Bunnies Submit Petition to Court
"ADOR Has Also Lost the Trust of NewJeans Fans"
Recently, around 30,000 fans of NJZ, the group formerly known as NewJeans, who resumed activities under their new name, submitted a petition to the court regarding the injunction filed by their former agency, ADOR, to preserve the agency's status over the NewJeans members.
TimberNiz, a coalition of NewJeans fandom, stated on the 12th, "Over 30,000 fans have submitted a petition to the court concerning the injunction filed by the former agency ADOR to preserve the agency's status over NJZ members." They added, "Through the petition, fans expressed their support and encouragement for the termination of the members' exclusive contracts, citing concerns that HYBE and Chairman Bang Si-hyuk have deliberately discriminated against the members, and that this hostile environment is unlikely to change."
On the 1st, at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Jung-gu, Seoul, the girl group NewJeans, serving as ambassadors, is taking photos at the '2024 F/W Seoul Fashion Week.' Photo by Kang Jin-hyung
Since the 24th of last month, TimberNiz has been collecting petitions in various formats: joint signatures from domestic and international fans, individually written petitions, and petitions for global fans. It is reported that along with the petitions, they also submitted a statement, a legal advisory opinion, and notifications regarding the investigation progress of malicious posts about the NewJeans members.
In their petition, they expressed their support for the termination of the members' exclusive contracts, citing the NewJeans side's claims that HYBE and ADOR discriminated against and excluded NewJeans. They argued that if NewJeans were to return to their original agency amid the escalating conflict, it would impose serious restrictions on their overall entertainment activities, including music activities, potentially causing an indefinite hiatus, which they described as a harsh infringement on the members' freedom to pursue their careers. Furthermore, they appealed to the court to dismiss the injunction application, stating that they do not want the members' musical challenges and journeys to be interrupted by external factors.
Girl group NJZ is answering questions from the press as they leave the courthouse after the hearing for the provisional injunction application on 'Protection of Agency Status and Prohibition of Advertising Contract Conclusion' held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 7th. Photo by Yonhap News.
Meanwhile, NewJeans declared the termination of their exclusive contract last November, citing ADOR's failure to fulfill obligations, and have been independently active since then. Last month, they changed their group name to NJZ and announced their participation in a concert in Hong Kong. To prevent their independent activities, ADOR filed an injunction at the Seoul Central District Court to preserve the agency's status and prohibit the signing of advertising contracts. All five NewJeans members attended the hearing held on the 7th. The court plans to receive additional materials by the 14th, conclude the hearing, and decide the outcome.
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