NewJeans' long-running saga with ADOR has reached a breaking point. On 28 November, the K-pop giants held an emergency press conference declaring that they were departing from their agency.
This comes two weeks after the girl group sent an ultimatum to ADOR's parent company HYBE, telling the firm that they would terminate their contract unless a set of demands was met, which includes an apology for a comment by one of the company’s managers, who is accused by NewJeans of bullying, and the immediate reinstatement of their producer Min Hee-jin.
Hanni said, "We have faced mistreatment not just toward us but also toward our staff, countless preventions and contradictions, deliberate miscommunication, and manipulation regarding multiple areas. It is a company that no longer has any sincerity in the art of music that is created, is rather fixated on appearing like a well-working company despite only having thoughts about making money, and does not have any conscience about the negative effect they create through their non-authentic means. This is not the type of work ethic we respect nor want to be a part of, and to continue working under a company with no intention of protecting NewJeans would only do us harm. So that is why we, the five of us together, have agreed to leave ADOR. And for us to clearly express ourselves before misleading information is released regarding this, we have chosen to hold an emergency press conference today."
"Once we leave ADOR, we'll aim to proceed freely with the activities that we really desire," elaborated Danielle. "We really wish to be able to release new music for Bunnies, next year, as soon as possible, whenever. We really hope that we have the opportunity to meet you guys from all around the world."
The members did acknowledge that they might not be able to use the band's name once their contract with ADOR is terminated.
On that end, ADOR responded by stating, “We regret that a press conference to announce the termination of the exclusive contract was planned and conducted even before receiving a response to the certification of contents and without sufficient review.”
The company stresses that, "ADOR, as a party of the exclusive contracts, has not violated the contracts, and claiming that trust has been unilaterally broken does not constitute grounds for termination. The exclusive contracts between ADOR and the NewJeans members remain valid. Therefore, we expect them to continue their scheduled activities ahead together with ADOR as they have until now.”
The statement also revealed hopes for a resolution through a meeting with NewJeans: “We have requested several meetings with the artists, but they were not carried out. We hope that even now, we can open our hearts and have sincere conversations together.”
As of now, the future for both parties remain uncertain.
Like what you read? Show our writer some love!
-