"It could affect another team": Hanni seemingly talks about the backlash for ILLIT amidst the NewJeans’ contract feud with ADOR

On Wednesday, March 26, NewJeans' interview with the news media outlet BBC was published. During the same, the members opened up about their past year and how they've been facing a lot of ups and downs in terms of their careers. At one point, member Hanni talked about how the group's feud with their agency, ADOR, has affected parties outside the two.

She talked about the decisions that the members made over the year in terms of their contract with ADOR. Hanni stated that they weren't impulsive and that their decisions were a result of the several discussions they had as a team. However, she also couldn't help but mention how this conflict could affect another team, seemingly referring to the HYBE K-pop girl group ILLIT.

"I'll be completely honest, we are not that comfortable about constrantly bringing up that situation because we know that it involves another team and we don't want to affect that team in any way because there is no need for that. But if we don't express how we are feeling and thinking, people won't know and they would have believed what was going on in the media."

Though she didn't explicitly name who the other team was, netizens speculated that she could be referring to the plagiarism accusations that were raised against ILLIT amid NewJeans' initial feuds with HYBE Labels. ILLIT, at the time of its debut, was accused of allegedly copying the group's aesthetics in terms of both music and promotional qualities.

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All you need to know about the alleged clash between ILLIT and NewJeans

In October 2024, a hearing regarding Min Hee-jin's request for an extraordinary ADOR shareholders' meeting and her reappointment as the ADOR's CEO was held at Seoul Central District Court.

As per Korea JoongAng Daily, Min's side claimed that a HYBE staff requested NewJeans' blueprint at the beginning stages of ILLIT's development and that the outcomes of ILLIT were identical to that of NewJeans.

However, when Min Hee-jin saw the proposal plan for ILLIT, she found it to be identical to that of NewJeans. Her side continued to argue that they held several pieces of proof that showcased that ILLIT's agency, BeLift Lab, evidently used references from the girl group's promotions and other aesthetics. BeLift Lab has been denying these allegations.

Here's what Min Hee-jin's side stated at the court hearing:

“Despite the clear facts, Belift Lab continues to deny the plagiarism allegations, and HYBE has neglected this issue. Former CEO Min Hee-jin internally raised concerns about ‘ILLIT copying NewJeans’ on April 3, 2024, and it has been proven through objective evidence that her concerns were legitimate. HYBE responded to Min Hee-jin’s internal complaints with an audit, but this proves that the audit was an illegal and unjust process.”

The court dismissed an injunction request by Min. As per The Korea Times, the court said "it was dismissing the case as the claims do not meet the requirements to constitute the legal grounds for a court judgment."

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NewJeans members, who rebranded as NJZ after announcing their unilateral contract termination with ADOR, are currently on hiatus, as announced on March 23, following their performance at ComplexCon Hong Kong. This decision followed the court ruling on March 21, where ADOR gained the court's favor to restrict the members from their independent activities for the time being.

NJZ and ADOR will now battle over the legitimacy of their unilateral contract termination. The first hearing is set for April 3.