NewJeans to enter legal battle vs. HYBE

NewJeans has announced that they will be entering a legal battle with agency HYBE to defend the alleged termination of their contracts.

According to a statement translated by Soompi on Thursday, the K-Pop group aims to counter the lawsuit filed by HYBE and sublabel ADOR that was intended to “confirm the validity of our exclusive contracts” and apply for an injuction to “preserve the agency’s status and prohibit the signing of advertising contracts.”

“To address the rapidly progressing injunction, we felt that Shin & Kim, which is already familiar with the issues and wrongdoings of HYBE and ADOR, is the most suitable choice,” the statement read.

NewJeans reiterated that HYBE and ADOR failed to “fulfill their responsibilities” as an agency, and attempted to abandon and replace them.

The group also accused HYBE and ADOR of spreading baseless criticism through media, malicious YouTube channels, even after “the lawful termination of our exclusive contracts.”

They declared they had no intention of returning to HYBE or ADOR, and only intended to finish their previously scheduled activities without harm.

“It is difficult not to conclude that ADOR and HYBE are at the center of all these issues… While ADOR and HYBE publicly claim they want us to return, behind the scenes, they have continued to harass and attack us relentlessly, just as they did before,” the statement said.

“Seeing ADOR and HYBE disregard such intentions and efforts and cause harm to us and others through improper means, we have decided to no longer remain silent,” it added.

NewJeans said they intended to fight in court to reveal “the wrongdoings of ADOR and HYBE” and extended their apologies to fans for causing concern.

Before allegedly terminating their contracts, NewJeans had also previously lashed out against HYBE in a YouTube video and demanded that the record label reinstated Min as the CEO of ADOR.

The group announced that they will be terminating their contracts with ADOR on November 28 in a surprise press conference, citing alleged mistreatment of the members and staff, miscommunication, and manipulation as reasons for termination.

In response, ADOR stated that the press conference was conducted without proper communication and that they were not in violation of any terms in their contracts.

They also stated that “unilaterally broken” trust was not a viable ground for termination.

In October 2024, Hanni went to the parliament to testify regarding workplace bullying after she overheard the manager of another group instructing them to “ignore her.”

The group also alleged that the label had been bullying her due to an ongoing legal dispute between HYBE and former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin.

A previous workplace harassment case involving Hanni had also been dismissed by the Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor earlier on a technicality. —Jiselle Anne Casucian/JCB, GMA Integrated News