K-pop girl group NewJeans has revealed a new name for itself — NJZ — amid an ongoing legal battle with its label Ador.
The quintet, consisting of Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein, confirmed they will be performing under their new name for the first time at the ComplexCon Hong Kong festival in March.
Hanni told CNN the rebrand is their way of “turning this rough period of time into something more exciting”.
The 20-year-old said that NJZ doesn’t want the legal dispute with Ador to be the focus of their careers. “We are working a lot to resolve everything so that we can go back to normal.”
In September last year, the group accused Ador of bullying, harassment and subterfuge, and two months later, they requested their contract to be terminated.
The girls held an emergency press conference to announce their exit from Ador and warned the agency they would terminate their contract if the company did not rectify breaches of their contract.
In response, Ador said: “We regret that the press conference regarding the termination of the exclusive contract was planned and conducted without sufficient review, prior to receiving a response to the legal notice.”
Ador has denied all allegations made against it. The company filed a lawsuit against the girl group to “confirm the validity of the exclusive contract” last December and a court injunction to keep them from signing independent advertising deals in January.
A preliminary court date for the injunction has been set for April and the lawsuit for May.
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