With their innovative girl-next-door concept and enormous popularity, the girl group NewJeans is credited for revolutionising the current K-pop genre. The band comprising five members—Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein, debuted in 2022 and garnered huge success with just their maiden album. Recently, the group made news when they announced their exit from their agency ADOR, a division of HYBE Corporation. Soon after, ADOR issued a statement claiming that their contract with NewJeans is valid till 2029. "ADOR never breached the contract, and just because (the members of NewJeans) argue that trust has been broken, it does not mean that the contracts can be terminated," read the statement.
This situation seems to be the result of months of escalating tensions between HYBE and Min Hee Jin. The former ADOR CEO is touted to be the mentor of NewJeans and she was also the executive producer of the group. Min Hee Jin was made to step down from her position at ADOR in August, which did not sit well with NewJeans. Since Min Hee Jin's removal as ADOR CEO, the group has allegedly been getting mistreated by the company. They have accused ADOR of workplace harassment and violating their artists' rights, which finally culminated in their exit from the company.
HYBE Vs Min Hee Jin
On April 22, it was reported that HYBE had started an audit of ADOR and requested Min Hee Jin's resignation, citing suspicions that she was attempting a coup for sole management rights of ADOR (and thus, NewJeans). ADOR released a statement in reaction to the audit, accusing Hybe of plagiarism, infringement of creative work, and deliberate attempts to discredit the accomplishments of both ADOR and NewJeans.
To remove Min from her position, HYBE called an urgent shareholders' meeting at the beginning of May. All five of the NewJeans members filed court petitions supporting Min's request for an injunction to halt the meeting, while other Hybe executives filed petitions supporting the parent firm. Ultimately, the injunction was granted after the court decided that HYBE lacked evidence against Min to warrant a dismissal.
NewJeans Vs HYBE and ADOR
After months-long disputes and conflicts between Min Hee Jin and HYBE, Min finally stepped down from the CEO position on August 27 but kept the position of NewJeans' creative director. Amidst this, NewJeans openly stated their support for Min Hee Jin. In a surprise YouTube livestream on September 11, the group expressed their dissatisfaction with HYBE's management skills and highlighted her crucial role in forming their identity.
As the controversy grew, attention shifted to NewJeans' struggle against what they called a toxic work environment. On October 15, the group's member Hanni gave testimony before the Environment and Labor Committee of the South Korean National Assembly, detailing instances of harassment and discrimination at ADOR.
Amidst escalating hostilities, NewJeans gave ADOR an ultimatum on November 13, pointing out several violations of their exclusive contract and threatening to end the arrangement if they weren't fixed in 14 days. On November 20, Min Hee Jin formally stepped down as the creative director of ADOR.
Days later, NewJeans announced their contract termination with ADOR after failing to reach an agreement with their company. Although ADOR denied their claims and insisted that the group is still bound to their label by contract, NewJeans has declared its intentions to stay together even after exiting the company. The group plans to fight for the NewJeans trademarks in court.
