NJZ (NewJeans), the flagship group of ADOR and one of the most successful 4th-generation K-pop groups, has been embroiled in controversy since a leadership dispute between ADOR’s former CEO Min Hee-jin and its parent company, HYBE, came to light. Below is a detailed timeline of events leading to the current crisis, including key developments and public responses from all parties involved.
(This is a developing story, and as such it will be updated as news breaks.)
A Detailed Timeline of How the NJZ (NewJeans)/ADOR Dispute Unfolded
NewJeans
April 22, 2024: Initial Conflicts Surface
On April 22, it was reported that HYBE began an audit into their sub-company ADOR, reportedly determine if there were efforts by CEO Min Hee-jin to break away from HYBE. HYBE said this was well within their rights, while Min countered saying that this was “absurd” and that it was due to allegations by her that ILLIT was mimicking NewJeans.
This led to leaked internal messages and publicized press conferences by both sides, signaling a breakdown in communication.
May 10, 2024: ADOR Accuses HYBE of Targeting ADOR’s Style Team Director; HYBE Alleges Embezzlement
ADOR accused HYBE of targeting style team director of embezzlement, and suggested the audit was overreaching with after-hours searches. HYBE countered suggesting timeliness was due to style director’s late arrival to work, and that they took profits outside of typical contractor relationship from third party companies.
May 14, 2024: HYBE Alleges Insider Training by ADOR Executives
On May 14th it was reported that HYBE sent a request to Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) to look into the possibilioty that ADOR was involved in insider trading. According to reporting by The Korea Times, HYBE says that ADOR’s executives dumped stocks upon learning of the forthcoming audit. Min counters saying they were blindsided by the AUDIT.
August 27, 2024: Min Hee-jin Replaced
After internal restructuring at ADOR, Min Hee-jin is replaced as CEO by Kim Ju-young, HYBE’s former HR chief. Although HYBE claimed Min would continue overseeing NewJeans’ development, she contested this decision, citing unilateral terms imposed without negotiation.
Min later filed an injunction to prevent her removal, which she successfully won. However, HYBE continued to pursue alternatives, offering her a position on the board of directors instead of reinstating her as CEO.
September 11, 2024: Members Speak Out
Members of NewJeans captured from live video
NewJeans members take to a live video stream, directly appealing to HYBE to reinstate Min Hee-jin. They express support for their former CEO, with Danielle and Hanni alternating between Korean and English to address international fans. The video is quickly removed but widely shared by fan accounts.
Around the same time, Shin Wooseok, a member of the creative team behind NewJeans’ debut music videos, publicly criticizes HYBE for its treatment of Min. In a YouTube video, he accuses the company of harassment and describes a loss of trust due to dismissive behavior from the new leadership.
September 13, 2024: Legal Action by Min Hee-jin
Min Hee-jin files an injunction to secure her reappointment to ADOR’s board of directors. She later reveals that HYBE offered her a financial settlement to step down entirely, which she declined, stating her motivations were never about money but about ensuring the stability of NewJeans’ activities.
September 24, 2024: Emergency Meeting
An emergency meeting is held involving NewJeans members, their parents, and ADOR’s leadership. The meeting is called in response to growing fan outrage and public attention on the controversy.
September 25, 2024: Min Hee-jin and ADOR Statements
Min Hee-jin of ADOR
Min Hee-jin issues a formal statement accusing HYBE and ADOR of engaging in media manipulation to tarnish her reputation and undermine NewJeans’ achievements. She highlights “poisonous clauses” in proposed contracts that would jeopardize her ability to protect the group.
ADOR responds by reiterating that Min’s return as CEO is not viable. They offer her a producing role for NewJeans’ remaining contract term, emphasizing that their decision is final.
October 2024: Creative and Legal Challenges Continue
NewJeans’ production is halted amid the ongoing turmoil. Reports from Korean media reveal internal discussions suggesting HYBE instructed ADOR to downplay the group’s achievements. HYBE denies these claims, questioning the journalist’s ethics for leaking such information.
November 13, 2024: Certified Letter of Demands
NewJeans members submit a formal letter to ADOR, outlining their demands for Min Hee-jin’s reinstatement and improved transparency in management decisions.
November 27, 2024: ADOR Rejects Demands
As the deadline for addressing NewJeans’ demands passes, ADOR issues a public statement criticizing other HYBE subsidiaries for alleged mishandling of artist relations. They express “regret” over the group’s dissatisfaction but stand by their decision to exclude Min Hee-jin from the CEO role.
November 28, 2024: Contract Termination Announcement
NewJeans Emergency Press Conference Nov. 28th
In a dramatic press conference, NewJeans announces their intent to terminate their contract with ADOR, citing breaches of trust and unmet demands. Minji, speaking on behalf of the group, criticizes ADOR’s “tepid responses” and emphasizes the members’ unanimous decision to sever ties.
December 11th, 2025: NewJeans Manager Files Workplace Harassment Allegations Against ADOR CEO
According to Korea Herald, a manager for the K-pop group NewJeans has filed a claim of workplace harassment against ADOR’s CEO, Kim Ju-young, with South Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor. The manager alleges that they were lured into a work meeting under false pretenses, where they were demanded to hand over their work laptop and personal phone. They were then reportedly confined for three hours and handed a suspension notice.
In response, ADOR claimed that the manager had been involved in coordinating deals with advertisers for NewJeans members outside of the group’s official contracts. ADOR asserts this violated the terms of the contract and that the manager was responsible for maintaining the agreement. Additionally, ADOR said the laptop had been formatted to prevent any potential data recovery, further complicating the situation.
December 14th, 2025: NewJeans members create new IG account @jeanzforfree
After departing from ADOR and discontinuing the use of Hybe services like Phoning, which was previously used to engage with fans, the members launched their independent social media account, @jeanzforfree on Instagram. Through this platform, they have shared photos from photoshoots and travels, as well as hosted live chats to connect directly with their fans.
January 6th, 2025: ADOR Files Injunction Against NewJeans to Halt Third-Party Contracts
On January 6th, ADOR filed an injunction with the Seoul Central District Court to prevent NewJeans, who they claim remains under contract with the agency, from entering into third-party agreements without ADOR’s involvement. This includes advertising deals with various brands. (Read more.)
January 22nd, 2025: NewJeans Members Confirm Intent to Never Return to ADOR
NewJeans took to their Instagram account, jeanzforfree, to further confirm their departure from ADOR, following their earlier decision to void their contract due to unresolved grievances. This dispute first became public with the controversy between former CEO Min Hee-jin and ADOR/HYBE.
The group shared in their Instagram story that they’ve hired Kim & Chang Law Firm, who also represent Min Hee-jin in her legal battles. They expressed a lack of trust towards HYBE and ADOR, accusing the label of trying to divide the group by secretly meeting with their parents. (Read more.)
January 22nd, 2025: NewJeans Asks for New Name Suggestions on @jeanzforfree
NewJeans members on their @jeanzforfree Instagram account released a post asking for suggestions for a new group name, encouraging fans to join the fun of choosing a name.
Danielle, one of the members of NewJeans, then engaged with various name suggestions from commenters on the post.
View this post on Instagram
Following this ADOR released a statement to StarNews Korea, where they said, “ADOR’s position is that the exclusive contract is valid and we are faithfully cooperating with the court proceedings,” and “We regret that the members are attempting independent entertainment activities, such as soliciting new stage names, before receiving a legal judgment, as this could be a serious breach of contract.”
January 30th, 2025: Citing Misinformation, Parents of NewJeans Members Create Instagram Account to Share Official Position
At midnight Korea time on January 31, the parents of Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein—members of the K-Pop girl group NewJeans—created a new Instagram account, @jeanz_pr, to release a statement regarding ADOR’s ongoing lawsuit against the group.
In the statement (translated in full below), the parents explain that they created the account to ensure their and the members’ positions are communicated clearly, as they believe media coverage has been incomplete or unfair.
“Since there has been no official channel to communicate our position, we have repeatedly tried to share the facts through direct interviews with various media outlets or by reaching out to journalists we were able to connect with.”
They specifically cite what they describe as misinformation spread by HYBE and ADOR as the reason for the account’s creation. Additionally, they apologize for the prolonged nature of the dispute, emphasizing that the account will serve as a platform to share the members’ official stance on matters they cannot always address directly.
February 6th, 2025: NewJeans Rebrands as NJZ; Announces First Concert Under New Name
Shortly after 9 p.m. EST, the Instagram account @jeanzforfree changed its name to @njz_official and posted a series of photos from ComplexCon.
On NJZ’s first Instagram live under their new moniker, the members announced in addition to their performance at ComplexCon, on March 23rd, the group would also release their first new song under the name.
February 11th, 2025: ADOR Expands Injunction to Include Stop of NJZ’s Songwriting, Performances, and Other Related Activities
In a post on NJZ_PR, NJZ revealed that ADOR had expanded the initial injunction request, to cease NJZ from entering into unilateral agreements with advertisers outside of the contract ADOR holds still exists with them, to a broader injunction to cease such activities as performances, songwriting, and more.
February 12th, 2025: Parents of NJZ (Formerly NewJeans) Members Clarify Hanni’s Visa Status Amid Dispute
On February 12, the parents of NJZ members (formerly known as NewJeans) released a statement via their Instagram account, @njz_pr, to clarify Hanni’s visa status following growing speculation in Korean media and online discussions.
According to the statement, Hanni was issued a new visa on February 11 “through due process.” Reports indicate that her previous visa had expired the month prior, and with the group’s recent contract termination with ADOR, questions arose regarding her legal status in South Korea. As a foreign national holding both Vietnamese and Australian citizenship, Hanni requires a valid visa to work in the country.
March 6, 2025: NJZ_PR Addresses ADOR Allegations Ahead of Injunction
NJZ_PR announced that they wanted to counter misinformation, and to respond to ADOR, in the lead-up to the injunction discussions beginning that week. Their statement can be read in full here:
Hello, this is NJZ.
Last Friday, we felt it necessary to address ADOR’s additional statement and to prevent any misunderstandings regarding the injunction scheduled for this week.
We notified ADOR of the termination of our exclusive contract on November 29, 2024, due to their failure to fulfill their contractual obligations. As a result, the contract has officially ended, and ADOR no longer has the authority to manage or interfere with our activities.
Despite this, on January 6, 2025, ADOR filed an injunction requesting legal recognition as NJZ’s management company. At the time, they seemed to claim that the issue was solely related to advertising activities. However, their request explicitly included a demand for recognition of their managerial status. This was not just an attempt to regulate advertising but rather a broader effort to restrict all of NJZ’s entertainment activities, revealing ADOR’s ultimate goal of completely obstructing our career.
Furthermore, on February 11, 2025, ADOR expanded the scope of their injunction request, seeking to prohibit not only advertising but also all aspects of NJZ’s musical career—including songwriting, composing, performing, singing, and any other related activities. This expansion came immediately after we received reports that Chairman Bang Si-hyuk had pressured organizers of the Complex Concert, leading us to believe that this move was a retaliatory measure after their initial attempt to cancel our performance failed.
Up until just a few days ago, ADOR continued making public statements regarding NJZ’s independent activities, yet they never disclosed that their injunction aimed to completely ban all of our entertainment activities. This is a stark contrast to their approach on January 6, when they actively publicized their initial injunction request. While ADOR publicly frames this issue as merely a dispute over advertising contracts or as an attempt to prevent confusion among fans and advertisers, in reality, they are asking the court to block NJZ’s entire entertainment career.
This is a clear violation of our freedom to pursue our profession while also appearing to be a deliberate attempt to avoid public criticism by keeping the full extent of their legal actions hidden. NJZ’s identity and purpose as artists are rooted in music, and restricting our artistic activities essentially denies our very existence. From the beginning, ADOR’s injunction was intended to completely shut down NJZ’s career.
We have long endured discrimination and unfair treatment within HYBE. Following our Tokyo Dome fan meeting in June 2023, HYBE explicitly stated their intention to keep us inactive for an extended period under the guise of granting us a long break. Additionally, they repeatedly undermined our value, including making disparaging remarks about our achievements to journalists. Although we refrained from speaking out at the time, such efforts to devalue us have persisted even after our contract termination, and the situation has now escalated.
Despite raising repeated objections and complaints to ADOR, the company failed to protect us, instead siding with HYBE and other labels or outright dismissing our concerns as falsehoods. Most importantly, not a single one of our major activity plans for 2024 was realized, causing us significant harm. Even after terminating our contract, we have continued to face interference and harassment regarding advertising deals and visa-related matters.
We made multiple attempts to address these issues and maintain our contract by formally requesting ADOR to rectify its actions. However, they ignored all our requests, leaving us with no choice but to terminate the contract.
Due to ADOR’s repeated and severe breaches of contract, the trust necessary for an exclusive contractual relationship was long broken. Under such conditions, requiring NJZ to operate solely under ADOR would not only make it impossible for us to pursue our careers normally but would also inflict unbearable emotional distress.
Despite fully understanding this, ADOR continues to employ various tactics to block our activities. Their actions—including filing injunctions—are nothing more than attempts to fundamentally end our careers as artists and sabotage our legal right to move forward independently.
Our termination notice was issued based on the legal principles of exclusive contracts and civil law, following standard legal procedures. Therefore, any claims by ADOR or certain other parties suggesting that our independent activities post-termination are unlawful or inappropriate are completely false. The notion that only the artist must forfeit their legal rights and contractual protections is utterly unreasonable.
We are fully committed to the injunction proceedings and the upcoming main lawsuit and will seek to reaffirm the legitimacy of our contract termination in court.
We sincerely hope that no one else will have to endure the kind of unjust treatment we have faced.
Thank you.
March 7, 2025: ADOR’s Injunction Case Against NJZ Begins; Members Appear in Court
ADOR’s injunction case against NJZ began in court today with all five members of NJZ making an appearance. The members, who were not required to attend, stated in their statements they believed it was important to appear.
March 12, 2025: 30,000 Fans of NJZ Submit Petition to Dismiss Injunction Case
On March 12, Team Bunnies, a group of NJZ fans, submitted a petition with signatures from 30,000 fans of NJZ worldwide to the court in defense of NJZ, and to encourage the dismissal of the injunction case.
March 21, 2025: NJZ Loses Injunction Case but Vows to Appeal; ComplexCon Performance Still On
On Friday, March 21st, a South Korean court ruled in favor of ADOR against NJZ, rejecting NJZ’s attempts to secure independent advertising contracts and conduct individual activities outside its agreement with ADOR. Despite NJZ maintaining that the agreement was dissolved, the court upheld ADOR’s position that it remains valid.
Initially, the injunction only applied to advertising contracts, but ADOR later requested an expansion of its scope.
NJZ’s PR account released a full statement following the court’s decision, which can be read in full below:
Hello, this is NJZ.
Today, the court rendered a decision regarding the injunction. NJZ respects the court’s ruling. However, we believe that the decision did not fully take into account the complete breakdown of trust the members have experienced toward ADOR.
Due to the urgent nature of injunction proceedings, the decision was issued approximately two weeks after the March 7, 2025 hearing. As such, we did not have sufficient opportunity to fully present the factual background to the court. Additionally, due to an imbalance of information, ADOR and HYBE have full access to all information regarding the members’ entertainment activities, whereas the members have been forced to individually contact relevant parties to request information. The pressure of being involved in a lawsuit, along with fears of retaliation, also prevented many from cooperating.
We plan to challenge today’s decision through the objection procedure, during which we will raise additional legal issues and submit further supporting evidence. Above all, until the point the exclusive contracts were terminated, we had diligently fulfilled out obligations without any wrongdoing. In contrast, ADOR and HYBE, behind the scenes, continued to treat us unfairly and unequally, ultimately destroying the relationship of trust. It is only a matter of time before the truth becomes clear.
It is important to note that an injunction is a provisional measure.
A separate main lawsuit regarding the validity of the exclusive contract termination is currently underway, with a court hearing scheduled for April 3. Unlike injunction proceedings, the main lawsuit allows us to freely utilize civil procedure tools to collect necessary evidence. We anticipate this will greatly reinforce our claims.Though we are going through a very difficult time, we remain calm and strong, always thinking of our fans who continue to support NJZ and the Bunnies. NJZ values its promise with fans above all else, and we will devote ourselves to the remaining legal process so that we may once again connect with you with genuine joy.
As we have stated before, regardless of any financial matters, we can no longer remain with a management that has disrespected our identities and undermined our achievements. The reason we are pursuing this legal action is to protect our dignity and rights.
Meanwhile, after much deliberation, we have decided to participate in the upcoming ComplexCon scheduled for March 23. This decision was made out of respect for our fans and all stakeholders involved, in order to prevent unnecessary disruption or harm to those who have been looking forward to the performance.
We sincerely ask for your continued support and encouragement as we move forward.
March 23, 2025: NJZ Performs at ComplexCon; Announces Hiatus
Following a much-anticipated return by fans, NJZ took to the stage Sunday night of ComplexCon and performed a series of solo covers, followed by the introduction of their new song “Pit Stop”. They performed in front of 10,000 fans, who cheered in support of NJZ even prior to them taking the stage. The members, many in tears, took time to reflect on their struggle against ADOR and Hybe as they read out their thoughts, including many messages reinforcing they still believed in their struggle, despite the recent injunction loss. They said in observance of the courts ruling they would be taking a hiatus for now, both in respect of the ruling and for their well-being, but that it wouldn’t be the end of the group, no matter what name they held.
March 24, 2025: ADOR Surprised by Hiatus Announcement
ADOR, who sent representatives in the hope of meeting with NJZ members (which it’s been reported didn’t happen), expressed surprise and dismay as the end of the group’s work. Previously they had suggested the ComplexCon performance, set to take place only days after their win in the injunction against NJZ, could go on if they used the group name New Jeans. Now however, ADOR suggested frustration at the members activities including their performance at ComplexCon.
