ADOR Claims NewJeans' Success Stems from HYBE’s Investment

On the morning of the 7th, the 50th Civil Affairs Department of the Seoul Central District Court held a hearing regarding an injunction filed by ADOR against the members of NewJeans (Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein). The injunction seeks to preserve ADOR’s status as the group’s management agency and prevent the members from independently signing advertising contracts.

During the hearing, ADOR was the first to present its case. The company stated, “NewJeans is a globally recognized girl group representing South Korea. While the members’ talent and hard work have been crucial to their success, that alone does not fully explain their rise. NewJeans is ADOR’s sole artist, and all of our employees—stylists, music and video production staff, choreographers, and managers, totaling around 50 people—have dedicated themselves entirely to the group since the members were trainees.”

ADOR further argued that HYBE’s financial backing played a pivotal role in NewJeans' success. “HYBE provided an unprecedented investment of 21 billion KRW in two installments. This level of funding for a single group had never been seen before. It allowed ADOR to create a dedicated fan platform for NewJeans and invest 10 billion KRW in their debut, marketing, and other promotional activities.”

Additionally, ADOR emphasized that NewJeans benefited from HYBE’s intangible assets. “Before their debut, NewJeans appeared in BTS’s music video and promoted alongside various HYBE artists through collaborative challenge videos whenever they released new songs. From the outset, they were introduced as ‘BTS’s little sister group’ and were marketed as ‘following in BTS’s footsteps’ or even ‘surpassing BTS’ at Min Hee-jin’s request. At the time, this was an unprecedented use of another group’s popularity for promotional purposes within HYBE.”

The Legal Dispute

The injunction aims to have ADOR officially recognized as NewJeans’ management company (under its exclusive contract) until a ruling is issued in the ongoing lawsuit regarding the contract’s validity. ADOR also seeks to prevent the members from engaging in independent advertising deals without the company’s approval.

NewJeans and ADOR have been embroiled in a dispute over their exclusive contracts. On November 28th of last year, the group held an emergency press conference announcing, “As of midnight on the 28th, our exclusive contract with ADOR is terminated.” They publicly demanded the contract’s cancellation and revealed a new stage name, NJZ, under which they began independent activities. They also announced plans to release a new song at ComplexCon in Hong Kong on the 23rd.

However, ADOR maintains that NewJeans’ exclusive contract remains valid until July 31, 2029. As a result, the company filed a lawsuit on December 3, 2023, seeking legal confirmation of the contract’s validity. Additionally, on January 6, 2024, ADOR submitted an injunction request to uphold its authority as the group’s management agency and block any unauthorized advertising deals by the members.

https://m.entertain.naver.com/article/108/0003309171