Recently, the central district court of Soul has accepted Adr’s injunction request against the members of Newjeans, temporarily banned to conduct entertainment activities without the approval of the agency. This legal move came among the growing tensions between the female group, their former CEO of Agenzia Min Hee-Jin and the Mother Hybe company.
The Judgment sentence prevents the 5 Newjeans members represented under the new Rebrand of “Njz” – from committing themselves in any entertainment activity, including advertising agreements, without the prior consent of Ador. The Court found insufficient evidence that Ador had violated the contractual obligations or trust to justify the termination of the contract.
A significant point of dispute was an internal Hybe relationship previously mentioned by Min Hee-Jin and Njz as an allegedly planned Hybe test “abandon“Newjeans in favor of other groups. However, the complete revision of the relationship by the Court has painted a different picture.
In particular, the Court established that, while the phrase “aBandon Newjeans and starts again “ Did appears in the relationship, this statement is included in a section relating to another group of affiliated girls (Le Sserafim). Considering the context, it seems that the statement was made while discussed how the group (Le Sserafim) was unable to reach first place in the musical charts due to group A and was followed closely in album sales by group B. The emphasis was the need for Sserafim to be classified as another image rather than something that could remind the people of Newjeans as part of its growth strategy.
On the contrary, the section concerning Newjeans underlined their return preparations. The report mentioned, “It would be nice to arouse topics to regain interest before Newjeans’ return”, and also warned by potential controversies that could arise due to competitive tensions, suggesting a strong concern for the public image of the group.
In addition, the report of the industry of 17 May 2023 cited Newjeans as ranked first in the surveys on the preferences of celebrities with 35%, underlining the importance of maintaining their favorable public position. He said, “Newjeans still leads with 35% in preference to celebrities. The team still enjoys a widespread public favor and it is essential to continue to exploit this to maintain their unbeatable momentum.”
The Court concluded that there was no indication that Hybe was intended to withdraw the support from Newjeans or violate the exclusive contract. Therefore, the requests of the NJZ members regarding the nullification of the contract based on this report have been rejected.
In response, Njz has released a public statement on social media, saying that while they Respects the Court’s decision, they plan to present and an objection. The group stressed that their reasons to separate from Ador go beyond financial disputes.
The first hearing for the main cause on the validity of the exclusive contract is scheduled for April 3, 2025.
