K-pop girl group NewJeans resumed their activities under a new name, NJZ, amid the ongoing legal dispute with their agency ADOR and parent company HYBE.
“Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein's new group name: NJZ Get ready for an exciting journey with NJZ in 2025! Stay tuned!” NJZ posted on X on Feb. 7.
They will be headlining the ComplexCon event in Hong Kong on March 23 under their new name.
NewJeans under the new name NJZ (X)
NewJeans and ADOR, a subsidiary under Korean entertainment company HYBE, are in legal dispute over their exclusive contracts.
Last November, NewJeans announced that they terminated their exclusive contract with ADOR.
In January, ADOR filed a preliminary injunction with the Seoul Central District Court “to prevent members of K-pop girl group NewJeans from signing independent advertising contracts without its consent.”
The case is in addition to ADOR’s lawsuit filed last December “in which the company sought a declaration affirming the validity of its exclusive contracts with the NewJeans members.”
“ADOR, as the contractual party, has not violated the terms of the agreement. A unilateral claim of a breach of trust does not constitute valid grounds for terminating the contract. The exclusive agreement between ADOR and the NewJeans members remains in full effect. Therefore, we respectfully request that the group continue its collaboration with ADOR on upcoming activities, as has been the practice to date,” ADOR said.
“The current injunction is designed to preserve ADOR’s exclusive management rights until a ruling is made on the first lawsuit,” it said.
In an interview with CNN, Danielle said they have “completely lost all trust at the moment” in ADOR, adding that “we believe we will win this battle against HYBE and ADOR.”
The first hearing for the injunction on the advertising contracts filed by ADOR against NewJeans will be held on March 7.
On April 3, the first hearing for the lawsuit to confirm the validity of NewJeans’ exclusive contract will be held.