On August 14, two members Danielle and Minji represented the girl group NewJeans at the Seoul Central District Court to attend a mediation hearing in a lawsuit filed by ADOR Company against the group, in order to confirm the validity of the exclusive contract.
In the previous trial, ADOR stated, "The exclusive contract with the company is still valid and NewJeans has no reason to terminate the contract."
NewJeans countered, "The relationship of trust was broken because former CEO Min Hee Jin was fired, this is the reason for terminating the contract." Therefore, the mediation session on August 14 was held.
Before entering the courtroom, the two female idols only gave a brief apology to the reporters and did not say anything more.
Because the mediation session was conducted in a closed session, the outcome is still a mystery. The two sides met in person for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, and the NewJeans members left the court without disclosing their views.
However, the court announced that NewJeans and ADOR will continue to reorganize the second mediation session on September 11. Therefore, it can be understood that, in the first mediation session on August 14, both sides did not reach any friendly agreement.
If the second mediation session still fails, the court's verdict on the lawsuit is expected to be announced on October 30.
Meanwhile, NewJeans is on hiatus. In March, the court approved ADOR's request for a ban on 5 NewJeans members, temporarily blocking the group's independent activities under the name NJZ. NewJeans immediately appealed, but the court rejected it.
If NewJeans continues to operate independently without going through ADOR, each member will have to compensate ADOR with 1 billion won for each violation.
The tension between NewJeans and ADOR stems from the conflict between HYBE Group (owned by ADOR) and former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin since April last year.
HYBE accused Min Hee Jin of planning to take over the company and take NewJeans out of ADOR. A few months later, Min Hee Jin was fired. At the end of November 2024, NewJeans held a press conference, unilaterally announcing the termination of the contract, citing ADOR's breach of contract obligations.
In response, ADOR affirmed that the exclusive contract with NewJeans still runs until 2029. The company filed a lawsuit to temporarily ban NewJeans from independent activities and a lawsuit to confirm the validity of the exclusive contract under litigation.
