Amidst their ongoing dispute with the agency and suspension of activities, NewJeans/NJZ celebrates a milestone, 1000 days since their debut.
The 5-member K-pop group debuted in July 2022 with the single “Attention”, formed by a sub-label of HYBE, ADOR. The debut and musical releases were overseen by former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin, who parted ways with HYBE after the conflict.
They dropped several hit songs such as “OMG”, “Hype Boy”, “Ditto”, “ETA”, “Super Shy”, “How Sweet”, and more. Their musical style which blends elements of 1990s and 2000s music resonated with the listeners. NewJeans is one of the few K-pop groups to achieve commercial success and global fame in such a short time.
On April 16, NewJeans posted a picture of a sunflower on their separate Instagram account, MHDHH Friends. They posted heartfelt messages for fans with the caption, “Bunnies~! It’s been 1000 days since we met~! The 1000 days with you have been pure happiness! Every day together is another adventure! Love you x 1000”.
NewJeans and ADOR are embroiled in a contract dispute, and the group declared their exclusive contract terminated as of November 29, 2024. They cited the agency’s failure to fulfill obligations and violating contract terms. They claimed ADOR had no right to interfere with their activities and that their trust in ADOR and HYBE had broken down.
They filed a lawsuit at the Seoul Central District Court on December 3, 2025, seeking confirmation of the exclusive contract’s validity. The agency stated that a simple breakdown of trust was not a sufficient reason for termination.
In January, ADOR filed an injunction to preserve the status of the agency and prohibit NewJeans from signing advertising contracts. On March 21, the court granted an injunction which would mean NewJeans was currently restricted from independent activities as NJZ. They filed an objection to the injunction to allow them to carry out activities independently, the first hearing was held on April 9. The court will soon announce the verdict regarding the objection.
Instead of moving forward with the label after the injunction, they suspended their activities at the ComplexCon Hong Kong. The first hearing for the main lawsuit for the exclusive contract was held on April 3 and the next hearing is scheduled for June 5.
