ADOR and NJZ’s intense court battle began with the first hearing held today.
Even though their attendance was not mandatory, NJZ (formerly NewJeans) showed up to court in all black for the injunction hearing.
The Seoul Central District Court’s 50th Civil Affairs Department held a hearing today, Friday, March 7. The purpose of the hearing was to discuss the injunction filed by ADOR against NewJeans members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein. The injunction aims to preserve ADOR’s role as the group’s agency and prevent them from entering into advertising contracts without the label’s approval.
ADOR claims the injunction aims to ensure NewJeans continues their entertainment activities in compliance with their contract and with ADOR’s involvement. However, NewJeans argues that ADOR’s true intention is to restrict their activities and infringe upon their freedom to work as they choose.
During the court hearing, ADOR’s side stated that the reasons for terminating the exclusive contract with NewJeans were not valid. They explained, “The key obligations of an exclusive contract include providing opportunities for entertainment activities and settling profits. ADOR has fulfilled these obligations well, which is why NewJeans became a global star. Each member also received 5 billion won in settlement payments.”
They continued, “NewJeans is a group that HYBE invested a huge amount of 21 billion won to carefully nurture. There is no company that would foolishly discriminate against and ruin such a group. NewJeans’ claims go against objective facts. Most of their arguments rely on speculation, estimates, and questions. You can’t terminate an exclusive contract based on speculation alone.”
They added, “The fact that they’re bringing up everything that happened before and after the contract termination notice shows that there are no valid reasons for termination.”
ADOR has filed an injunction to confirm its status as NewJeans’ management company, as per their exclusive contract, until a verdict is reached in the lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed on December 3rd, 2024, at the Seoul Central District Court, seeks to confirm the validity of the exclusive contract. Additionally, the injunction was filed to prevent NewJeans members from independently signing advertising contracts or engaging in promotional activities without ADOR’s involvement.
However, the label maintains that their exclusive contract with NewJeans remains valid until July 31st, 2029. As a result, they filed a lawsuit to confirm the contract’s validity and later applied for an injunction to prevent unauthorized advertising contracts.
The dispute began in November 2024 when NewJeans announced the termination of their exclusive contract with ADOR, citing the agency’s failure to fulfill its contractual obligations. Since then, the group has been pursuing independent activities under the name NJZ.
