NewJeans members issue a statement in response to ADOR's lawsuit, insisting that the exclusive contract with ADOR has been terminated

AKP STAFF

The five members of NewJeans including Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein have issued an official statement in response to ADOR's exclusive contract validity lawsuit, which ADOR filed on December 3 KST.

Read the group's full statement, below.

"Hello, this is Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein.

We feel apologetic for releasing this statement during unsettling times.

We recently came across the news that ADOR has filed a lawsuit to verify the validity of the exclusive contract between the company and the 5 of us members. Unfortunately, ADOR's statement failed to support its argument that there was no violation of the exclusive contract, and merely insisted that the exclusive contract cannot be terminated until the company earns back what it invested.

However, the fact of the matter is that we as a group already did our part to return to ADOR what it invested and even achieved earnings beyond the original investment. Despite this, HYBE attempted to devalue our achievements through slander and reverse-viral tactics, and after a change in leadership, ADOR proceeded to aid and abet in these attempts. The company whose duty is to protect us as its artists was the one leaving malicious comments. This led to a severe breakdown of trust, and as a result, we have determined that NewJeans may be subjected to further harm should we remain at ADOR.

Our faith in ADOR and HYBE, whose duties were to protect their artists but who instead committed multiple violations of the exclusive contract, is now gone. As outlined in the exclusive contract, we have no reason to continue working with ADOR and HYBE.

The exclusive contract specifically states that if ADOR fails to fulfill its contractual obligations, then the artists have a right to terminate the contract.

To insist that we continue working under these conditions, including breach of trust and contractual violations, for another 5 years, is not only illogical but also inhumane.

Previously, we requested that ADOR take measures to rectify the violations it has committed, offering a 14-day grace period, and yet, ADOR failed to fulfill our requests. In response, we exercised our right to terminate the exclusive contract through a notice, and the contract was terminated immediately.

ADOR's lawsuit is merely a necessary step to confirm whether or not the contract was terminated lawfully, and so we find it regrettable that the company used the lawsuit as a tool for media play, to make it seem as if the exclusive contract is still in effect.

Once again, we would like to clarify that as of November 29, 2024, we are no longer artists under ADOR. The company no longer has a right to interfere or intervene in our activities.

On the surface, the company claimed that it wished to reconcile through dialogue, but behind our backs, ADOR tailed us and spread false information. It was impossible not to feel horror and disgust. No matter what you throw at us, the five of us are united in our intentions, and nothing can tear us apart.

At present, we are diligently fulfilling all previous schedules agreed upon with ADOR. But during these schedules, we have witnessed our staff, including managers, stylists, and makeup artists, being subject to harsh treatment while being questioned or investigated, having their laptops confiscated and even being driven to tears. It is difficult for us to accept this treatment of our staff, and it is even more unbearable to think that we are not the only ones who suffer from the unethical, inhumane practices pursued by this company.

Although we suspect that the path ahead will be a rough one, we continue to dream of the day when we can reunite with our fans through healthy promotions. We hope that we can reach this dream no matter what.

Despite the fact that numerous problems arose after ADOR's change in leadership, the company failed to address these issues, and furthermore made no attempts to protect us from other labels who defamed us and spread false information. It is a pity that after continually evading the issues that we asked it to address, ADOR turned around and proceeded with a lawsuit. Nonetheless, we anticipate that the lawsuit will clearly reveal the conditions under which we were forced to terminate our exclusive contract and to what extent ADOR failed to fulfill its contractual obligations.