K-pop girl group NewJeans has announced that all of its five members have decided to terminate their exclusive contracts with HYBE and its subsidiary, ADOR, during an emergency press conference.
On Thursday, November 28, Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein held an emergency press conference to address their exit from the agency following a series of disputes between them, Soompi reported.
NewJeans leader Minji stated during the press conference, “The exclusive contract between NewJeans and ADOR will be terminated as of November 29 at 12 AM KST.”
“We are tired of HYBE’s insincere attitude and felt once again that they have no desire to listen to our requests,” she added.
Danielle furthe expressed their group’s intent to freely pursue their desired activities after leaving ADOR, including maintaining their current schedules and aiming to release new music for fans next year. She acknowledged the possibility of losing the name “NewJeans” but assured fans that they would continue to fight for it.
“We are well aware that from today we may not be able to use our current name NewJeans, however, that doesn’t mean that we are giving up on the name at all, and we will continue to fight for NewJeans. Regardless of our name, just remember that NewJeans never dies,” the Australian-South Korean member remarked.
Earlier this month, the group sent a certification of contents to ADOR, citing multiple breaches of their exclusive contracts. They demanded that the agency resolve these issues within 14 days, warning that failure to comply would result in contract termination.
The quintet outlined several grievances in their certification of contents, including a derogatory statement in HYBE’s report implying they were “disposable”, alleged misconduct by a manager instructing staff to ignore one of its members Hanni, concerns over damages caused by “album pushing” practices, and a dispute with music video director Shin Woo Seok over their hit songs including “Ditto” and “ETA.”
Meanwhile, Korean Joong Daily also quoted Hanni as saying: “ADOR has neither the ability nor the will to protect NewJeans. Staying at the agency will only prolong our psychological pain and waste our time.”
Hanni had previously stood before the National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee last October to testify on the alleged workplace bullying and systemic discrimination she and her members experienced within HYBE Labels.
The artist’s claims against the company, however, were dismissed, prompting the proposal of a bill, informally called the “NewJeans Hanni Act,” which was introduced in South Korea’s National Assembly to address workplace harassment for those under special contracts, including K-pop idols.
The dispute between NewJeans and HYBE began after the group livestreamed an ultimatum on September 11, demanding the reinstatement of ADOR’s former CEO, Min Hee-jin, who was entangled in a feud with the parent company. Despite the members’ efforts, the deadline passed without resolution, and Min’s legal attempt to regain her position was dismissed in October.
The conflict escalated when NewJeans sent a legal notice to ADOR on November 13, signaling their intent to potentially leave the label. A week later, Min officially resigned from both ADOR and HYBE.
Debuting in 2021, NewJeans is a prominent 4th-generation K-pop group popular for their hit songs, including “Attention,” “Super Shy,” “OMG,” and “Supernatural.”
Aside from NewJeans, HYBE Labels is also home to popular K-pop acts including BTS, SEVENTEEN, and LE SSERAFIM, among others.
