NewJeans members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein officially responded to ADOR’s statement about contract termination on Friday (November 29). The K-pop idols released an official statement explaining their decision to work independently, without the support of their agency. The five-member girl band shared they terminated their exclusive contract with the entertainment firm on Friday.
According to the girl group members, the contract termination notice takes effect immediately after it gets delivered to the entertainment company on Friday. The agreement between the band members and their agency will be null and void from that moment. NewJeans members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein said they would continue their activities independently, free from HYBE and ADOR.
The K-pop idols shared they faithfully fulfilled the contract obligations made between the artists and the agency. They said the contract termination was because of their agency’s breach of duties. The girl group members emphasized that they are not liable for any penalties. The five-member band explained that maintaining the exclusive contract with ADOR would cause severe mental distress to the group members.
Instagram/NewJeans
“We made this decision after long and careful consideration. We can no longer remain with ADOR, which fails to fulfill its basic duty of protecting its artists, and maintaining the contract would only cause us severe mental distress. Thus, we have concluded that we must leave ADOR. Furthermore, we were hurt and shocked by numerous media plays based on false information. We hope that such situations will not occur after our contract termination,” NewJeans members stated.
Here is the Complete Statement:
Hello,
This is Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein.
As of November 29, 2024, the five of us have terminated our exclusive contract with ADOR and will continue our activities independently, free from HYBE and ADOR.
ADOR must manage us diligently for our benefit as the agency that signed an exclusive contract with us. On November 13, 2024, we made a final request to ADOR to rectify their breaches of duty. The 14-day rectification period has passed, but ADOR refused to make any corrections. The agency did not resolve the issues raised.
Over the past few months, we have made several requests to ADOR for rectification. However, ADOR consistently responded with evasion and excuses. We want to clarify that genuine communication based on mutual respect was impossible because of ADOR.
In our rectification requests, we demanded specific actions from ADOR. However, ADOR did not rectify the issues within business hours, making it physically impossible to address them within the remaining rectification period. Therefore, ADOR’s claim that we did not wait for their response before holding a press conference yesterday is nothing but wordplay.
We are notifying ADOR of the termination of our contract due to their breach of contractual obligations and failure to rectify the issues within the rectification period. This termination notice is regarding our exclusive contract. All five of us have signed the termination document. The notice takes effect immediately upon its delivery to ADOR on Friday (November 29). From that moment, the exclusive contract is null and void. Therefore, there is no need to file an injunction to terminate the contract, and we are free to continue our activities starting from Friday (November 29).
Additionally, we have faithfully fulfilled our contractual obligations as ADOR’s artists. The termination of the contract is solely due to ADOR’s breach of duty, and we are not liable for any penalties.
We do not wish anyone to be harmed by the contract termination. We will diligently fulfill all contractual obligations between ADOR and other parties before our contract termination.
We made this decision after long and careful consideration. We can no longer remain with ADOR, which fails to fulfill its duty of protecting its artists, and maintaining the contract would only cause us severe mental distress. Thus, we have concluded that we must leave ADOR. Furthermore, we were hurt and shocked by numerous media plays based on false information. We hope that such situations will not occur after our contract termination.
We will continue to do our best to bring you great music. We would be thankful if you support and watch over the days ahead for the five of us.
Instagram/NewJeans
NewJeans members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein held an emergency press conference on Thursday (November 28) addressing contract termination. The five-member girl group announced their departure from the entertainment agency ADOR. The K-pop idols revealed they are leaving the firm because the company has no plans to reform or listen to their requests.
ADOR immediately responded to the emergency press conference held by NewJeans members through an official press release. The entertainment company criticized the K-pop idols for holding a press conference before receiving a response from the firm. Through the statement, the agency said it regrets the girl group’s decision to announce the termination of their contract without sufficient review. According to the firm, the exclusive agreement between the company and the girl group remains valid.