NewJeans vs. ADOR: How did things get so bad?

When NewJeans first emerged in 2022 their sleek and playful take on K-pop felt like an instant refresh. Their breakout EP featured credits from Erika de Casier and experimental pop duo Smerz who brought an underground, club-orientated looseness to the slick and precise girl group sound. With critical acclaim and a strong visual identity, it seemed likely that this was the group that would follow BTS and BLACKPINK in crossing over and establishing themselves globally.

Three years later, though, the NewJeans story has become one of messy court cases and legal drama that has left the group in limbo and fans divided. With the recent news that a South Korean court has blocked their attempt to rebrand themselves as NJZ, the future is looking more uncertain than ever. Here is a simplified timeline of a messy and complicated beef that has sidelined a rising global powerhouse and once again raised questions over the treatment of K-pop artists by the machine that powers the industry.

NewJeans have released all of their music to date through ADOR a subsidiary of HYBE (home to K-pop artists Le Sserafim, Katseye, and Enhypen alongside BTS). In 2022 they signed a seven year deal with the label which is due to expire in 2029.

However, the relationship between artist and label became fractured in August 2024 when it was announced that Min Heejin, who had worked closely with NewJeans from their earliest stages, would step down from her role as CEO of ADOR due to prior legal conflicts with HYBE. A month later, in September, NewJeans members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein held a surprise press conference in which they demanded Min be reinstated to her previous role or they would leave the label. By October, Min announced she would be leaving ADOR entirely and demanded that the label buy her company shares. NewJeans responded to this development by announcing that they would terminate their deal, citing breach of contract as well as accusing the label of “unfair treatment,” “discrimination,” and workplace harassment — all of which ADOR has denied. They outlined their plan to leave ADOR with immediate effect on November 29, 2024.

"ADOR does not have the will or ability to protect NewJeans,” the group said in an emergency press conference, per a translation by Soompi. “If we remain here, it will be a waste of our time, and our mental distress will continue. More than anything, there is nothing that we can gain in terms of our work, so the five of us think that there is no reason at all for us to remain at ADOR."

The label refused to let the group out of its deal, though. "A unilateral claim that trust has been broken does not constitute valid grounds for termination of a contract," the label said in a statement published by the BBC soon after the press conference. "We regret that the press conference on the termination of the contract took place without sufficient consideration, and even before we gave our response to the demand letter," the company added.

It was left to the court to determine whether NewJeans has the right to terminate their contract or not. There was time for one wrinkle to the story, though. In February, the group revealed that they would be performing at ComplexCon in Hong Kong and that they would be doing so under a new name, NJZ. The group also rebadged its Instagram account from @jeanzforfree to @njz_official. ADOR responded by issuing a statement to CNN in which they suggested the name change “could constitute a material breach of the exclusive agency contract."

In the run-up to the ComplexCon event, a South Korean court issued a preliminary injunction that will stop NewJeans/NJZ from working outside their ADOR contract before April, when the main lawsuit is due to begin. This includes signing deals with advertisers as well as the recording and release of new music. ADOR stated that it is “fully committed to supporting the artists going forward,” as long as they return to the label and the NewJeans name. In a statement released via the NJZ PR account on Instagram, the group announced that it would be challenging the court’s decision.

They then defied the court ruling by appearing at the ComplexCon event anyway. After debuting a new song, “Pit Stop,” the five members addressed fans and took turns reading from a letter. “This stage means so much to us and every single one of you who gives us strength just by being here,” Hanni and Danielle said. “It is really hard for us to say this, but this might be our last performance for a little while. Out of respect for the court’s decision, we’ve decided to pause all our activities for now. It wasn’t an easy decision, but we believe this is something we need to do at this moment.”

“We understand and know that today’s news might be disappointing or upsetting but it was not an easy decision for us to make either. But at the moment for us, it’s about protecting ourselves so that we can come back even stronger.”

The performance that preceded the speech had caused some confusion, with the group largely performing individually and covering ‘90s R&B songs by TLC and Ghost Town DJs.

The NewJeans x ADOR fallout has been one of the dominant storylines in K-pop in the last year, with lawsuits and press conferences on both sides fuelling a media storm. It is rare that a K-pop act speaks out in this way and there is no doubt that what has happened to NewJeans subsequently will discourage others from acting in the same way, a development the wider K-pop industry will likely welcome. The group have commented on how their case could shape the future for fellow artists, telling Time in a recent interview that “we believe change and growth are necessary. It almost feels like Korea wants to turn us into revolutionaries.”

Desiring change and achieving it are two different things, though, and so far NewJeans have not had much luck in their bid to get out of their contract. The group is due back in court on April 3 as a final ruling is made on who owns NewJeans. Whatever happens, “it will probably be quite a while until we hear new music from the group,” says Tamar Herman, journalist and author of the Notes on K-pop newsletter. “Most artists in K-pop who go up against their companies do eventually release new music, but it often takes time to sort out legal issues, and very rarely do they achieve the same heights that they once reached without the backing of a management company.”

The importance of labels and management companies in the K-pop ecosystem has also bled its way into a culture war that has split NewJeans fans over the past year. While more than 30,000 fans signed a petition requesting ADOR’s injunction request be rejected, others have criticized NewJeans and cast doubt on their claims of mistreatment.

“Fanwars often lead to the weaponization and distortion of facts, so everything that comes out is used as fodder to sway opinions in one direction or another,” Herman says. “Right now, it seems a lot of people are doubting part of the narrative put forward by the members of the group and their side and shifting to support ADOR and their current acts. There are still plenty of questions across the situation leading the court case to continue so I imagine the winds of change will continue to blow around the perspective of netizens for as long as things continue to unfold.”

Whatever the outcome of this month’s trial, NewJeans are digging in deep to get the result they want. “This fight is necessary,” Haerin said in a recent BBC interview. “Although it will be extremely difficult and arduous, we will keep doing what we have done so far and speak up.”