The group NewJeans, which has appointed legal representatives and officially started a lawsuit against Ador, is soliciting a new activity name.
On the 23rd, NewJeans announced on their new social media account, jeanzforfree, “We plan to solicit a new activity name to be used for a certain period over the next two days. We ask for your active participation in the comments.” ‘jeanzforfree’ is a social media account independently created by the members of NewJeans after parting ways with Ador.
On November 28 last year, NewJeans held an emergency press conference regarding the termination of their exclusive contract and declared the termination of their contract with Ador. At that time, the members stated, “Ador has neither the will nor the ability to protect NewJeans,” and explained that they were terminating the contract due to a breach of contract by Hybe and Ador.
Ador maintains that the exclusive contract with NewJeans is still valid. Ador rebutted, “As the party to the exclusive contract, Ador did not breach the contract, and claiming that trust has been unilaterally broken cannot be a reason for termination.”
However, NewJeans has since been conducting independent activities under the names Minji, Hani, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein instead of their team name.
Ultimately, on December 3 last year, Ador filed a lawsuit in court against the members of NewJeans to confirm the validity of the exclusive contract, and on the 13th, they applied for a provisional injunction to prevent the members from entering into advertising contracts and engaging in advertising activities. This injunction is a measure to prevent NewJeans from independently entering into advertising contracts and activities until the main judgment is announced.
On the 23rd, NewJeans announced that they had received Ador's complaint and application prior to soliciting a new activity name. They also stated that they have appointed the law firm Sejong as their legal representative. Sejong is the legal representative of former Ador CEO Min Hee-jin.
Additionally, NewJeans stated, “Even after the exclusive contract was lawfully terminated, baseless accusations against us have been pouring in through the media and YouTube channels, most of which could not be known without information being provided by Ador and Hybe. We can only think that Ador and Hybe are at the center of this entire situation.”
They continued, “While Ador and Hybe tell us to come back, they have been constantly harassing and attacking us in places where the public cannot see. Recently, they even attempted to meet some of our parents secretly to persuade or sow discord,” and emphasized, “We firmly state that the five of us have no intention of returning to Hybe and Ador, where we cannot even expect the minimum good faith.”
As NewJeans makes it clear that they have no intention of returning to Ador following the appointment of legal representatives and the solicitation of a new activity name, attention is focused on how the unprecedented exclusive contract dispute between the two sides will unfold.
[Lee Da-kyum, Star Today Reporter]
