ADOR Halts NewJeans’ Independent Activities Following Court Decision
The newly revealed court decision prohibits the K-pop girl group from entering into any advertising contracts independently or through any third party without ADOR’s approval.
Following months of the ongoing dispute between global K-pop superstars NewJeans and their label ADOR, the 50th Civil Agrrement Division of South Korea’s Seoul Central District Court has granted the label’s application in the preliminary injunction seeking to confirm its status as the exclusive management agency of the group’s members.
The recent update seeks to “preserve the status of the agency” and to “prevent the artists from entering into any advertising contracts independently – or through any third party” without ADOR’s approval. Though Minji, Danielle, Hanni, Haerin, and Hyein claimed that their contracts were terminated due to a violation of ADOR’s contract, the court still ruled that they should not engage in independent activities.
In ADOR’s official media statement, the HYBE-owned label expressed their gratitude regarding the court’s decision, as they reaffirmed their position as the “legitimate exclusive management agency for the artists” as “all entertainment activities of the artists must hereinafter be conducted under and with the prior approval” from the company. Read their full statement below:
“We express our sincere gratitude for the court’s judicious decision to grant the preliminary injunction. With our status as NewJeans’ exclusive agency now legally affirmed, we are fully committed to supporting the artists going forward.
We will be fully present at ComplexCon this weekend to guarantee the performance is presented under the NewJeans name. We eagerly anticipate meeting with the artists for a heartfelt conversation at the earliest opportunity.
We sincerely request your ongoing support and encouragement for NewJeans as they continue to grow together with ADOR.”
Following the release of ADOR’s statement, the members of NewJeans also shared their response to the court ruling that was posted in both languages of English and Korean. In their statement, the group expressed their disappointment with the court’s decision and also announced their plans to file a dispute through their legal system’s objection process. Check out their statement in its entirety below:
“Today, the court issued a provisional injunction decision. We, NJZ, respect the court’s decision. However, we believe that the decision did not sufficiently take into account the fact that the members’ trust in ADOR has been completely destroyed. Due to the nature of provisional measures, which must proceed quickly, the decision was made in about two weeks after the hearing on March 7, 2025, and as a result, there was not enough opportunity to fully explain all the specific facts to the court.
Additionally, due to the asymmetry of information, ADOR and HYBE have access to all information regarding the members’ entertainment activities, while the members are in a situation where they must individually contact related parties to request information. There were also cases where many people could not cooperate due to the pressure and fear of retaliation that comes with being involved in a lawsuit.
Regarding today’s provisional injunction decision, we plan to dispute additional issues through the objection process, and in that process, we will supplement the explanatory materials as much as possible and contest the decision. Above all, until the point of terminating the exclusive contract, the members faithfully fulfilled the contract and did not commit any fault, while ADOR and HYBE, which stands behind it, continuously treated the members unfairly and discriminatively, destroying trust. We believe that it is only a matter of time before the truth becomes clear.
A provisional injunction is a temporary decision. Between ADOR and the members, a main lawsuit to confirm the validity of the termination of the exclusive contract is also ongoing, and at the hearing scheduled for April 3, we will once again clarify that the contract was lawfully terminated. Unlike the provisional injunction process, in the main lawsuit, we can more freely utilize the civil litigation system to secure the necessary evidence, and through this, we expect to significantly strengthen the evidence supporting the members’ claims.
The members of NJZ are going through a difficult time, but as always, we are trying to overcome this situation calmly and resolutely, thinking of Bunnies and many of those who support NJZ. NJZ values our promises to fans above all else, and in order to communicate with fans with even greater joy, we will do our best in the remaining legal proceedings. As we have repeatedly stated before, we, NJZ, cannot continue to work with an agency that has insulted our character and belittled our achievements, regardless of monetary issues. Once again, we would like to state that the reason we are pursuing this lawsuit is to protect our values and rights.
Meanwhile, after much deliberation, we decided to participate in ComplexCon scheduled for March 23 to prevent causing unforeseen harm to fans who are looking forward to the concert and the many related parties involved.
We ask for your continued support and encouragement as you watch over us. Thank you.”
As we anticipate what lies ahead for both NewJeans and ADOR, supporters of both parties can only stay tuned to this space for more updates regarding the dispute.
