The Korean girl group NewJeans announced that they will terminate their exclusive contract with their agency, ADOR, effective from the 29th of this month.
On the 28th, NewJeans held an emergency press conference at the Space Share Samseong Station Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. They stated, “HYBE (ADOR’s parent company) and ADOR have shown no intention to accept our demands or demonstrate room for improvement. We have determined that neither HYBE nor ADOR has the will or capability to protect NewJeans.”
The group had previously claimed that HYBE tacitly allowed ILLIT—a girl group under its subsidiary label, Belift Lab—to imitate their concept, subjecting them to unfair treatment.
Member Hanni alleged that when she greeted ILLIT and their manager at HYBE's headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, she was told by the manager to “ignore them.”
On the 13th of this month, NewJeans sent a formal letter to ADOR demanding corrective measures, including reinstating former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, who had been demoted to an internal director position at HYBE.
However, it appears that NewJeans deemed the responses and assurances insufficient.
With the unilateral termination of the contract, both parties are likely to face a legal battle moving forward.
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