After a year-long legal battle, K-pop girl group NewJeans lost a case against their record label Ador. The court dismissed NewJeans’ claim of mistreatment and manipulation by the label and ruled that their contract with Ador is valid until 2029. NewJeans debuted in 2022 with the members Kim Minji, Hanni Pham, Danielle Marsh, Kang Haerin and Lee Hyein. The girl group has multiple songs with over 700 million streams on Spotify, such as “Ditto,” “OMG” and “Super Shy.”
The K-pop industry has a reputation for mistreating its artists, according to Forbes, evidenced by former K-pop idols such as Goo Hara, Choi Jin-ri known as Sulli and Moonbin, who all committed suicide before the age of 30. The New York Times wrote that these deaths exposed the uglier side of the Korean entertainment industry. Exacerbating the dark side of the industry, idols can rarely speak up against their labels, which makes the NewJeans case unprecedented.
The conflict started in 2024 after a dispute between the CEO of Ador at the time, Min Hee-jin, and the parent company Hybe. The entertainment label had believed Min tried to get out of her contract to work independently. Min dismissed all allegations but was ultimately fired in August 2024.
After her firing, NewJeans demanded Hybe and Ador reinstate Min as the CEO. She was then appointed as internal director but resigned a month later. In a deleted livestream, the group accused the labels of mistreatment and manipulation. Pham said in a testimony that the company hated them to the point where they allegedly instructed journalists in Korea to downplay them.
In November 2024, NewJeans announced their wish to leave Hybe and Ador. In response, Ador sent a request to a court in Korea about the situation. Ador received clarification that the contract was still valid and intact. In February, without authorization from Hybe or Ador, the girls rebranded to NJZ and scheduled performances before any legal judgments could be cleared in court.
In March, a court ruled that every member of NewJeans needs to pay $700,000 to Ador and Hybe if they participate in any entertainment activity without their consent. The court gave a preliminary injunction to Ador specifying that they are NewJeans’ agency. Two days later, the group announced an indefinite hiatus. “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,” Pham and Marsh said at a show in Hong Kong.
On Oct. 30, the court ruled that Ador did not breach the contract with NewJeans and that the group is to remain under contract until 2029. The court said there was insufficient evidence that the termination of Min violated NewJeans’ contract nor that the termination was evidence of mistreatment.
According to Billboard, the ruling gave Hybe $1.5 billion to its market value, increasing the market shares by 18.4%. Billboard said investors were fearful that a loss in court could create a domino effect, where other K-pop idols would follow NewJeans and leave Hybe.
Ador said in a statement to Music Business Worldwide that it is hopeful that NewJeans will eventually return. Ador is ready to schedule upcoming events and a new album, if the girls were to come back. However, as it stands now, NewJeans will continue the hiatus and said in a statement that it would be “impossible” to return to the label. The K-pop group is set to appeal the court’s decision, according to The Korea Herald.
