NewJeans are supposedly not leaving the HYBE umbrella anytime soon — as stated by their label ADOR.

ADOR disputed the K-pop girl group’s termination claims, issuing an official statement saying that NewJeans have no grounds to announce their departure from the agency and its parent company, stating that they still want Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, Minji, and Hyein to continue working with the company.

In their full statement, ADOR expressed regret over the press conference held without proper review or agreement on the alleged details shared, while also claiming that NewJeans have no valid reason to announce the termination of their contracts. They stated that they had not broken any terms of the group’s contract and that the claim of trust being broken serves as an invalid reason to end their contract with the label.

“We regret that a press conference to announce the termination of the exclusive contract was planned and conducted even before receiving a response to the certification of contents and without sufficient review. ADOR, as a part of the exclusive contracts, has not violated the contracts, and claiming that trust has been unilaterally broken does not constitute grounds for termination,” the agency mentioned in an official press statement, released today (November 29).

Continuing their statement, ADOR mentioned that they confirmed that the contracts with NewJeans are indeed still in effect, and that they expect the group to continue their activities as planned. They further added that they had tried to arrange meetings with the members but were unsuccessful, sharing their hopes to have “open and honest discussions” about the matter moving forward. “We hope that even now, we can open our hearts and have sincere conversations together. ADOR will do our best to support NewJeans in their activities and help them grow further as global artists.”

This serves as the latest update on the ongoing legal saga between NewJeans, ADOR, and HYBE, which has been going on over the past few months. Earlier this November 13, 2024, the K-pop five-piece formally notified the agencies of their intent to terminate their contracts in November through a YouTube video — setting a 14-day deadline for the agencies to rectify specific issues, including the return of former CEO Min Hee Jin.

The group accused the agencies of using several technicalities to evade the responsibility of the group, which marks the latest incident in which NewJeans has expressed dissatisfaction with their treatment by their agencies due to unfair practices and a lack of support. NewJeans sent a legal notice to HYBE, listing their five demands that they hope be met by November 27, or else they were to proceed with the termination of their contract with ADOR.

The aforementioned demands included an “apology for bullying allegations against a protocol manager, removal of photos/videos used without consent, resolution of damages related to chart manipulation, and addressing a dispute with a director they worked with.” Once the deadline for their demands had passed, the group held a press conference to address the situation and announced their next steps and termination, explaining: “The reason we are leaving ADOR is very simple,” adding, “ADOR neither has the will nor the ability to protect NewJeans.”