The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday (April 16) rejected NewJeans’ appeal to overturn an injunction that prevents the K-pop group from pursuing activities independent of their management agency, HYBE-owned ADOR.
The court reaffirmed its March 21 ruling in favor of ADOR as “valid,” maintaining the order that prevents members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein from pursuing solo endeavors or group activities without ADOR’s consent.
The decision, reported by Korea JoongAng Daily, effectively blocks the members from operating independently, whether individually, through legal guardians, or via third parties.
Following the latest setback, the group’s legal team promptly filed an appeal with the Seoul High Court, Koreaboo reported.
“Today, the court handling the injunction has rendered a decision approving the original ruling. In response, we have filed an immediate appeal,” the group’s legal team, Shin & Kim LLC, said in a statement cited by Koreaboo.
“We will continue to diligently participate in the ongoing legal procedures and do our utmost to ensure that the facts are clearly brought to light.”
The development marks the latest in the dispute between the K-pop group and ADOR, which began in November when NewJeans publicly announced their plan to terminate their exclusive contract with ADOR during an emergency press conference on November 28.
At the time, the group cited eight issues they had previously raised with management, claiming the agency failed to address their concerns by a November 13 deadline.
“Staying at the agency will only prolong our psychological pain and waste our time,” NewJeans member Hanni said at the time, as quoted by JoongAng Daily.
This prompted ADOR to file a lawsuit in December, seeking to confirm the validity of its exclusive contracts with the NewJeans members. Then in January, ADOR filed for a preliminary injunction against the group to prevent the members from pursuing independent activities without company approval.
Subsequently in February, NewJeans announced that they have rebranded as “NJZ,” after launching their own social media accounts in December.
Following the name change, the court last month ordered the group to halt their independent activities and return to working with ADOR, granting the label’s request and ruling that there is “insufficient evidence to support the claims made by the NewJeans members,” per Korea JoongAng Daily.
The ruling prompted NewJeans to announce an indefinite hiatus just weeks ago following a sold-out performance in Hong Kong. The concert saw the five-member band perform as NJZ, rather than NewJeans.
In a separate case over the validity of NewJeans members’ contracts, ADOR and NewJeans faced off in court earlier this month, with the agency revealing that payments to NewJeans members have continued even after the group attempted to terminate their exclusive contract. At the hearing, NewJeans’ legal team maintained that former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin‘s removal rendered the current ADOR a “different corporation” from the one they originally worked with.
Most recently on Wednesday, the court dismissed objections filed by all five of the band’s members against the March ruling, according to Yonhap News Agency.
“Even while keeping in mind the claims and supporting materials [that the NewJeans members] are repeatedly emphasizing through this appeal, by reading through the records, one can judge that this injunction decision is just,” the judge said, as quoted by Soompi.
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