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On March 7, 2025, the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Division 50 held the first hearing at 10:30 am for ADOR’s injunction request. During the hearing, the subsidiary label under HYBE claimed that NewJeans had been promoted as the “next BTS” at the request of the company's former CEO, Min Hee-jin.
"NewJeans appeared in BTS's music video before their debut, and promoted them with various HYBE artists and challenge videos whenever they released a new song. NewJeans was introduced as 'BTS's little sister' from the beginning, and was promoted as 'following BTS' and 'surpassing BTS' at Min Hee-jin's request. At the time, HYBE was the only case of using another group's popularity for PR like this," the company said.
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NewJeans members (Minji, Danielle, Hanni, Haerin, and Hyein) attended the hearing as defendants, while CEO Kim Joo-young was present as a plaintiff. The members arrived at the court around 10:00 am, stepping out of a white van dressed in black suits before entering the courtroom.
The agency sought to maintain its role as NewJeans’ management and stop the members from signing independent ad contracts. The case follows ongoing tensions between the agency's former CEO and parent company HYBE.
ADOR credits HYBE’s $28M investment for NewJeans’ massive success
During the hearing, ADOR further argued that HYBE'S financial backing was a major factor in NewJeans’ success. Their legal team noted that the K-pop group received “21 billion won twice” from the multinational entertainment company, calling it an “unprecedented” investment for one group.
"NewJeans is one of the world's representative girl groups in Korea. The talents and efforts of the members contributed the most to the success of NewJeans. But that alone cannot explain all the success of NewJeans. The only artist of the creditor company is NewJeans," the sub-label claimed.
ADOR stated that around 50 employees focused solely on NewJeans. This team included stylists, music producers, video managers, choreographers, and managers. They worked on the group’s success from their trainee days.
"From all employees of the creditor company, stylists, music, video managers, choreographers, and managers, about 50 employees have devoted themselves day and night only to the success of NewJeans since the days when the debtors were trainees," the company added.
The South Korean entertainment company asserted that HYBE’s funding helped launch a fan platform for NewJeans. They also stated that 10 billion KRW (about 7 million USD) went into the group’s debut and marketing.
In November 2024, NewJeans members requested to terminate their contracts with ADOR, but the company refused and filed an injunction in January 2025. ADOR claimed this was to protect advertisers. In February 2025, the group rebranded as NJZ and sought a court injunction to stop ADOR from managing their music-related activities.
