On November 29, 5 members of Kpop girl group NewJeans (Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, Hyein) held a press conference, announcing the termination of their contract with ADOR Company (under HYBE Group). They emphasized that they will "operate independently, no longer related to HYBE and ADOR".
NewJeans then said goodbye to fans on Phoning - NewJeans' own communication platform with the Bunnies fandom.
On December 14, the five female idols created a new Instagram account called jeanzforfree. After 4 days, this account has attracted more than 3 million followers.
Not only does the jeanzforfree account keep fans updated on the members' schedules and activities, but the "story" feature is also used just like they used to use Phoning.
Members share photos and funny captions, interact with fans, and update on the little daily things they're up to.
In addition, the group's fashion and advertising activities are still updated on this account, such as the announcement that Danielle became the global ambassador of the Omega brand, or the 12 covers of Vogue Korea magazine that were just announced on December 18.
But the name NewJeans does not appear in any of the posts at all.
After 4 days of the account being created, ADOR Company recently made an official statement.
ADOR said that the jeanzforfree account was opened by five members without prior agreement with the company. Third-party advertisers are raising questions and complaints about the content posted on this account.
“NewJeans has dedicated platforms created specifically for communicating with fans, as well as official social media accounts such as Instagram and X (Twitter), the company added.
ADOR hopes that NewJeans members will continue to interact with fans through these official channels as they have done so far.”
Previously, after NewJeans announced the termination of the contract, ADOR filed a lawsuit to verify that the exclusive contract between the company and NewJeans is still valid until July 31, 2029. ADOR emphasized that NewJeans cannot pursue entertainment activities outside the scope of the contract with ADOR.
