On July 22, Danielle - former member of NewJeans - posted on her personal page everyday photos with the caption: "Sometimes life can become bleak, but light will return. Until then, continue to shine. Forever grateful".
In the photo, Danielle poses in front of the blue lake scenery. Even wearing simple clothes, she still attracts attention thanks to her outstanding beauty.
Under the post, fans left many words of encouragement: "We love you", "I miss you so much", "We are all with you", "I really hope NewJeans will return with all 5 members. Hopefully one day everyone can be together again"...
Danielle's post especially attracted attention because July 22 is also NewJeans' 4th anniversary of debut.
Previously, at exactly 0:00 on July 22, NewJeans' social media accounts were reactivated, with a series of photos and videos featuring 4 members Minji, Hyein, Haerin and Hanni to celebrate the 4-year milestone.
This is also the first time in 1 year and 4 months that NewJeans has released new content as a group, and the only absent member is Danielle.
NewJeans was once one of the most breakthrough Kpop groups. The group debuted in 2022 under ADOR - a subsidiary of HYBE Corporation.
In just 1 year, NewJeans has topped many charts in Korea and internationally. The second mini album "Get Up" rose to number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, helping NewJeans become the 8th most sold artist in the world after only 1 year, according to IFPI statistics.
As a group, NewJeans has signed cooperation agreements with a series of major brands such as Coca-Cola, Levi's, McDonald's Korea, Nike, Musinsa, OLENS, Apple.
On the individual level, all 5 members became ambassadors of global luxury fashion houses in their first year of operation - Minji with Chanel, Hanni with Gucci, Haerin with Dior, Hyein with Louis Vuitton and Danielle with Burberry. This is considered an almost unprecedented achievement for a new Kpop group.
Things began to crack in April 2024, when HYBE conducted an internal audit of ADOR and accused CEO Min Hee Jin - creative director, who shaped most of NewJeans' image and artistic identity - of trying to separate ADOR from HYBE to operate independently.
After months of escalating tensions, Min Hee Jin resigned in November 2024. Immediately after that, all 5 NewJeans members held an emergency press conference, announcing the termination of their exclusive contract with ADOR and accusing the company of "no longer having the capacity and will to protect NewJeans".
However, by October 2025, the Court rejected the requests of NewJeans members, and confirmed that the exclusive contract between NewJeans and ADOR was still valid until 2029.
After losing the lawsuit, Haerin, Hyein and Hanni returned to the company at the end of last year, while Minji is still discussing with ADOR about the direction in the future.
As for Danielle, ADOR has terminated the contract with this member. The company believes that she must be responsible for causing the exclusive contract dispute of NewJeans with ADOR.
At the same time, ADOR also filed a lawsuit against Danielle, a member of her family, and former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin, demanding compensation for damages of about 33 billion won. The lawsuit is still ongoing.
