The entertainment agency that manages NewJeans is taking legal action to prevent the Korean girl group from signing advertising deals independently amid a fierce contract dispute.
Ador announced on 13 January that they had filed an injunction request to the Seoul Central District Court both to reestablish their position as the management agency of NewJeans and to stop members from pursuing advertising contracts and activities without approval.
Ador said the band of five had been pursuing advertisers to sign independent brand deals despite the ongoing contract dispute, South Korean state news agency Yonhap reported.
“This decision was made to prevent confusion and potential harm to third parties, including advertisers,” Ador said in a statement.
The agency said in their injunction application that the group’s unilateral contract termination could have implications for South Korea’s music industry.
“Allowing unilateral terminations of exclusive contracts and independent activities without legal procedures could undermine investment in the entertainment industry and destabilise the K-pop sector,” Yonhap quoted the application as saying.
Ador and NewJeans have been embroiled in a feud since last year. The dispute escalated after the group held a press conference where they declared their contract invalid, accusing the agency of mistreatment and bullying.
The company maintained their contract “remains in full effect” and filed a lawsuit to confirm it.
The dispute has since grown to involve other K-pop groups like Illit, Le Sserafim, BTS, and Aespa, and even led to a parliamentary hearing on workplace bullying.
Here is a breakdown of the dispute involving a band of young, emerging stars and one of the biggest multinational entertainment companies in the world.
Who are NewJeans?
NewJeans is a girl group composed of Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein, all aged 16 to 20. The group was formed in 2022, with their debut single “Attention” becoming an almost instant hit. The group’s 90s and early aughts aesthetic and sound became popular not just in Korea, but internationally.
In 2023, NewJeans became the fastest K-pop act to reach one billion streams on Spotify, and entered the Billboard Hot 100 five times the same year with the singles “Super Shy”, “OMG”, “ETA”, “Ditto”, and “Cool With You”.
Their sophomore EP Get Up debuted on the Billboard 200 at No 1 in 2023, pushing out the Barbie soundtrack.
It was formed by Min Hee Jin, who was already well known in the industry for her work as a creative director at SM Entertainment, one of South Korea’s biggest entertainment companies.
In 2019, Min moved to Big Hit Entertainment, which was later restructured into a multinational company called Hybe Corporation.
Hybe owns several sublabels like Ador.
Min is credited with developing the fuss-free, nostalgic vibe and look that NewJeans is known for and for training and debuting the group under Ador, which she created.
She was made CEO of Ador and given 18 per cent stake in the company, with Hybe owning 80 per cent.
How did the record label row begin?
In April 2024, Hybe announced a formal audit of Ador and asked Min to step down. The company said they had found evidence that she was trying to take the label independent.
Min responded to the audit claiming Hybe had plagiarised her NewJeans concept to launch Illit, a five-member girl group under subsidiary Belift Labs, whose styling and choreography had been pointed out by fans as being similar.
Min held a two-hour teary press conference on 25 April, denying Hybe’s claim that she had attempted a corporate takeover and alleging that the company had instead “used me to the fullest, sucked me dry”, The Korea Times reported.
Min said Hybe was trying to dismiss her because she had raised plagiarism concerns; Hybe said she had plotted to take the label independent long before Illit’s debut.
After months of legal tussles, suits and countersuits, Hybe said Min would not keep her position as CEO, but stay on as internal director at Ador and producer of NewJeans—roles she would resign from in November.
How did the band react to all of this?
NewJeans members have steadfastly backed Min. In a letter Min posted on social media, Danielle thanked her for “always being dedicated to the work” and giving support for the “hardship” she was undergoing, according to a translation by Korea JoongAng Daily.
On 11 September, the five members went live on a newly created YouTube channel “nwjns” and, in a 27-minute video titled “What NewJeans Wanted To Say”, expressed their support for Min. She was “integral to NewJeans’ identity”, they said, and the members “all feel that she is irreplaceable.”
The band described several instances of a toxic work environment – with Hanni claiming the manager of another girl group under the label had specifically asked its members to ignore her as they passed her – and that concerns raised by Min, the members and their families had all been ignored by Hybe.
The livestream ended with the members issuing an ultimatum to Hybe: Min must be reinstated by 25 September and “our working environment returned back to normal the way it was before”.
As their demands went unmet, NewJeans called a press conference on 28 November announcing that they were terminating their exclusive deals with Ador due to breach of contract.
Ador denied the band’s accusations and maintained that they had “not violated the terms of the agreement”. They also argued that a “unilateral claim of a breach of trust does not constitute valid grounds for terminating the contract”. The company added that the “exclusive agreement between Ador and the NewJeans members remains in full effect”.
Ador filed a lawsuit in December to confirm the validity of their contract with NewJeans, claiming this was necessary to “ensure its continued legal enforcement”.
NewJeans insisted in response they had the right to terminate their contract and argued that they had returned “profits exceeding the investment to Ador and Hybe”.
What happens next?
The contract that NewJeans signed with Ador was set to last seven years, expiring in 2027.
According to Korea JoongAng Daily, if the court sides with NewJeans and declares the contract terminated, the members would be able to join another agency but not own the NewJeans name.
However, to leave a valid contract, the members might need to pay up to 300 billion won (£168m) as the terms state artists must pay the group’s average monthly revenue over the previous two years multiplied by the number of months left on the contract.
Additionally, Hanni, who is Vietnamese-American, could face deportation since the work visa that allows her to perform in South Korea is entirely contingent on an exclusive contract with a registered agency.