What Happened:
Nov. 28, 2024, was one of the most controversial days in the South Korean entertainment industry. At 8:30 p.m. KST, popular K-pop group NewJeans held an emergency press conference to announce the termination of their contracts with All Doors One Room. All Doors One Room, or ADOR, is a subsidiary label under entertainment company HYBE. The group’s decision to end their contract was because of mistreatment and work harassment.
Context:
In April 2024, HYBE launched an internal audit (an official examination and evaluation of a person/organization’s financial accounts and records) of ADOR, according to NME’s article “NewJeans vs HYBE: a comprehensive timeline of events” written by Carmen Chin. Their explanation was that there was suspicion of ADOR executives trying to take over the company, but no names were released. Following this came former ADOR CEO Min Heejin’s accusation against HYBE for “undermining” NewJeans’ success with the debut of a new girl group, ILLIT. She claimed that HYBE and Belift Lab, another subsidiary of HYBE, plagiarized NewJeans’ group concept.
Approximately four months after the initial plagiarism accusation, the members of NewJeans, Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein, started an emergency livestream on a now-deleted YouTube channel. The livestream was titled “What NewJeans Wants to Say.” On the livestream, they discussed their thoughts on the ongoing issue of their company and matters of workplace mistreatment.
NewJeans member Hanni described an incident that took place in the HYBE building. The fourth floor of the building is designated for hair and makeup, and while she waited alone, another team and their manager walked by. She explained that she and the team exchanged greetings, bowing to each other. However, the manager told them to ignore Hanni as they were right in front of her. During the livestream, she expressed her confusion, especially when she had brought it up to the new ADOR CEO, who told her there was no evidence of it happening and that it was too late to do anything. The new CEO also allegedly tried to brush over the matter, which later led to Hanni feeling that she had lied about the incident.
Hanni stated that she was worried and scared that things like this would happen again and that other members might feel this way too. She expressed that the new management, after the removal of Min, would not protect them, claiming the company only made up excuses. During the livestream as well, member Haerin discussed the pre-debut videos and personal medical records that were leaked prior to the livestream’s holding. She mentioned how the members, their parents and Min complained about the leakage, but HYBE didn’t take any action against it, but in the meantime, Min was fired. She claimed the group was at a loss to who they could trust and rely on.
They ended the live with a request to bring back Min as CEO, and to return to the original ADOR by Sept. 25.
When ADOR and HYBE rejected the request two weeks after the livestream, the group apparently threatened to leave ADOR on Nov. 14. The Korea Times reported that the members had sent a legal notice to ADOR for “grave contract breaches.” The letter allegedly demanded to rectify all grave breaches of the exclusive contracts with a 14 day grace period. If ADOR failed to respond to these claims, they would plan to revoke their exclusive contracts.
Then, on Nov. 28, 2024, NewJeans held an emergency press conference where they announced the termination of their exclusive contracts with ADOR. Followed by the conference came ADOR’s response, stating that the contracts remained in full effect.
On Dec. 15, the members of NewJeans launched an independent Instagram account and later rebranded as NJZ on Feb. 7, 2025. However, ADOR filed an injunction against the group to halt all entertainment activities, which was granted on March 21. Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein announced their hiatus after their performance at ComplexCon in Hong Kong on March 23.
On April 4, 2025, both NewJeans and ADOR attended the first trial for their contract lawsuit, and while ADOR expressed hope about the possibility of reaching an agreement, NewJeans’ team stated they were not in a situation to consider an agreement.
According to “Final mediation between K-pop girl group NewJeans and agency Ador collapses in 20 minutes” by John Lui, the mediation sessions did not end with a solution. The two mediation sessions in the hope to find an agreement between the two parties were held on Aug. 14 and Sept. 11, both ending with no final agreement.
CHS junior Jaz Jennings shared her opinions regarding the legal battle. Jennings has been following NewJeans since when they first debuted, but really started listening to them in 2023. With the final verdict coming up, it has her worried that the group will be manipulated and lose the lawsuit, and that young fans and the industry will look down on them.
“I believe what NewJeans did was what the company deserved,” Jennings said. No matter how famous or successful they were, they didn’t deserve to be abused. The company deserved such a big loss, it’s karma.”
Jennings expressed her admiration for NewJeans for speaking out against the normalized mistreatment of the Korean entertainment industry. Jennings argued that NewJeans paved a way and showed that no matter how famous or popular you are, it would never be enough.
“They gave up their prosperous and powerful careers to fight for not only themselves, but other idols and groups in the industry,” Jennings said. “Abuse within the K-pop world is too normalized, and they took a stand against it.
She is given hope by the group’s bravery that other idols can do the same.
What’s Coming Up:
The final verdict will happen on Oct. 30. A Seoul court will issue the final decision whether NewJeans will have to continue working under ADOR, or if they are able to terminate their exclusive contract.
Many fans and netizens have implied that this day will be one of the most important in K-pop history. The situation has highlighted the ignored toxic environment of the K-pop industry. Many fans have praised NewJeans, stating how they were brave for speaking out against the harsh conditions of the industry. Others have criticized them and stated how they have ruined their career.
If the court decides that the group will have to continue under ADOR means that they will have to comply with what ADOR says, and must gain permission from them to continue any entertainment activities. According to Kim Jae-heun’s article “Industry experts predicts tough choices as NewJeans’ ultimatum nears,” there would be a legal penalty fee to terminate their contracts before 2029. The group signed seven-year contracts with ADOR in 2022, and would have to pay, reportedly, $322 million or more to end their exclusive contracts prematurely,
If the court rules that ADOR was the one to breach the contracts first, then NewJeans will be able to terminate their contracts and be free of the company with no penalties.
Stay tuned for the final verdict; will NewJeans be free from ADOR, or will they be bound by the contracts until 2029?
