A Seoul court ruled on March 21 that members of K-pop group NewJeans “remain under exclusive contract with entertainment agency Ador and cannot pursue independent activities without the agency’s consent.”
The Seoul Central District Court accepted Ador’s injunction request, which sought to prevent NewJeans members from independently pursuing activities and advertising contracts without the agency’s approval. The ruling effectively bans the group’s five members from conducting independent activities under their new name, NJZ.
Last November, NewJeans members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein said they were leaving Ador after accusing the agency of mistreatment and violating the terms of their exclusive contract. The group officially renamed themselves NJZ last month and began independent activities.
Ador, a subsidiary of HYBE, filed injunctions against the group in January.
The Seoul Central District Court granted Ador the injunction, ruling that “the claims and materials submitted by NewJeans members do not prove that Ador violated any contractual obligations or that the trust between the parties has been irreparably damaged.”
Addressing concerns raised by the members about instability at Ador, the court said, “There is insufficient evidence to conclude that production was disrupted after former Ador CEO Min Hee-jin stepped down or that the agency lacked the plans or capacity to support the group’s activities.”
“Ador filed the injunction because we want to continue working with NewJeans,” Ador CEO Kim Joo-young said at one of the hearings.
NewJeans members claimed that the label deliberately undermined their careers and demanded that Min return to Ador. Min, who played a key role in producing and managing NewJeans, was dismissed from the agency following a dispute with HYBE, Ador’s parent company.
