NewJeans reveals label's 22-page response to the group's demands
On Friday (Nov 29), K-pop girl group NewJeans sent South Korean media outlets the 22-page document it had received from its label ADOR – which served as the agency's response to the group's list of demands that it sent .
Members of South Korean K-Pop group NewJeans attend a press conference to declare contract termination with the band's label citing multiple reasons including unfair treatment, in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
On Friday morning (Nov 29), K-pop girl group NewJeans revealed South Korean agency ADOR's response to the group's certificate of contents which the quintet had sent on Nov 13.
In South Korea, a certificate of contents is commonly used for damage claims and contract termination notices, and it has to be certified by the post office.
NewJeans' certificate of contents contained a list of demands including the reinstatement of Min Hee-jin as the CEO of ADOR, a formal apology from the manager who had previously told a HYBE group to ignore NewJeans member Hanni, the deletion of leaked videos and photos of the group that were used without consent, and the protection of NewJeans' unique identity.
The certificate added that if NewJeans' requests weren't met within 14 days of ADOR receiving the document, the members would proceed to terminate their contracts.
On Thursday night – 14 days after ADOR had received the certificate of contents – NewJeans held a press conference where the group announced that it would be terminating its contract with ADOR effective midnight.
During the press conference, Hanni, 20, said that the group has "faced mistreatment, not just towards [them] but also including [their] staff".
"This is not the type of work ethic we respect and not one we want to be a part of, and to continue working under a company with no intention of protecting NewJeans would only do us harm," she said.
Responding to a question by a journalist on Thursday night, NewJeans member Minji, 20, revealed that ADOR had sent its response to NewJeans' certificate of contents an hour before the press conference.
"They said that the 14 days given was not enough, they were sad they could not work this out with the members, and that there was stuff out of their control. However, there had been no action taken by them, and we had already made these demands during our livestream in September," said Minji.
"They were never interested in the legal notice, and the response was filled with lies and excuses."
NewJeans member Haerin, 18, then announced that they would be making ADOR's response public on Friday.
On Friday morning, NewJeans sent South Korean media outlets ADOR's 22-page response. Signed by ADOR CEO Kim Ju-young, the document contained the agency's stance on the matter as well as its responses to several of NewJeans' demands.
"ADOR and all of its executives and staff have been doing their best in every way, both materially and spiritually, to support the entertainment activities of its artistes.
"Whenever there is an issue, ADOR has gathered the opinions of the directors and has tried to solve the problem reasonably. Even if these efforts are not in the specific way desired by the artiste or do not meet subjective expectations, they cannot be considered a violation of the exclusive contract."
ADOR added: "Some of the things the artistes requested were somewhat abstract or overly broad, and many of them were beyond our authority and scope of work, but the company has done its best to address them."
Following NewJeans' press conference, ADOR announced that the exclusive agreement between the agency and the members of NewJeans "remains in full effect".
