NewJeans lost its contract fight with ADOR and is now a four-member group with no comeback date. A Seoul court upheld the group’s exclusive contracts through 2029 on 30 October 2025, and ADOR terminated Danielle’s contract in late December 2025. No new NewJeans single or album has been released since the dispute began in November 2024.
Where NewJeans Stands as of 6 November 2026
NewJeans is signed to ADOR, inactive as a group, and short one member. The Korean girl group debuted in July 2022 under ADOR, a label of HYBE, with five members: Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein.
Minji, Hanni, Haerin and Hyein appeared together in promotional content ADOR posted on 22 July 2026. Danielle did not, and has not been part of the group since her contract was terminated.
ADOR has confirmed the returns of Haerin and Hyein, announced on 12 November 2025, and of Hanni, announced in late December 2025. Minji said in November 2025 that she intended to return, but ADOR has never publicly announced a finalised agreement with her; in a statement on 7 May 2026 it said only that discussions were moving in a “positive direction”. No comeback date, single or album has been announced.
Why Did NewJeans Try to Leave ADOR?
The members tried to leave after ADOR dismissed the executive who created the group. Min Hee-jin was removed as ADOR’s chief executive on 27 August 2024, following a shareholder dispute with HYBE’s leadership that broke out in April 2024.
On 11 September 2024 the five members held a YouTube livestream in support of Min and asked HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk to reinstate her by 25 September. HYBE declined, and Min resigned from the company in November 2024.
On 13 November 2024, according to Yonhap, the members sent ADOR a letter giving it 14 days to remedy what they described as major breaches of their contracts. On 28 November 2024 all five declared their exclusive contracts terminated, citing failures including a lack of artist protection. ADOR denied breaching the contracts and asked the court on 5 December 2024 to confirm that they were still valid.
What Was NJZ, and Why Did the Name Disappear?
NJZ was the name the five members adopted while they were trying to work outside ADOR. They announced it on 7 February 2025, after ADOR had already moved to block them from signing advertising deals independently in January that year.
Two days before a scheduled performance at ComplexCon Hong Kong on 23 March 2025, ADOR obtained a preliminary injunction barring the members from independent activities. They performed anyway and then announced a pause in all activity.
Their objection to the injunction was rejected in April 2025, and they stopped using the NJZ name while appealing to the Seoul High Court. On 30 May 2025 the district court ordered each member to pay 1 billion won for every unauthorised activity from that date onward. The High Court denied their appeal on 18 June 2025.
What the Seoul Court Decided, and Why There Was No Appeal
The court decided the contracts were valid and dismissed every breach claim the members made. On 30 October 2025 the Seoul Central District Court’s 41st Civil Division ruled in ADOR’s favour in the label’s suit to confirm the contracts, which run until 2029, and ordered the members to cover litigation costs.
The court held that ADOR’s dismissal of Min Hee-jin did not give the members grounds to terminate. It also rejected their claims that Hanni had been mistreated by a HYBE official and that leaked trainee-era footage amounted to a breach.
The members said they would appeal, and then did not. No appeal documents were filed by the midnight deadline on 14 November 2025, which made the first-instance ruling final. Two earlier mediation attempts, on 14 August and 11 September 2025, had ended without agreement.
Why Danielle Is No Longer in NewJeans
ADOR terminated Danielle’s exclusive contract in late December 2025, citing contract violations and a breakdown of trust. The label announced the decision at the same time as Hanni’s return, and said the other members had notified it of their intentions on different timetables.
Danielle’s removal was then made visible across ADOR’s platforms, with her information taken down from the label’s domestic and global pages by April 2026. She has not performed with the group since.
Danielle’s lawyers dispute the grounds. In court they have argued that ADOR’s claims against her rest on an assumption the label has not evidenced: that it had both the ability and the intention to restart NewJeans, and was prevented only by her.
How Much Money Is ADOR Claiming, and From Whom?
ADOR is seeking 33.1 billion won from three parties, and the case is still being heard. The suit was filed around 30 December 2025 against Danielle, a member of her family and former chief executive Min Hee-jin, originally for 43.1 billion won.
The claim was cut to 33.1 billion won in June 2026, reported at the time as about $21.5 million. An ADOR official said the figure was revised after the company reassessed the case following a change of legal representatives.
The Seoul Central District Court’s 31st Civil Division held a sixth hearing on 22 October 2026, where the two sides argued over how damages should be calculated and how much of the group’s inactivity can be attributed to Danielle. A court-appointed appraisal of the claimed losses was still outstanding, and the next hearing is scheduled for the afternoon of 12 November 2026.
What the New York Times Found in the 2022 Contracts
A New York Times report published on 5 November 2026 said the members’ pre-debut contracts stripped out standard protections for minors. The newspaper obtained the exclusive contracts the five signed with ADOR in 2022, when they were aged between 14 and 17, and compared them with the South Korean government’s standard form.
- Minor protections: Clauses covering sleep, rest, education and physical and mental health that appear in the standard form were absent.
- Name and likeness: Post-contract terms allowed ADOR to keep commercially using the members’ names, faces and voices, which the report said could extend to AI voice replication and chatbots.
- Penalty formula: The breach-penalty calculation counted only months in which the group actually earned revenue, which can raise the average used to set a penalty.
- Trainee costs: Trainee-era terms required the members to bear a large share of the cost of cosmetic procedures, skincare and body correction.
ADOR responded that the wording was coordinated jointly by Min Hee-jin, a deputy she appointed, the members, their parents and legal representatives for some of them, and said Min was the party behind the deal. It said HYBE labels also sign a state-standard supplementary agreement for adolescent artists that covers sleep, education and rest and designates a youth-protection officer, and that voices or likenesses “cannot be used in AI content without each artist’s individual consent”. HYBE representatives said the company complies with child-protection laws.
Has NewJeans Released Anything Since the Dispute Began?
No music. On 22 July 2026 ADOR posted a set of short videos and photos branded “2026 Summer of NewJeans” to mark the group’s fourth debut anniversary, the first content released with the four-member line-up, and said no decisions had been made about future activities.
Individual work has restarted. Haerin appeared in Marie Claire Korea for Dior Beauty on 14 August 2026, and Hyein appeared in Harper’s Bazaar Korea for Bottega Veneta on 22 August 2026.
Korean trade reports in late September 2026 said discussions over album production and the direction of a comeback were progressing slowly, partly because of concern about how the group would be received. ADOR has said since its court win that preparations for a studio album were already complete, and told the court in September 2026 that it “wouldn’t have come so far without a plan for the group’s return”.
The Dispute in Dates
| Date | Development |
|---|---|
| 27 August 2024 | Min Hee-jin dismissed as ADOR chief executive |
| 28 November 2024 | All five members declare their contracts terminated |
| 5 December 2024 | ADOR asks the court to confirm the contracts are valid |
| 7 February 2025 | Members announce the name NJZ |
| 23 March 2025 | ComplexCon Hong Kong performance goes ahead despite an injunction; activity paused |
| 18 June 2025 | Seoul High Court denies their appeal against the injunction |
| 30 October 2025 | Court upholds the contracts until 2029 |
| 12 November 2025 | ADOR confirms Haerin and Hyein are returning |
| 14 November 2025 | Appeal deadline passes with no filing; ruling becomes final |
| Late December 2025 | Hanni returns; Danielle’s contract terminated; 43.1 billion won suit filed |
| June 2026 | Damages claim reduced to 33.1 billion won |
| 22 July 2026 | First content posted as a four-member group |
| 22 October 2026 | Sixth hearing in the damages case |
| 12 November 2026 | Next hearing scheduled |
Frequently Asked Questions
Has NewJeans Officially Disbanded?
No. ADOR has never announced a disbandment, and the contracts the court upheld run until 2029.
Is Minji Still Part of NewJeans?
She took part in ADOR’s July 2026 group content, but the label has not publicly confirmed a completed contract agreement with her. Its last public comment, on 7 May 2026, described the talks as positive without giving details.
Did NewJeans Win Anything in Court?
No. The 30 October 2025 ruling dismissed each of their breach claims and ordered them to pay the costs of the case.
When Does the NewJeans Contract With ADOR End?
In 2029. The court confirmed that end date, and the ruling became final when no appeal was filed by 14 November 2025.
