On December 29, ADOR released an official statement detailing the status of discussions regarding the return of members Hanni, Minji, and Danielle. According to the statement, among the three members, only Hanni has confirmed her return to ADOR. ADOR said, “Hanni visited Korea with her family and engaged in long, in-depth conversations with ADOR. Through this process, she looked back on past events and took time to view the matter objectively,” adding, “After sincere discussions, Hanni decided to respect the court’s ruling and move forward together with ADOR.”
Minji’s return has yet to be decided. ADOR stated regarding Minji, “We are continuing discussions to broaden mutual understanding.”
Negotiations with Danielle have broken down. ADOR said, “In Danielle’s case, we determined that it would be difficult to continue together as a NewJeans member and an artist under ADOR. Accordingly, the company notified her today of the termination of her exclusive contract.” The agency added, “We plan to hold legally accountable one member of Danielle’s family and former CEO Min Hee-jin, who bear significant responsibility for causing this dispute and for NewJeans’ departure and the delay in their return.”
In November last year, NewJeans claimed that their contracts had been terminated due to ADOR’s breach of exclusive contracts and declared that they would pursue independent activities. In response, ADOR asserted that the contracts with NewJeans were still valid and filed a lawsuit seeking confirmation of the validity of the exclusive contracts. In October, the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Agreement Division 41 ruled in favor of ADOR in the lawsuit, confirming that the exclusive contracts were valid.
Immediately after the first-instance ruling, the NewJeans members expressed their intention to appeal, but no appeal was actually filed. Amid this, Haerin and Hyein officially confirmed their return to the agency through ADOR last month. On the same day, Minji, Danielle, and Hanni separately conveyed their intention to return to ADOR through a law firm. ADOR initially said it was “confirming their sincerity,” and later added that it was “coordinating individual meetings and will do its best to ensure smooth discussions.”
In the statement released on December 29, ADOR explained, “Through the dialogue process, we came to realize that the members had been exposed to distorted and biased information over a long period, leading to many misunderstandings about the company and ultimately to this dispute.”
ADOR continued, “Both the company and the artists agreed that, in order to regain the love of fans and the public, even if it takes some time, it is necessary to fully resolve misunderstandings based on accurate facts,” adding, “We also agreed to have an opportunity at a later date to address the various controversies that arose during the dispute, and we are currently discussing the timing and format.”
Finally, ADOR stated, “We will do our utmost to resolve the matter amicably and help NewJeans return to their fans as soon as possible.”
Sources: Daum
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