Much-loved K-pop girl group NewJeans won some and lost a lot on Thursday. The hits-delivering music act embroiled in a legal battle against its own agency ADOR (under HYBE Labels) amassed impressive 300 million plays on Spotify with their popular track “Cookie” on October 30. The good news was delivered by ADOR the same day the case related to the band’s exclusive contract was ruled in the South Korean entertainment label’s favour.
Warring on two different sides of the table since last year, NewJeans and ADOR’s case came to a disappointing close for the group at the Seoul Central District Court on Thursday. The latest ruling determined that the K-pop quintet’s (Hanni, Hyein, Haerin, Danielle and Minji) contract with the record label was still very much valid, and will retain that status until it runs out in 2029.
Court’s ruling in NewJeans vs ADOR case
Although the tussle between both sides has been an issue for far too long, it especially intensified last year after the group held an emergency press conference and unilaterally announced that the members would be terminating the exclusive contract with HYBE’s sub-label. At the time, the “ETA” hit-makers even declared that they would be pursuing activities under the new name “NJZ,” in addition to calling for the reinstatement of former CEO Min Hee Jin.
On Thursday, the court ruled against the group’s desires to rebrand itself and separate its origins from the company after the dismissal of Min Hee Jin, aka the creative mastermind behind the NewJeans brand.
“It is difficult to conclude that ADOR breached the exclusive contract solely by dismissing former CEO Min Hee Jin,” the court ruled. “Even if Min Hee Jin was removed from the CEO position, she could have performed producer duties as a director on the board, and it was not necessary for her to remain CEO to do so.”
Officials went on to note that while NewJeans member had great trust in Min Hee Jin, it did not “constitute grounds to terminate the exclusive contract,” especially since there was no clause dictating that their contract’s validity was determined by the ex-CEO’s removal.
On top of that, the court rejected NewJeans’ allegations workplace harassment against a company official. Addressing claims that a manager of group ILLIT (under the other HYBE sub-label BELIFT LAB) targeted Hanni with troubling remarks, the bench said, “Based on the evidence submitted alone, it is difficult to conclude that Hanni heard remarks from a manager of ILLIT—such as ‘ignore her’—that rose to the level of infringing her personality rights.”
NewJeans to appeal ADOR contract verdict
As a counter-move, NewJeans has already announced that it would appeal the ruling, K-media outlet reported. After the court verdict, the five-member group issued a statement through its legal team, SHIN & KIM LLC. It stated that while the quintet respected the court’s decision, they stood by their original stance against the contract’s validity.
The members confessed that it was impossible for them to continue their regular activities with ADOR since the trust between two sides had already been broken, especially with Min Hee Jin gone.
