NewJeans Announces Departure From Agency in Emergency Press Conference

NewJeans are leaving ADOR.

Days after the K-pop girl group demanded that their agency rectify all significant breaches of the exclusive contracts within 14 days, the five members of the group held an emergency press conference on Thursday (November 28).

Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein all took turns speaking out, via Soompi.

“Before we begin, we wanted to reiterate that the YouTube live we held in September and the certification of contents we sent two weeks with demands for rectification were decided and prepared together by all five of us,” they explained.

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“First of all, the reason we are holding this emergency press conference is because the time period for rectification from the certification of contents we sent ends at midnight tonight. However, although today’s work hours are over, HYBE and the current ADOR are not showing any will to make reform or to listen to our requests.”

“Actually, tomorrow morning we are leaving for Japan and are returning next week because we have scheduled activities abroad. We were worried because we are not sure what kind of media play or media manipulation HYBE and the current ADOR will do during that time, and we wanted to express our thoughts accurately, so we discussed a lot among ourselves, and we had no choice but to hold an emergency press conference today,” they continued.

“The reason we are leaving ADOR is very simple, and I think the reporters here who know our situation are also all very aware. NewJeans is an artist of ADOR, and ADOR is obligated to protect NewJeans. It is the most basic obligation that an agency has. ADOR does not have the will or ability to protect NewJeans. 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 group went on to say.

“As a result, the exclusive contracts between NewJeans and ADOR will be terminated as of November 29 at 12 a.m. KST. However, HYBE and ADOR are currently differentiating the two companies like word play, insisting that it cannot be a violation of contract because HYBE is at fault and not ADOR. However, as everyone knows, HYBE and ADOR are pretty much just one entity now. The ADOR that we worked with has already changed a lot, and the directors who were at the company before were all abruptly dismissed. Now they are differentiating HYBE and ADOR, and we really cannot accept the argument that we must maintain our exclusive contracts with the ADOR that has been changed according to what HYBE wants, that has cut off ties with the [music video] director who worked hard with us, that has broken all of this trust. As a result, we demanded rectification regarding the violations of our contract, and as mentioned earlier, the time period for that rectification ends at midnight tonight.”

“I’m not sure if you saw yesterday, but [they released] an unwilling statement that begins with ‘This statement is in response to the actions required by the certification of contents from the artists’ with no will for reform and only for show as they have continuously demonstrated, and no rectification occurred for any of the requests we made. We expressed our opinions on several occasions such as through the live broadcast and through this certification of contents, but we are so tired of their insincere attitude, and we felt once again that they have no sincerity toward us and that have no desire at all to listen to our requests. Work hours have passed, and less than four hours remain until midnight, but no rectification has been made, so the five of us will terminate our contracts immediately at midnight on November 29,” the group declared.

Hanni added: “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.”

To see their full statement, head to Soompi.

NewJeans made their debut in 2022 and are among HYBE’s most successful groups.

The announcement comes amid HYBE’s months-long battle with Min Hee-jin, the ex-CEO of the company’s label subsidiary ADOR, which has led to teary press conferences, accusations of plagiarism, numerous additional lawsuits, and tensions across fandom lines. See a more detailed timeline of the drama.