K-Pop group NewJeans called an emergency press conference on November 28, and announced they are leaving their agency and management group ADOR, a subsidiary of entertainment group and label HYBE.
The group blamed an “insincere attitude” for the contract termination, and said the agency had “no desire to listen to our requests.”
Earlier in November, the group sent a “certification of contents” to ADOR, demanding that they rectify breaches of their contracts within 14 days, concluding “If our demands for rectification are not accepted, we will terminate our exclusive contracts.”
ADOR issued a statement at the time, saying, “Regarding the certification of contents, we received it this morning and are currently reviewing it to understand the specific requests. We will do our best to resolve the matter wisely so that we can continue to work with the artists.”
Members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein, said in the emergency press conference, “The time period for rectification ends at midnight tonight, but it seems HYBE and ADOR have no plans for reform or to listen to our requests.”
“The exclusive contract between NewJeans and ADOR will be terminated as of November 29 at 12 a.m. KST,” Minji confirmed.
She added, “We are tired of HYBE’s insincere attitude and felt once again that they have no desire to listen to our requests.”
NewJeans will “fight” for their name
The emergency press conference was held in Seoul, and despite only receiving two-hour notice, hundreds of reporters were in attendance.
It was also noted that the name ‘NewJeans’ could now be in jeopardy, if the rights to it are retained by the agency/label.
The group confirmed that they plan to retain the name NewJeans, saying “The name NewJeans might just seem like a name. For us, it’s not that simple. From the day the five of us first met until now, the name embodies all the achievements we’ve made together.
“That’s why we will continue to strive to fully secure the rights to the name NewJeans.”