The parents' union of Minji, Daniel, Hani, Haerin, and Hyerin, who debuted as the group NewJeans and are currently active as NJZ (EnJeiJei), claimed that Adore, a label under HYBE, is trying to completely block NJZ's entertainment activities.
On the 6th, the NJZ parents' union released a statement saying, "On January 6th, Adore filed an injunction requesting recognition that they are still NJZ's management company. At the time, Adore seemed to only raise issues about advertising activities, but the application included a demand to 'recognize the status of the management company.'" They added, "Adore's ultimate goal is to completely block NJZ's activities."
The parents' union stated that Adore expanded the scope of the injunction last month, asking the court to prohibit all music activities of NJZ, including songwriting, composing, performing, and singing, as well as all ancillary activities, claiming this was a retaliatory measure after attempts to cancel performances were thwarted. They also said, "The essence of NJZ is music activities, and restricting these is tantamount to denying NJZ's value of existence."
However, NJZ stated that they will sincerely participate in the upcoming lawsuits.
On the 7th, a hearing will be held at the Seoul Central District Court regarding Adore's injunction request to preserve its status as the agency and to prohibit the signing of advertising contracts against the five NewJeans members.
Below is the full statement from NJZ
Last Friday, to respond to Adore's additional statement and to prevent misunderstandings regarding the injunction scheduled for this week, we reluctantly share our position.
We notified Adore of the termination of the exclusive contract on November 29, 2024, because Adore failed to fulfill its contractual obligations, and accordingly, the contract has ended. Therefore, Adore no longer has the authority to manage or interfere with our activities.
Nevertheless, on January 6, 2025, Adore filed an injunction requesting recognition that they are still NJZ's management company. At the time, Adore seemed to only raise issues about advertising activities, but the application included a demand to 'recognize the status of the management company.' This was an attempt to restrict not only advertising but all entertainment activities of NJZ, revealing that Adore's ultimate goal is to completely block NJZ's activities.
Furthermore, on February 11, 2025, Adore expanded the scope of the injunction request to prohibit not only advertising but also all music activities of NJZ, including songwriting, composing, performing, singing, and all other ancillary activities.
This occurred shortly after we received news that Chairman Bang Si-hyuk pressured Complex Concert officials, and it is presumed to be a retaliatory measure after attempts to cancel performances were thwarted.
Until just a few days ago, Adore continuously expressed its stance on NJZ's independent activities but did not disclose that its injunction request aimed to ban all entertainment activities.
This is a completely different attitude from the extensive coverage of the injunction request on January 6. Adore superficially claims to only have issues with NJZ's advertising activities or to prevent confusion among fans and advertisers, but in reality, it is asking the court to prohibit all of NJZ's entertainment activities.
This is an attempt to infringe on NJZ's freedom of occupation and appears to be an effort to avoid public criticism by not disclosing this fact.
The essence of NJZ is music activities, and restricting these is tantamount to denying NJZ's value of existence. Ultimately, Adore filed the injunction from the beginning to block all of NJZ's activities.
We have endured continuous discrimination and unfair treatment within HYBE. After the Tokyo Dome fan meeting in June last year, HYBE clearly expressed its intention not to allow us to be active for a long time by promising a long vacation, and it has continuously tried to undermine our value by making disparaging remarks about our achievements to reporters. Although we did not disclose this earlier, such attempts continued even after the exclusive contract was terminated and have recently become more severe.
We have repeatedly raised objections and complaints to Adore, but even when it was our agency, Adore did not protect us; instead, it sided with HYBE or other labels and treated our statements as false. Most importantly, none of the major activity plans we expected for 2024 were carried out, causing us significant damage, and even after the contract termination, we continue to face interference and harassment regarding advertising and visa issues.
We repeatedly requested Adore to rectify the situation to maintain the exclusive contract relationship. However, Adore ignored all of these, and we ultimately had no choice but to decide to terminate the contract.
Due to Adore's repeated serious breaches of duty, the trust relationship, which is a prerequisite for maintaining the exclusive contract, has long been broken. In this situation, if NJZ must operate only through Adore, normal entertainment activities are impossible, and we would have to endure unbearable mental distress.
Adore is well aware of this situation and is trying to block our activities by various means. The injunction and other obstructive acts are attempts to fundamentally halt our careers as artists and are unilateral harassment aimed at stifling us as we lawfully terminate the contract and continue our activities.
This termination notice is based on the legal principles of exclusive contracts and civil law and is a normal and general legal procedure. Therefore, it is a false claim for Adore or some groups to loudly assert that our independent activities after the termination notice are illegal or improper, and it is an absurd argument that only the artist side must give up the legally guaranteed legal procedures and effects.
We will sincerely participate in the injunction and the upcoming main lawsuit and seek to confirm the legality of the termination once again during the trial.
We hope no one else will experience such unfair cases as we have. Thank you.
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