Danielle dropped from K-pop group NewJeans as Ador terminates contract, sues her
Ador said it would file a lawsuit against Danielle for breach of contract and reputation damage – the latest move after a year of legal battles between the band members and Ador, beginning in November 2024.
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Ador, the South Korean music label behind K-pop girl band NewJeans, announced on Monday (Dec 29) that it had terminated its contract with member Danielle Marsh.
Ador also announced hours later that it would file a lawsuit against her for breach of contract and reputation damage.
These moves come after a year of legal battles between the band members and Ador, beginning in November 2024.
“In Danielle’s case, we determined it would be difficult for her to continue as a NewJeans member and Ador artiste," Ador said in a Korean language statement on Monday morning about the South Korean-Australian singer.
The label also said it plans to hold "legally accountable" former CEO Min Hee-jin, as well as one of Danielle's family members, "who bears significant responsibility for causing this dispute, delaying her return to NewJeans".
WHAT HAPPENED
In November 2024, the members of NewJeans unilaterally ended their contracts with Ador, citing workplace harassment and other issues, including the dismissal of former Ador CEO Min Hee-jin.
NewJeans then carried out numerous independent activities, including opening a separate Instagram page, providing free food to protestors in South Korea last December, rebranding to NJZ and performing at the pop culture festival ComplexCon Hong Kong in March this year.
In January this year, Ador filed an injunction to halt NewJeans' independent activities, which the Seoul Central District Court granted on Mar 21 – days before the group's ComplexCon Hong Kong performance.
After their ComplexCon performance, NewJeans declared that the group will go on a hiatus to respect the court's ruling. It also appealed against the injunction.
On May 30, the Seoul Central District Court accepted Ador's application for an indirect compulsory enforcement – a type of penalty imposed for not complying with a court order – against NewJeans.
This ruling stipulated that each member would have to pay 1 billion won (US$726,800) every time they engaged in activities without Ador's approval, from May 30.
Then on Oct 30, the Seoul Central District Court ruled that each member's exclusive contracts with Ador were still valid. The legal team representing NewJeans said they would appeal the ruling.
"While the members respect the court’s decision, they maintain that, given the current situation in which the relationship of trust with Ador has been completely destroyed, it is impossible to return to Ador and continue normal entertainment activities," the statement said.
However, the five members announced on Nov 12 that they had decided to return to Ador.
"EXTENSIVE DISCUSSIONS"
On Monday, Ador said in a statement that following the final court ruling confirming the validity of the exclusive contracts, they engaged in "extensive discussions" with Minji, Hanni and Danielle as well as their families.
Hanni and her family held "in-depth conversations" with Ador in Korea over "a long period", during which they revisited past events and "objectively examined the issues", said Ador, adding that Hanni decided to continue with the agency.
Minji is currently in discussions with Ador, it said, "and we are continuing to broaden mutual understanding".
Ador added that it had notified Danielle of her exclusive contract termination on Monday.
It later explained to K-pop news outlet Osen that it couldn't "disclose specifics" regarding the reasons for terminating her contract due to ongoing legal procedures.
"However, Danielle violated the exclusive contract by signing conflicting agreements, engaging in independent entertainment activities, or damaging the reputation and credibility of Ador and NewJeans," it said.
"Despite requests for correction, no action was taken within the deadline, leading to the termination notice."
Ador didn't disclose the exact amount, but said "the penalty will follow the pre-agreed formula in the exclusive contract".
“Through these discussions, we learnt that the members had been exposed to distorted and biased information for a long time, leading to misunderstandings about the company and the dispute,” the agency said.
“Both the company and the artistes agreed that, despite the time required, it is necessary to resolve misunderstandings based on accurate facts to restore the love of fans and the public.”
Ador added that it would "address the controversies arising from the dispute at a later opportunity", and do its best to "resolve the matter smoothly and ensure NewJeans returns to their fans as soon as possible”.
