On the 13th, photos of Hanni and Minji were shared on ‘mhdhh friends’, an instagram account independently run by the members of NewJeans.
In the released photos, Hanni and Minji are seen posing in front of the Pantheon in Rome. They also appeared to be enjoying a leisurely time exploring various parts of the city. The two wrote, “Bunnies (NewJeans’ official fan club), how are you doing? We’ve come far away for a bit. We wanted to go somewhere where no one would recognize us.”
Recently, stories of spotting Hanni and Minji traveling in Rome surfaced on online communities, sparking interest. One netizen claimed to have seen the two sightseeing at the Vatican without a manager or any staff, just the two of them. With speculation spreading online, the photos posted by Hanni and Minji themselves confirmed that the trip was a close-knit friendship getaway.
In November of last year, NewJeans announced that they had terminated their exclusive contracts with their agency, ADOR. Afterwards, they attempted to continue their activities independently under a new name, NJZ.
However, the court recently sided with ADOR in a legal injunction that prohibited the members from entering into new advertising contracts or acting independently, reaffirming ADOR’s status as their agency. Despite NewJeans citing 11 issues — including the dismissal of former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin (who was also their producer), an internal HYBE document suggesting a “reset without NewJeans,” and former HYBE CEO Park Ji-won’s statement about “giving NewJeans a long break” — the court ruled that none of these constituted valid grounds for contract termination.
As a result, NewJeans announced a suspension of activities. They also changed their name from NJZ to mhdhh, which is derived from the initials of the members’ names. The group has since filed an objection to the court’s decision and has initiated a lawsuit seeking confirmation of the invalidity of their exclusive contracts.