With the Grammys and Super Bowl, it’s been an insane two weeks for music and media friends — I hope everyone’s taking care! Peep below for the latest edition of The Crossover newsletter written as breaking news hit as Seoul courts delivered its verdict in one HYBE vs. Min Hee-jin case with an almost-$18 Million price tag. More on that below, including a potentially important fact check, but first…

It’s been 13 years since the PSY made an absolutely crackin’ Super Bowl commercial with Wonderful Pistachios, marking the first time a Korean-pop artist was featured during the country’s most-watched broadcast. Now in 2026, we have two BLACKPINK members, KPop Demon Hunters’ breakout vocalist and HYBE’s global girl group all appearing in high-profile, big-brand ads seen throughout the game.

But while PSY’s spot was met with a heavy amount of snark (more than would probably ever be seen in today’s media market), all of the K-pop cameos are being well received and marking milestones in their own right.

Rosé took part in Levi’s first Super Bowl commercial in more than 20 years alongside Doechii, Questlove, Woody from Toy Story and more: “Levi Strauss & Co. has built an empire in part on jeans that make butts look good, and now it’s leaning into those iconic back pockets with its first Super Bowl ad in more than two decades…the 150-year-old brand’s parade of posteriors demands your attention from the first denim-clad butt. Levi’s took the lessons from last year’s ‘barrage of boobs’ ad that you can go there if you subvert expectations, and people will pay attention to your message.” (AdWeek)

Jisoo was one of several celebs sharing their Pokémon in a commercial celebrating the game’s 30th birthday with the BLACKPINK star’s love for Eevee going beyond a cameo: “The Pokémon Company is launching a merchandise line in collaboration with the K-pop singer. According to preview images, the upcoming line will include stuffed plushies, keychains, hats and more…Taito Okiura, the Vice President of Marketing and Media at The Pokémon Company International, shared with Rolling Stone that Jisoo was selected for the campaign due to her ‘undeniable talent, star power, and global appeal, connecting with audiences through her artistry and authentic presence. That, paired with her genuine affinity for the Pokémon brand and Eevee, made her a perfect addition to our What’s Your Favorite? talent roster.’” (Forbes)

Fact check for the record: While outlets like the Korea Herald — and several superfans — touted the BLACKPINK stars’ appearances as historic and “the first K-pop artists ever to appear in Super Bowl commercials,” we can’t forget about King PSY.

KATSEYE took part in State Farm’s star-studded spot that had a multi-week run-up including the group teasing a bit of their commercial choreography on The Tonight Show. “In a series of lead-up spots in the days before Super Bowl Sunday, comedians Keegan-Michael Key and Danny McBride have been promoting a fly-by-night shop called ‘Halfway There Insurance.’ The duo performs an off-key, lyric-swapped version of “Livin’ on a Prayer” — with vocal and dance support from KATSEYE — while Hailee Steinfeld pokes merciless holes in their policy promises. The last pre-release ad teased ‘To Be Continued…’ before its full reveal on the Big Game.” (Forbes)

KPop Demon Hunters breakout singer EJAE teamed up with Liquid I.V. to sing Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds” in pre-Big Game spots ahead of the brand’s first-ever Super Bowl commercial. But for the actual Bowl, the hydration powder opted to have singing toilets perform the track instead… personally, not sure if that was the right move, but apparently that was the point. “People expect every single ad to have a celebrity, and at some point it all starts to blend together, and you can’t really decipher which brand is which,” Liquid I.V. CMO Stacey Andrade-Wells told Adweek.

SEVENTEEN member Joshua was in San Francisco for the Big Game. He thanked Thom Browne and the NFL for the opportunity, watching the matchup in a football jersey-inspired jacket with Browne on the backside. (@joshu_acoustic)

Post-Game Reactions: BTS’ J-Hope shared a clip of Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show on his Instagram Story. ATEEZ rapper Mingi commented with a heart emoji on the NLF’s IG post — with Mingi’s comment earning more than 10,500 likes(!) at press time. Later into this week, TWICE leader Jihyo shared she watched the Halftime Show “30 times.” (Yahoo!)

Lucero Santiago, CEO of Mexican media outlet Kmagazine, shared an analysis offering thoughts on the (non-political) parallels between Latin music and K-pop: “Like BTS or BLACKPINK performing in Korean at global stages, Bad Bunny didn’t code-switch for mass appeal. Instead, in a sensitive sociopolitical climate, he brought the audience into his world…rather than adapt to the global stage, Bad Bunny made the global stage adapt to him, just as K-pop artists have done with Korean. In both cases, language was not diluted for consumption. It was the source of emotional connection, cultural resistance and pride. Latin pop may feel geographically distant from Asia, and from Korea in particular, but its global expansion follows a logic similar to that of K-pop. Both movements feature an intense relationship with fandom, carefully curated aesthetics, a strong cultural narrative and significant soft power.” (Korea Times)

Kajabi was built for people with earned expertise. Coaches, educators, practitioners, and creators who developed their wisdom through real work and real outcomes.

In a world drowning in AI-generated noise, trust is the new currency. Trust requires proof, credibility, and a system that amplifies your impact.

Kajabi Heroes have generated more than $10 billion in revenue. Not through gimmicks or hype, but through a unified platform designed to scale human expertise.

One place for your products, brand, audience, payments, and marketing. One system that helps you know what to do next.

Turn your experience into real income. Build a business with clarity and confidence.

Kajabi is where real experts grow.

Start Your Free Trial

Big breaking news this evening in one of the many legal battles between HYBE and their former CEO and NewJeans producer Min Hee-jin: “The court sided with former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin in her battle with HYBE over the two parties' shareholders’ contract termination suit. The Seoul Central District Court ruled Thursday that HYBE's unilateral termination of the shareholders' contract between the two parties did not stand because Min Hee-jin's actions ‘did not seem to intend to bring harm or damages to ADOR.’ HYBE must now pay the 25.5 billion Korean won ($17.7 million) that Min demanded as part of her put option, as well as the legal expenses for the lawsuit.” (Korea JooAng Daily)

Min wants to move on and says she’s focusing her energy back into her passion — work: “‘Ironically, through this dispute, I realized how much I love my work and how precious it is to me,” Min said through an official statement. ‘I hope this decision becomes a turning point for self-correction and improvement in the K-pop industry. I hope it serves as a reminder of how serious contracts and promises are in the K-pop industry and whether they sufficiently represent creators’ positions. I also want to send comfort and encouragement to those who are fighting against various injustices behind the scenes. I feel sorry for the fans and industry professionals who may have felt unintended fatigue during the dispute process. I hope HYBE and I can now move beyond our emotions or past disputes and together consider how to make this industry we are part of healthier and more sustainable.’” (The Chosun Daily)

HYBE is already planning to appeal: “HYBE’s side stated, ‘It is regrettable that our claims were not fully accepted,’ and added, ‘We plan to proceed with future legal procedures, including an appeal, after reviewing the judgment.’” (BusinessKorea) Key to that appeal may be how “the court acknowledged that Min Hee-jin had explored the possibility of ADOR’s independence, [and] it determined that such actions did not constitute a serious breach of duty.” (Soompi)

An additional note in the decision: “The court also ruled that Min’s plagiarism allegations against ILLIT were valid…according to reports, “ILLIT’s achievements immediately following their debut showed many similarities to the image of NewJeans. The parents of the NewJeans members also filed a petition concerning this matter. These opinions reflect views about similarities and cannot be regarded as factual misrepresentations. BELIFT LAB has not presented additional evidence to prove that the two sides are dissimilar, and the controversy cannot yet be considered fully resolved,’ the court added. ‘As the CEO of ADOR at the time, her decision to raise concerns about the similarities in order to protect the value of NewJeans was a managerial judgment made within the scope of her authority to safeguard the company’s interests.’ However, the court noted that Min’s suspicions are considered ‘personal opinions’ instead of ‘assertions of facts.’ ‘As the CEO of ADOR at the time, her decision to raise concerns about the similarities in order to protect the value of NewJeans was a managerial judgment made within the scope of her authority to safeguard the company’s interests.’” (MusicBusinessWorldwide)

Media coverage watch: While Min has since launched a new company, ooak records (which stands for “one of a kind records”) since exiting HYBE, she is not currently working with a global PR agency, and the story could very likely stay within Korea.

But Min did have a Hollywood moment yesterday: My timeline was fully dissecting The Hollywood Reporter’s investigative feature Inside the Secret Smear Machine That’s Targeting Hollywood with several mentions of the HYBE-Min dispute as it relates to salacious websites created about several prominent figures. “According to [publicist Stephanie] Jones’ digital forensics report, a website targeting the prominent K-pop executive Min Hee-jin is connected to the others. The former CEO of a subsidiary of HYBE and a mastermind behind groups like NewJeans and Girls’ Generation, she has been in a legal war with the Korean entertainment giant.”

Reporter Gary Baum focuses on connections among anonymous websites targeting celebs and Jones herself. In the past months, Jones sued her former colleagues, as well as former client Justin Baldoni, alleging that they hurt her business in the highly publicized fallout and legal drama surrounding Baldoni and Blake Lively’s It Ends With Us film. “In December, Jones’ legal team asserted in a proposed amended complaint that as it investigated the culprit behind an anonymous website made about her, it had discovered ‘a growing list of attack websites from the same band of conspirators’…with the clear intent on destroying those individuals’ reputations.’ The smear sites have alleged, without substantiation, that targets engaged in — among other activities — extortion, embezzlement, prostitution, drug dealing and human trafficking.” (A concerning note two paragraphs later: “THR has separately learned that the full scope of vilifying sites identified by the forensics consultant is larger than those publicly identified in the report.”)

A majority of the report zooms in on lawsuits involving The Agency Group (TAG PR) founder and veteran crisis publicist Melissa Nathan, as well as Jed Wallace (who THR calls a “digital fixer”), both of whom are alleged to be behind the websites. Both have denied their involvement in court. I’ve spoken with Nathan for stories in the past, but I had never been in contact with or heard of Wallace.

Baum writes “While [Min Hee-jin] did not comment for this story, in a January post on Instagram, Hee-jin explained she had recently met in Seoul with a lawyer ‘who’s currently handling lawsuits in the U.S. to uncover what TAG PR [Nathan’s firm] has really been up to.’ She added, ‘Pieces are starting to come together.’”

Fact-checking: The Hollywood Reporter wrote that HYBE America is still one of TAG’s clients, which conflicts with previous filings indicating that HYBE sold its stake in the company last year.

—Chung Ha released a moving English single, “Save me,” on her birthday, February 9

—TEN, the Thai-born K-pop star in NCT and WayV, teamed up with Thailand super-actor-singer-celebrity Blue Pongtiwat for the collaboration “You Give Me Butterflies” sung in Thai and English. It gives me a very similar vibe to Maroon 5 and Lisa’s “Priceless” — not a bad thing at all!

—Continuing his path focused on English music, solo superstar Kang Daniel shared the rock-pop stomper “Stay.” The track is produced by MZMC, the Italian-American who went to Korea to teach English and is now a top producer with his own company and girl group, VVS.

—BLACKPINK will present the "National Museum of Korea X BLACKPINK" project as the first-ever K-pop collaboration with the museum, taking place from February 26-March 8, where a lighting event will illuminate the museum exterior in pink. The members recorded audio for artifacts. There will be an album listening session for BP’s upcoming DEADLINE album at the museum's main lobby pathway (known as "The Path of History") as part of the program being a special pre-release session exclusively for Spotify Premium users that begins one day before the album's release.

—JYP Entertainment and Republic Records’ global female group GIRLSET appears to be sampling SWV’s early-’90s R&B classic “Weak” for a new single titled “Tweak,” out March 6.

—BTS’ Jung Kook is a new Global Brand Ambassador for Hublot luxury watches.

—Golden Globe-nominated actress Chase Infiniti, the young star of massively Oscar-nominated One Battle After Another, shared her favorite K-pop group is ATEEZ with San as her favorite (a.k.a her bias), while sharing that her favorite BTS member is J-Hope, before admitting she has “too many groups she listens to.” (@etalkctv)

—TWICE’s Dahyun temporarily halted tour performances because of an ankle fracture. (TMZ)

—Krystal Jung slayed at the Ralph Lauren show for New York Fashion Week