NewJeans will not be able to continue on with their independent activities, a South Korean judge ruled on April 16, according to reports from Billboard and Yonhap. Previously, in January, the girl group’s label ADOR filed an injunction with the courts to prevent the group from promoting themselves and performing at events under the new moniker NJZ, which the courts accepted in March. NewJeans immediately followed with an appeal to overturn that injunction, though that was rejected on Wednesday. After the latest ruling, the girl group has filed yet another appeal.
It’s been a difficult few months for the girl group who are now deep in the throes of an escalating legal battle with their label ADOR. In November 2024, the group claimed that they terminated their contract with the label, citing ADOR’s violation of exclusive contractual obligations following the departure of ADOR’s former CEO and NewJeans’ creative director Min Hee-jin. Since then, members Minji, Danielle, Hanni, Haerin, and Hyein independently rebranded themselves as NJZ, and launched new social media platforms while booking performance slots at ComplexCon Hong Kong. ADOR has claimed that the group’s contract has not been terminated, and that it is indeed still valid.
In response to the January injunction filed by ADOR, the South Korean courts sided with ADOR stating that NewJeans had not sufficiently proven that their label significantly violated contractual obligations, preventing the group from continuing with their independent promotional activities without ADOR’s consent.
A separate lawsuit is on-going between the group members and ADOR regarding the validity of that contract.
In the meantime, the girl group has spoken out repeatedly about their stance on ADOR as well as the backlash they’ve faced since going public with the suit. On April 4, the members and their parents released a statement addressing rumors that there were internal conflicts among the members’ families regarding the lawsuit. “The reports of discord among the members’ parents are completely false,” it read, per Korea Herald. “All five members firmly believe that returning to HYBE is not an option. This decision was made after thorough discussions within each family.”
In February, the girl group appeared on CNN to double down on their stance on the lawsuit and their feelings about ADOR/HYBE. “We have completely lost trust in ADOR,” Danielle said. “We believe we will win this battle against HYBE and ADOR.”