MUSIC
NewJeans Accuses ADOR of Violating Freedom of Occupation Amid Legal Dispute
On the 6th, NewJeans' representatives stated, "ADOR expanded the scope of the injunction on February 11, 2025, requesting a ban not only on advertising but also on all musical activities of NJZ, including songwriting, composing, performing, and singing, as well as all other ancillary activities."
They further mentioned an upcoming concert in Hong Kong, stating, "This occurred right after we received news that Chairman Bang Si-hyuk exerted pressure on the concert organizers, leading us to believe this decision was retaliatory after attempts to cancel the concert were thwarted."
They added, "While ADOR claims to only target NJZ's advertising activities to prevent confusion among fans and advertisers, they are actually asking the court to ban all of NJZ's entertainment activities. This is an attempt to infringe on NJZ's freedom of occupation and seems to be an effort to avoid public criticism by not disclosing it openly."
Meanwhile, the first hearing for the injunction case filed by ADOR against NewJeans is scheduled for the morning of the 7th at the Seoul Central District Court.
Full Statement from NewJeans
Hello, this is NJZ.
Last Friday, in response to ADOR's additional statement and to prevent misunderstandings about the injunction scheduled for this week, we are compelled to share our position.
We notified ADOR of the termination of our exclusive contract on November 29, 2024, due to their failure to fulfill contractual obligations, thus ending the contract. Therefore, ADOR no longer has the right to manage or interfere with our activities.
Despite this, on January 6, 2025, ADOR filed an injunction claiming they are still NJZ's management company. Although they initially seemed to focus on advertising activities, the application included a request to recognize their status as a management company, aiming to restrict all of NJZ's entertainment activities. This reveals ADOR's ultimate goal of completely blocking NJZ's activities.
Furthermore, on February 11, 2025, ADOR expanded the scope of the injunction to request a ban on all musical activities of NJZ, including songwriting, composing, performing, and singing, as well as all other ancillary activities.
This occurred right after we received news that Chairman Bang Si-hyuk exerted pressure on the concert organizers, leading us to believe this decision was retaliatory after attempts to cancel the concert were thwarted.
Until just a few days ago, ADOR consistently expressed their stance on NJZ's independent activities, yet they did not disclose that their injunction aimed to ban all entertainment activities.
This is a stark contrast to their widely publicized stance during the January 6 injunction. While ADOR claims to only target NJZ's advertising activities to prevent confusion among fans and advertisers, they are actually asking the court to ban all of NJZ's entertainment activities.
This is an attempt to infringe on NJZ's freedom of occupation and seems to be an effort to avoid public criticism by not disclosing it openly.
The essence of NJZ is musical activity, and restricting this denies the very value of NJZ's existence. Ultimately, ADOR filed the injunction to block all of NJZ's activities from the start.
We have endured continuous discrimination and unfair treatment within HYBE. Last June, after the Tokyo Dome fan meeting, HYBE made it clear they would not allow us to engage in activities for an extended period, despite promising a long vacation. They have consistently attempted to undermine our value by making disparaging remarks to journalists. Although we did not initially disclose this, such attempts have continued even after the termination of the exclusive contract and have recently intensified.
We have repeatedly raised objections and protested to ADOR, but even when they were our agency, they failed to protect us, instead siding with HYBE or other labels, treating our words as false. Most importantly, none of the major activity plans we anticipated for 2024 were fulfilled, causing significant damage, and even after the contract termination, we continue to face interference and harassment regarding advertising and visa issues.
We made several attempts to maintain the exclusive contract relationship by requesting corrections from ADOR. However, ADOR ignored all of these, leaving us no choice but to decide on contract termination.
Due to ADOR's accumulated significant breaches of duty, the trust relationship, which is the premise for maintaining the exclusive contract, has long been broken. In this situation, if NJZ must operate solely through ADOR, not only is normal entertainment activity impossible, but we would also suffer unbearable mental distress.
ADOR is well aware of this situation and is attempting to block our activities using various methods. The injunction and other obstructive actions are attempts to fundamentally halt our career as artists and are nothing more than unilateral harassment aimed at starving us out after we lawfully terminated the exclusive contract and sought to continue our activities.
This termination notice is based on the legal principles of exclusive contracts and civil law, following standard and general legal procedures. Therefore, claims by ADOR or some organizations that our independent activities after the termination notice are illegal or unjust are false, and it is an absurd assertion that only the artist side should forgo the legally guaranteed procedures and effects.
We intend to faithfully participate in the injunction and the upcoming main lawsuit, seeking to reaffirm the legality of the termination during the trial process.
We hope that no one else will experience unfair cases like ours. Thank you.
Choi Ji-ye, TenAsia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr
