The NewJeans v. Ador contract confrontation has now delivered an injunction hearing, where the Hybe-owned company urged the court to block the group from performing as NJZ. Photo Credit: NewJeans by Siyoung Song for Ador
The first Ador v. NewJeans/NJZ injunction hearing is officially in the books, but the ugly contract dispute looks to be further than ever from an amicable resolution.
All five members of NewJeans – or NJZ, to use the name that the same members adopted one month ago – today appeared at the Seoul Central District Court for the hearing, regional outlets reported.
One of multiple hearings on the books in connection with the showdown, the court outing concerned Ador’s request for an injunction blocking the act from performing and closing deals as NJZ.
On this front, the rebranded group is continuing to score partnerships with the likes of Calvin Klein, we previously noted. And for obvious reasons, that isn’t sitting right with the Hybe-owned label.
Nor are NJZ’s plans to perform in Hong Kong towards March’s conclusion and, in the longer term, to release new music under the fresh name. Ador made the stance clear by expanding the sought injunction to include all activities, according to NJZ’s dedicated PR page as well as regional reports.
In other words, the injunction battle is especially important for all involved parties. While the court didn’t finalize a decision at today’s initial hearing, it did allow both sides to explain their positions.
Per the Korea Times, NJZ and its counsel took the opportunity to reiterate a variety of alleged contractual violations (like debuting Illit despite the group’s alleged image overlap with NewJeans) on the company’s end.
All told, these alleged violations amounted to a pattern of mistreatment warranting the underlying deal’s termination, the K-pop professionals reportedly indicated.
Ador, for its part, is of a decidedly different opinion and emphasized as much during the hearing. Besides refuting the contract violation and termination allegations, the Hybe subsidiary dove into a few of the hard numbers behind NewJeans.
Most interestingly here, in looking to counter the mistreatment claims, Hybe/Ador said it’d invested $14.55 million (₩21 billion) into NewJeans.
Additionally, the five members thereof, having debuted as NewJeans in mid-2022, each received a cool $3.50 million/₩5 billion in profit-sharing compensation, per Ador.
As for where things go from here, it’s unclear when exactly the court will rule on the injunction; the Korea Herald only confirmed the decision’s “pending” status. However, as we previously reported, a separate hearing, this time regarding the validity of the contract itself, is scheduled to take place on April 3rd.
Though it perhaps goes without saying, the K-pop sector has a lot riding on the hearing and the broader dispute. In short, the normalization of unilateral contract terminations (whether they’re justified or not) would probably spell particular trouble for a space with such passionate fans, long artist deals, and intense agency-talent disagreements.
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