On the morning of February 7, the members of NewJeans (Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, Hyein) updated their newly created Instagram account, changing the name from “jeanzforfree” to “njz_official”. They also posted photos and videos announcing “Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein’s new group name: NJZ. Get ready for an exciting journey with NJZ in 2025! Stay tuned!“, confirming their future activities under the new name.
Shortly after, the group made a virtual appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia”, where they revealed that NJZ would perform for the first time under their new name at the “ComplexCon Hong Kong Festival” held in Hong Kong from March 21 to 23. They also announced that on the final day of the event, they would unveil a new song, and during the festival, members would showcase solo performances as well.
CNBC introduced the festival as “the group’s first major event since announcing their separation from ADOR“.
During the interview with CNBC, Danielle stated, “ADOR is still interfering in many aspects of our work.” Meanwhile, Hanni shared NJZ’s 2025 goal, “Our priority is to release music as soon as possible. We want to refocus on what we’re meant to do.”
Hanni further emphasized, “Honestly, we’re not afraid of anything because we haven’t done anything wrong. We’re more excited to see what the future holds, and we are confident that everything will turn out well.”
Meanwhile, in their interview with CNN, NJZ members further explained why the name change was necessary. In particular, Hanni said, “There’s been a lot of conflict going on in our previous company and while we were under that company, there was a lot of mistreatment, mismanagement. We lost a lot of trust. I think it’s going to be really fun, a really spontaneous period of our career. Instead of this period being a bit difficult.”
Haerin then expressed excitement for NJZ’s new song, which is set to be unveiled at the ComplexCon in Hong Kong next month, while Hyein commented, “We’ve gone through a lot and matured. I think that will be reflected in our new style.”
Since declaring the termination of their exclusive contract with ADOR in November last year, the members have refrained from using the name “NewJeans” in public appearances. ADOR, on the other hand, filed a lawsuit to confirm the validity of their exclusive contract with the group, along with an injunction to maintain its status as their agency and block any advertising deals under NJZ.