NJZ, formerly known as NewJeans, has released an updated statement regarding their ongoing legal battle with ADOR, insisting that their contract termination was conducted through proper legal channels. The group aims to clarify their position amidst ADOR’s legal actions.
This announcement follows ADOR’s previous court injunction request in January, where they sought to be recognized as NJZ’s management label and attempted to restrict the group’s advertisement activities during the legal proceedings.
NJZ, through their official PR channel @njz_pr, addressed potential misunderstandings arising from ADOR’s recent statements and the upcoming court hearing. The group firmly stated that their contract termination with ADOR was legally sound due to ADOR’s failure to uphold their contractual obligations as a management label.
Contract Termination and ADOR’s Injunction
According to NJZ’s statement, they officially notified ADOR of their contract termination on November 29, 2024. As of this date, NJZ asserts that ADOR no longer holds the authority to manage their activities.
Hello, this is NJZ. Due to ADOR’s statement last Friday and the potential for misunderstandings regarding the court hearing scheduled for this week, we have decided to relay our position once again. Due to ADOR’s failure to fulfill their contractual obligations as a management label, NJZ notified the agency of the termination of our exclusive contracts as of November 29, 2024. As of this date, ADOR no longer possesses the authority to manage our activities.
Despite the termination, ADOR initiated legal action on January 6, 2025, by filing a court injunction. NJZ highlights that while ADOR initially presented the injunction as being about advertisement restrictions, the actual request aimed to recognize ADOR’s authority as NJZ’s management company.
Nevertheless, on January 6, 2025, ADOR filed a court injunction requesting recognition as NJZ’s management company. While ADOR initially framed the issue around advertising activities, their request explicitly included a demand to acknowledge their authority as a management label. This indicates that ADOR’s ultimate goal is to restrict NJZ’s entertainment activities, not just advertisements, suggesting the label’s intent to limit NJZ’s career entirely.
NJZ argues that this move by ADOR indicates a broader intention to impede their entire entertainment career, not just specific advertisement deals.
Expansion of Injunction and Allegations of Interference
The situation escalated further on February 11, 2025, when ADOR reportedly broadened the scope of their injunction request. This expansion sought to prevent NJZ from engaging in a wide array of artistic activities, including songwriting, composing, performing, and singing.
Furthermore, on February 11, 2025, ADOR expanded the scope of its injunction request to prohibit NJZ from engaging in songwriting, composing, performing, singing, and all other related activities. This action came immediately after we were informed that Chairman Bang Si Hyuk had attempted to pressure the organizers of Complex Con. We suspect that ADOR’s move was a retaliatory measure following the failure of their efforts to interfere with the concert.
NJZ suggests this action was a retaliatory measure, particularly after Chairman Bang Si Hyuk allegedly attempted to pressure organizers of Complex Con, seemingly to interfere with NJZ’s performance.
Contradictory Stances and Career Threat
NJZ criticizes ADOR for allegedly presenting a contradictory public stance. While ADOR publicly acknowledged NJZ’s independent activities, they concealed their injunction’s true aim, which NJZ claims is to prohibit all of the group’s entertainment activities.
Up until just a few days ago, ADOR continued to publicly acknowledge NJZ’s independent activities while concealing the fact that their injunction aimed to ban the group’s entertainment activities. This contradicts their publicized stance from January 6, when they widely reported the injunction filing. While ADOR insists that their intentions are to prevent the confusion of fans and advertisers, in reality, they are seeking to prohibit all of NJZ’s entertainment activities. This is a clear attempt to infringe upon NJZ’s freedom to work while simultaneously avoiding public criticism by keeping these intentions hidden. NJZ’s essence lies in the group’s music activities, and restricting this is equivalent to denying the group’s very existence. Ultimately, ADOR’s injunction was filed from the beginning with the intent of completely halting NJZ’s career.
The group emphasizes that restricting their music activities equates to denying their very existence, asserting that ADOR’s injunction is fundamentally aimed at ending their career.
Past Grievances and Unfair Treatment
NJZ’s statement also sheds light on past grievances, alleging persistent discrimination and unfair treatment under HYBE, ADOR’s parent company. They claim that following a Tokyo Dome fan meeting in June 2023, HYBE expressed intentions to halt their activities under the guise of an extended vacation and made disparaging remarks to reporters to devalue their achievements.
We have endured persistent discrimination and unfair treatment under HYBE. After the Tokyo Dome fan meeting in June of 2023, HYBE explicitly stated its intention to prevent us from engaging in further activities under the guise of an extended vacation. Additionally, the company made efforts to devalue our achievements by making disparaging remarks to reporters. Although we initially refrained from publicly addressing these issues, such attempts to undermine us as artists have continued even after the contract termination.
Despite raising objections with ADOR, NJZ states that the agency failed to protect them and instead sided with HYBE, dismissing their concerns and failing to support their expected 2024 activity plans. This alleged inaction resulted in substantial damages for NJZ, who claim that interference and harassment have continued even after contract termination, affecting advertisement deals and visa matters.
We raised objections and protested to ADOR multiple times, but even when we were under their management, ADOR did not protect us. Instead, they aligned themselves with HYBE, dismissed our concerns as falsehoods, and failed to uphold the activity plans we expected for 2024. As a result, we suffered substantial damages. Even after the contract termination, we continue to face interference and harassment regarding advertisement deals and visa-related matters. We made several attempts to maintain our contractual relationship by demanding corrective action from ADOR. However, they ignored all of them, leaving us no choice but to terminate our contracts.
Legitimate Contract Termination and Future Legal Actions
NJZ maintains that their contract termination was lawful and based on ADOR’s repeated breaches of obligation, which destroyed the trust essential for their exclusive contract. They argue that being forced to remain solely under ADOR would make a normal entertainment career impossible and cause unbearable mental distress.
Due to ADOR’s repeated breaches of obligation, the trust that forms the foundation of an exclusive contract has long since collapsed. Under these circumstances, if NJZ were forced to operate solely under ADOR, it would not only be impossible for us to maintain a normal entertainment career but it would further subject us to unbearable mental distress. ADOR is fully aware of this situation but is still employing various tactics to block our activities. Their injunction request and other obstructive measures are aimed at fundamentally ending our careers as artists. We want to make it clear that their actions amount to one-sided harassment, despite the fact that our exclusive contracts were terminated on legitimate grounds. Our termination notice was based on existing processes of exclusive contract laws and obligations, following standard legal procedures. Therefore, ADOR’s claims that our independent activities are unlawful or inappropriate are entirely false. Furthermore, their assertion that only the artist must forfeit their legally guaranteed rights and procedures is absurd.
The group concludes by stating they will continue to contest the injunction lawsuit and upcoming legal proceedings to reaffirm the legitimacy of their contract termination in court. They express hope that no others will endure similar unfair treatment.
We will continue to approach the injunction lawsuit and upcoming legal proceedings wholeheartedly, ensuring that the legitimacy of our contract termination is reaffirmed in court. We hope that no one else will have to experience the kind of unfair treatment we have endured. Thank you.
