NewJeans terminate contracts with ADOR
At 8:30pm on the 28th in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, New Jeans held an emergency press conference regarding the termination of their exclusive contract. Despite the press conference being held late at night, well after work hours, numerous reporters from domestic, Japanese, American, and other overseas media gathered to cover the event, creating a sea of people. Despite the heavy snow and poor traffic conditions, many people gathered to hear New Jeans story.
New Jeans expressed a firm stance at the press conference and stated, "We will terminate our exclusive contract after midnight on the 29th. We will not remain with HYBE or current agency ADOR."
During the press conference, the members showed unwavering attitudes and expressed their opinions without wavering. None of the members shed tears, and their determined attitudes drew attention. Some reporters asked New Jeans aggressive questions, but despite that, the members boldly expressed their opinions without hesitation.
Hanni was the first to speak after the press conference began. Hanni stated, "The deadline for the corrective action we sent ends at midnight today. HYBE and ADOR show no room for improvement or will to listen to our demands. We have an overseas schedule tomorrow (the 29th). We don’t know what HYBE or ADOR will do in the meantime, so we decided to hold an emergency press conference to clearly state our position. New Jeans is an artist under ADOR, and ADOR has a duty to protect us. However, ADOR has neither the will nor the ability to protect New Jeans. It’s a waste of time for us to stay here. I don’t think there’s any reason for the five of us to remain under ADOR"
On the 13th, New Jeans sent a certified letter to their agency ADOR titled, "Request for Corrective Action for Violation of Exclusive Contract," demanding corrective action and informing that they would terminate their exclusive contract if the corrective action request was not accepted.
In the certified letter, New Jeans stated, "Correct all major violations of the exclusive contract within 14 days from the date of receiving the letter," but ADOR did not make any statements other than the corrective action related to the Belift Lab manager’s “ignore” comment until the final deadline of the 28th after receiving the certified letter on the 14th before the press conference began.
Minji stated, "ADOR sent an email an hour before the press conference. The main content of the email was, ‘We tried to do it within 14 days, but 14 days was not enough. Since it was not ADOR's action, it was difficult to take action in some areas.’ The email contained the message, "We wanted to meet the members but couldn’t, it’s unfortunate." This kind of evasive response, which is always a waste of time, is how you treat us. we don’t want to waste our precious time any longer, so since our demands were not accepted, we plan on terminating our exclusive contract after midnight today." Haerin added that "the contents of the email will be made public on the morning of the 29th."
After the ‘ignore’ incident occurred, ADOR did not take any proper corrective action despite an official complaint from New Jeans, and neglected the matter for several months. After New Jeans sent a certified letter, ADOR released a statement on the 27th, saying, “We completely trust what Hanni says,” after she raised her voice in protest of Belift Lab. Some analysis found it difficult to trust her.
When a reporter asked for her opinion on the statement, Hanni immediately laughed. After ADOR's statement was made public, Hanni changed her status message on her fan communication platform, to a blank emoji. Regarding this, Minji stated, "The statement released yesterday (the 27th) felt like something ADOR reluctantly put out. The statement started with ‘implementation of measures in accordance with the artist’s certified letter.’ We didn’t think it was sincere at all."
The members also announced that they would not take legal action such as filing for an injunction to suspend the validity of their exclusive contract. Haerin stated, "We did not violate our exclusive contract. We have been doing our best to promote up until now. So there is no reason for us to pay a penalty."
New Jeans also expressed their desire to work with former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, but it seems that the legal battle will continue depending on HYBE's response.
Sources: dailynaver, mydaily, sportschosun
New Jeans expressed a firm stance at the press conference and stated, "We will terminate our exclusive contract after midnight on the 29th. We will not remain with HYBE or current agency ADOR."
During the press conference, the members showed unwavering attitudes and expressed their opinions without wavering. None of the members shed tears, and their determined attitudes drew attention. Some reporters asked New Jeans aggressive questions, but despite that, the members boldly expressed their opinions without hesitation.
Hanni was the first to speak after the press conference began. Hanni stated, "The deadline for the corrective action we sent ends at midnight today. HYBE and ADOR show no room for improvement or will to listen to our demands. We have an overseas schedule tomorrow (the 29th). We don’t know what HYBE or ADOR will do in the meantime, so we decided to hold an emergency press conference to clearly state our position. New Jeans is an artist under ADOR, and ADOR has a duty to protect us. However, ADOR has neither the will nor the ability to protect New Jeans. It’s a waste of time for us to stay here. I don’t think there’s any reason for the five of us to remain under ADOR"
On the 13th, New Jeans sent a certified letter to their agency ADOR titled, "Request for Corrective Action for Violation of Exclusive Contract," demanding corrective action and informing that they would terminate their exclusive contract if the corrective action request was not accepted.
In the certified letter, New Jeans stated, "Correct all major violations of the exclusive contract within 14 days from the date of receiving the letter," but ADOR did not make any statements other than the corrective action related to the Belift Lab manager’s “ignore” comment until the final deadline of the 28th after receiving the certified letter on the 14th before the press conference began.
Minji stated, "ADOR sent an email an hour before the press conference. The main content of the email was, ‘We tried to do it within 14 days, but 14 days was not enough. Since it was not ADOR's action, it was difficult to take action in some areas.’ The email contained the message, "We wanted to meet the members but couldn’t, it’s unfortunate." This kind of evasive response, which is always a waste of time, is how you treat us. we don’t want to waste our precious time any longer, so since our demands were not accepted, we plan on terminating our exclusive contract after midnight today." Haerin added that "the contents of the email will be made public on the morning of the 29th."
After the ‘ignore’ incident occurred, ADOR did not take any proper corrective action despite an official complaint from New Jeans, and neglected the matter for several months. After New Jeans sent a certified letter, ADOR released a statement on the 27th, saying, “We completely trust what Hanni says,” after she raised her voice in protest of Belift Lab. Some analysis found it difficult to trust her.
When a reporter asked for her opinion on the statement, Hanni immediately laughed. After ADOR's statement was made public, Hanni changed her status message on her fan communication platform, to a blank emoji. Regarding this, Minji stated, "The statement released yesterday (the 27th) felt like something ADOR reluctantly put out. The statement started with ‘implementation of measures in accordance with the artist’s certified letter.’ We didn’t think it was sincere at all."
The members also announced that they would not take legal action such as filing for an injunction to suspend the validity of their exclusive contract. Haerin stated, "We did not violate our exclusive contract. We have been doing our best to promote up until now. So there is no reason for us to pay a penalty."
New Jeans also expressed their desire to work with former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, but it seems that the legal battle will continue depending on HYBE's response.
Sources: dailynaver, mydaily, sportschosun