All Members of NewJeans Return to ADOR, Ending a Year-Long Dispute

All five members of the idol group NewJeans have expressed their intention to return to their agency, ADOR. This decision comes one year after they announced the termination of their exclusive contract in November 2024. On November 12, 2025, ADOR stated that Haerin and Hyein had indicated they wished to continue their activities with the agency. They explained that after careful consideration with their families and thorough discussions with ADOR, they decided to respect the court’s ruling and abide by the exclusive contract. Two hours later on the same day, Minzy, Hani, and Danielle also issued a statement saying they had decided to return to ADOR following recent careful deliberations. The origin of this dispute dates back to April 2024. When HYBE, the parent company, alleged that ADOR was attempting to seize control and initiated an audit of ADOR’s representative, Min Hyun-jin, it sought to remove her from her position. Min held a press conference in response. After HYBE dismissed Min in August 2024, the NewJeans members demanded her return in November of the same year, claiming that the exclusive contract had been terminated due to ADOR’s failure to fulfill its obligations. Subsequently, the members began independent activities under the name NJZ. ADOR maintained that the contract with NewJeans was still valid and filed a lawsuit in December 2024 to confirm its validity,同时 requesting a temporary restraining order to prevent NewJeans from carrying out independent activities until the main trial concluded. The court ruled in favor of ADOR in both the temporary restraining order case and the first-instance trial. The members decided to return just one day before the deadline for appealing, which was midnight on November 13, 2025. The lawsuit between NewJeans and ADOR attracted international attention. A news outlet reported that this dispute shook the K-pop industry, where agencies typically exercise strict control over their artists. Meanwhile, NewJeans celebrated additional good news alongside the end of the dispute. On the 14th, they won the “Trend of the Year” K-pop group award at the “2025 Korea Grand Music Awards” held at the Incheon Inspire Arena. This award is determined based on the cumulative results of monthly “Trend of the Month” selections over the past year and is chosen through votes from global fans. NewJeans sparked a global phenomenon upon their debut in 2022. With releases such as their debut tracks “Attention” and “Hype Boy,” along with “Ditto,” “OMG,” “Super Shy,” “ETA,” “How Sweet,” and their Japanese debut single “Supernatural,” they dominated charts both domestically and internationally every time they released new music. On Spotify, the world’s largest music streaming platform, NewJeans has accumulated over 6.9 billion total streams for all of their songs. Their tracks continue to appear on charts worldwide, demonstrating the enduring strength of their music as a group that remains beloved over time. NewJeans won two awards at last year’s Korea Grand Music Awards, including the top honor of “Grand Artist,” and once again proved their irreplaceable presence this year as well.