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South Korean media outlet Sports Donga reported that NewJeans have announced to continue as independent artists following their contract termination with ADOR. Previously, the rookie girl group declared their departure starting November 29, 2024, during an emergency press conference on November 28, 2024.
The five members—Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein—cited ADOR's alleged inability to address contractual breaches, creative differences, and failure to ensure the members' welfare as reasons for their decision.
On December 2, 2024, Sports Donga reported that the Attention girl group announced to continue their group activities while the respective members' parents would manage their schedules. Previously, the K-pop group members Danielle, Hanni, Minji, Hyein, and Haerin expressed their wish to continue working with the former ADOR CEO, Min Hee-jin.
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For the unversed, on November 13, NewJeans sent a certified document to HYBE and demanded Min Hee-jin's re-appointment as ADOR's CEO, sought an apology from the Belift Lab manager who allegedly instructed other idols to ignore Hanni and more. They stated that they would terminate their contract if the demands were not fulfilled within 14 days (November 28).
Subsequently, the group stated that their contracts officially ended on November 29 at midnight, following a 14-day notice period they had provided to ADOR (a HYBE subsidiary) earlier in the month.
Meanwhile, netizens were stunned to know that the parents of the group members handling their schedules, PR, and even their security details. One netizen highlighted how difficult of a job role it is to be an artist's manager and wrote on X:
"Lmao so now their parents are their managers? They better get a crash course on what a manager does, bc is a hard job, that requires absolute commitment you can't do part-time hours. 2nd they can work no one is stopping them, but if they use the group name, sign any contract"
The K-pop community shared that NewJeans' contract with ADOR is still legally binding despite the group's difference of opinion. Hence, breaking a contract in between its running term could possibly lead to significant consequences and a penalty.
"Someone’s gonna find out real quickly what it’s like being a true rookie group," one person wrote.
"So...the parents are doing the management because no one else is willing to run the risk of being sued by Ador or HYBE? Is that legitimately their game plan? This should be entertaining af," another person said.
"Looks like one of their parents is aiming to be "the next Kris Jenner,"" another person added.
Others highlighted that HYBE "aggressively protects" its intellectual property and copyrights hence the girl group would face obstacles in using the name "NewJeans" after leaving the company as per standard company policies. Some fans also wondered who would pay for their independent activities if not ADOR.
"All I'm going to say is that HYBE aggressively protects their intellectual property. Those girls won't be able to make a single penny off anything they've released up to this point, nor perform the music, without ending up in court or paying royalties," one person noted.
"I need y’all to understand they are still legally binded to Ador until the official termination," another person shared.
"What I don’t understand is who is going to pay for all of “…we are just going to continue our planned activities…” How does that happen? Who pays for the airline tickets, the staff, hair, makeup, outfits, hotels, etc., if NJs unilaterally terminated? Their parents?" another fan stated.
ADOR urges NewJeans to collaborate with them for future projects as the contract is still legally binding
On November 28, 2024, ADOR, the South Korean music label under HYBE Corporation, issued an official statement addressing the early termination of their exclusive contracts with K-pop group NewJeans.
The announcement followed a series of escalating disputes, including the resignation of ADOR’s CEO Min Hee-jin earlier in November, and the group's demands for better management and protections.
Daily Sports reported that ADOR stressed that their contract with the girl group still being "valid" and said:
"ADOR, as a party to the exclusive contract, did not violate the contract, and unilaterally claiming that trust was broken cannot be grounds for termination. The exclusive contract between ADOR and the members of NewJeans is still valid. Therefore, we ask that you continue to work with ADOR in the future as you have done so far."
The company expressed disappointment at the group’s decision and stated that they would explore all options to support the group in their growth.
"We have requested several meetings with the artists, but it has not been successful. We hope that we can open our hearts and meet and have a sincere conversation even now. ADOR will support the activities of our artist NewJeans and do our best to help them grow further as global artists."
Despite leaving ADOR and HYBE, NewJeans announced plans to continue operating under their established group name. However, this claim could be contested by ADOR, that both HYBE and ADOR retain the legal rights to the "NewJeans" trademark.
Fans have voiced mixed reactions to the news. While many applaud the group for standing firm on issues of alleged mistreatment and autonomy, others remain concerned about potential legal conflicts over their continued use of the "NewJeans" brand name.
