New Jeans Lawsuit Holds Messy Terms And Relations

On October 30 2025, it was announced that Kpop group NewJeans had lost their legal lawsuit against record label Ador. After fighting less than 2 years demanding justice and wanting to be free, they would have to stay in their contract with the label until it expires around 2029.

New Jeans is a kpop group that debuted on July 22, 2022 with their hot track, Attention. The members consisted of Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein. They have won multiple awards, charted number 1 on multiple Korean streaming platforms, and were also on the Billboard Hot 100.

On August 27 2024, Min Heejin stepped down as CEO of ADOR. ADOR stated, “The newly appointed CEO Kim Joo Young, is an HR expert with experience in various industries and will be responsible for stabilizing and reorganizing ADOR’s internal structure. Former CEO Min Hee Jin has stepped down from the CEO position but will continue to serve as an internal director of ADOR. She will also continue her role in producing NewJeans”.

On September 11 2024, New Jeans held a 27 minute live stream now deleted, demanding for Min Heejin to be CEO of ADOR. They also discussed private information, alleged mistreatment from the company and by other HYBE groups. Fans were shocked to hear the allegations from New Jeans and wanted to support them.

New Jeans held a press conference on November 28 2024, announcing their intention to terminate their exclusive contracts with the company for alleged mistreatment, and a couple days later on December 3 ADOR filed a lawsuit against New Jeans to keep them in their exclusive contracts with their company.

Months later in February, New Jeans decided to rebrand their group to NJZ while the ongoing court case with ADOR, and their first appearance will be in ComplexCon in Hong Kong. People were excited to see their performance, and what they have in future activities as an independent group.

And by October 30 2025, it was announced that the court ruled that NewJeans exclusive contract will stay valid until the contracts end by 2029. NewJeans decided they were gonna appeal and keep fighting but the deadline to appeal was overdue. Haerin and Hyein were first to return, then Minji, Hanni and Danielle ultimately returned.

As of Jan 9th, 2026, New Jeans member Danielle has left New Jeans due to her contract being terminated. Ador, the management company, follows up with a 30 million dollars lawsuit towards the member.

Photo from Rolling Stone | New Jeans has not been able to perform since March 2025.