NewJeans and ADOR attend first trial for contract lawsuit, judge calls it a “special case”

NewJeans (aka NJZ) and ADOR have attended the first court hearing for their contract lawsuit, which the judge called a “special case”.

• READ MORE: NewJeans vs HYBE: a comprehensive timeline of events

The Seoul Central District Court hosted the first hearing for a lawsuit filed by ADOR in December 2024 to verify the validity of NewJeans’ contracts. It was filed about a week after the girl group held an emergency press conference in November announcing their termination of their contracts with ADOR.

During the trial, NewJeans’ legal team argued that Min Hee-jin’s initial departure from her role as ADOR’s CEO was a “retaliatory act by board members aligned with ADOR’s parent company, HYBE”, per The Korea Times. 

They claimed the removal of the group’s general producer “demonstrated a lack of intention by ADOR to continue managing NewJeans and constituted grounds for termination of the exclusive contract due to a breakdown in trust.”

ADOR’s lawyers countered that the conflict between Min Hee-jin and HYBE was unrelated to the group’s dispute. “The defendants argue that they cannot carry out entertainment activities without Min Hee-jin,” they claimed. “While it’s true Min made significant contributions to NewJeans, saying ‘there can be no NewJeans without Min Hee-jin’ is unreasonable.”

ADOR also noted that the band were able to perform at ComplexCon Hong Kong without Min’s involvement, telling the court that “the successful outcome of that performance suggests that Min is not the only one capable of producing for the group”.

NewJeans’ team refuted this, saying that “all circumstances lead to the conclusion that the relationship between the members and ADOR has been irreparably damaged.” They also called ADOR “effectively a different entity” after its management change, “with different values than what the members originally signed with”.

When the court asked if there was a possibility for a settlement or mediation, both sides were divided. While ADOR told the court it had hope for an agreement, NewJeans’ lawyers said they were “not in a situation where an agreement can be considered at this time.” After hearing both sides, the judge described the ADOR-NewJeans feud as a “special case”.

The girl group announced their hiatus last month, following their performance at ComplexCon 2025 in Hong Kong. It came shortly after ADOR was granted an injunction to prohibit NewJeans from pursuing independent activities just two days before to the festival.

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