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On April 13, 2025, Kbizoom reported that NewJeans' (NJZ) fan club released an apology letter for spreading malicious and hateful comments against ADOR CEO Kim Joo-young. Furthermore, the fan club apologized for failing to moderate these hate comments against the CEO. The statement was officially posted on the popular Korean online forum Women’s Generation.
This admission came amidst a series of controversies involving the group's management and sparked discussions about fan accountability in the K-pop industry.
“It was an inexcusable wrongdoing for members of our forum to post insulting comments… We now deeply reflect on the fact that, in doing so, we may have easily inflicted harm on others.”
They continued:
“Using excessively harsh and offensive language toward the CEO of ADOR is absolutely unacceptable. We sincerely apologize to the individual involved. Regardless of the legal implications, these comments cannot be justified. We will accept any consequences.”
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Unraveling the NewJeans-ADOR Feud: Deep dive into K-Pop's turbulent power struggle
The discord began in April 2024 when HYBE Corporation initiated an internal audit of ADOR's CEO, Min Hee-jin. As the parent company of ADOR, HYBE suspected that Min Hee-jin was attempting to take over ADOR which was a breach of trust.
Min Hee-jin refuted these allegations and gave a presentation at her press conference in April 2024 to prove that HYBE discriminated against her. She also claimed that HYBE was undermining the group's success by replicating their concepts for other acts under its umbrella.
In the ensuing months, the situation escalated. Min Hee-jin was removed from her position as CEO of ADOR in August 2024. NewJeans expressed their discontent via a YouTube livestream. The channel and livestream were deleted after a few hours, but the group members made their demands heard which included the reinstatement of Min Hee-jin as ADOR's CEO.
NewJeans' Hanni publicly testified about workplace harassment and the lack of support from the agency in October 2024. In a bold move, the group announced its departure from ADOR in November 2024 after HYBE and ADOR refused to reappoint Min Hee-jin as the CEO.
In February 2025, the group rebranded themselves as NJZ and announced that they would perform at the ComplexCon Hong Kong on March 23 as independent artists.
Meanwhile, ADOR filed a lawsuit in December 2024 to enforce the validity of their contracts. They also filed an injunction in January 2025 to prevent the group from engaging in independent activities. On March 21, 2025, ADOR won the injunction that prevented the group from pursuing independent activities. Still, ADOR allowed the group to perform at ComplexCon as NewJeans and not as NJZ.
Surprisingly, the group announced going on a hiatus at the ComplexCon Hong Kong to rebel against the court's order. Additionally, ADOR's staff couldn't contact the members in Hong Kong after the girls landed for their performance. On top of that, the group also sold "NJZ" merchandise at the ComplexCon and released a new song Pit Stop under the name NJZ.
ADOR versus NewJeans lawsuit court hearing for their contract validity and legalities will be held on June 5, 2025.
