ADOR sues NewJeans’ Danielle for $31 million amidst K-pop group’s division

In November, it seemed that the legal disputes between the five members of K-pop girl group NewJeans and their management agency, ADOR, finally came to a long-awaited conclusion. But on Monday, the situation took another turn, leaving the future of the fourth-generation phenoms uncertain yet again.

On Monday, ADOR, a subsidiary of South Korean music giant HYBE, announced that they had terminated the contract of Danielle, one of NewJeans’ five original members, for allegedly acting in violation of the contract and damaging the reputation of NewJeans and the company. It was also announced that member Hanni will rejoin the agency, and that talks are ongoing with member Minji. The two youngest members, Haerin and Hyein, officially announced their return to ADOR in November.

Though it is currently unclear which actions Danielle took to allegedly break her contract, some of her quasi-public activities in the past year have included attending a charity marathon (and accompanying sponsor night) in August, and taking part in a charity dinner and volunteer projects in December. Meanwhile, unconfirmed rumors of Danielle filming a commercial in Southeast Asia, and re-signing a contract with watch brand Omega are running rampant across the Internet. In addition to the contract termination, ADOR has filed a massive damages lawsuit against Danielle, a member of her family, and former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, demanding about 43.1 billion won ($31 million) in compensation for their alleged roles in causing the prolonged legal dispute.

NewJeans—the group behind hits like “Attention,” “Hype Boy,” “Ditto,” and “Super Shy”—have more of less been on hiatus since September 2024, when all five members collectively announced via YouTube livestream that they distrusted HYBE leadership following the dismissal of former ADOR CEO and NewJeans creative mentor Min Hee-jin. Min had been removed from her position as CEO on suspicions of plotting to gain full ownership of ADOR, and therefore NewJeans, two weeks prior. (In July, South Korean law enforcement decided not to move forward with breach of trust charges against Min, but other legal disputes between Min and HYBE remain open.)

In their livestream, the NewJeans members accused HYBE management of workplace harassment, leaking private information, and deleting previously released content. They also demanded that Min be reinstated. While HYBE agreed to bring Min back on as a producer, they would not agree to reinstate her as ADOR CEO. As a result, the members announced via a November 2024 press conference that they would leave ADOR and operate independently under the name NJZ moving forward.

In March, NJZ performed at Hong Kong’s ComplexCon, despite a court injunction that temporarily barred them from pursuing independent activities under the name NJZ. In May, the court ruled that the members would be required to pay one billion won (about $725,600) each to ADOR for every independent activity they participated in. In October, the court ruled in favor of ADOR, upholding the members’ exclusive contracts with the agency. The remaining member contracts are valid through 2029.

Following the definitive court ruling and a subsequent public willingness from all five members to resume activities as NewJeans under ADOR, fans were hopeful that the group would have a future together. With the termination of Danielle’s contract and Minji’s return still uncertain, that hope is dwindling fast.