lee Ah-young of the Seoul Western District Court ruled in favor of five NewJeans members in their lawsuit for damages against YouTuber Mr. Shin. On June 25th, the court ordered Mr. Shin to pay 5 million won each to MINJI, HANNI, and DANIELLE, and 7 million won each to HAERIN and HYEIN. Mr. Shin did not appeal, and the judgment was finalized on July 22nd.
Mr. Shin is accused of creating and distributing over 20 sexually harassing videos between April and May 2024, using footage from NewJeans' performances and other content across two YouTube channels.
In these videos, Mr. Shin deliberately altered the lyrics of NewJeans' hit song "Cookie" to sound sexually suggestive and edited clips of the members holding microphones or eating cucumbers in a way that implied sexual acts. Additionally, comments like "I want to make you the mother of many" and "Control is all about controlling XX" were made, sexually harassing the underage members with highly inappropriate remarks.
In response, NewJeans' agency, ADOR, filed a criminal complaint against Mr. Shin in June last year and also initiated a civil lawsuit for damages amounting to 20 million won per member, totaling 100 million won. Notably, to identify Mr. Shin, ADOR requested a discovery from the Northern District Court of California, USA, and spent over a year obtaining the account operator's information from Google.
The court stated in its verdict, "It is clear from experience that a person whose rights have been violated by another's sexual expressions suffers mental anguish," affirming that "the members of NewJeans' rights were violated, establishing liability for damages." HAERIN and HYEIN were awarded higher compensation considering they were minors at the time of the incident.
Meanwhile, NewJeans is currently on a temporary hiatus due to a dispute over their exclusive contract with ADOR. The mediation date for the lawsuit regarding the validity of NewJeans and ADOR's exclusive contract is scheduled for August 14th.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)