NewJeans lost the lawsuit, received bitter tragedy, the price to pay for betrayal

The Seoul Central District Court has officially declared that girl group NewJeans lost the first instance trial over their exclusive contract dispute with management company ADOR. This means that the female idols will have to pay the price for their actions.

According to the ruling, the contract between the two parties is still valid, the group is forced to continue to cooperate with ADOR and must pay all litigation costs. The court also confirmed that HYBE's dismissal of CEO Min Hee Jin is legal and does not invalidate the contract between NewJeans and ADOR.

The ruling temporarily ends the first phase of what is considered the most controversial legal battle in Kpop in 2024 – but at the same time opens up a series of big questions about the future of the group once considered "the hope of Generation Z".

The conflict between HYBE and Ms. Min Hee Jin (founder of ADOR) began in April 2024. At that time, HYBE conducted an internal audit and accused Ms. Min of intending to "separate ADOR and NewJeans from HYBE". In response, Min Hee Jin held a press conference, accusing HYBE of "creative suppression" and "monopolizing power".

From an internal dispute, the incident quickly escalated into an unprecedented media war between Korea's largest entertainment company and the woman once hailed as a "Kpop creative genius".

The biggest shock came at the end of 2024, when five members of NewJeans suddenly held a press conference to unilaterally terminate their contracts with ADOR, accusing the company of "lack of management ability" and "lack of concern for artists". This move shocked the Korean entertainment industry. For the first time, a Gen Z idol group dared to openly oppose the giant entertainment corporation HYBE - something unprecedented in Kpop history.

According to the summary of the judgment published by Dispatch, the 10 reasons given by NewJeans and Ms. Min's side for terminating the contract were all rejected. The court held that HYBE's dismissal of Min Hee Jin from the position of CEO did not cause ADOR to lose its executive capacity. ADOR still fully performed the functions of managing, promoting, and organizing NewJeans' activities, so the accusation of "neglect" was unfounded.

In addition, the court also dismissed other accusations such as "HYBE defamed reputation", " ILLIT plagiarized NewJeans style" or "cold violence against member Hanni" because there was no clear evidence.

Notably, the court publicly cited a series of internal messages between Ms. Min Hee Jin and the former deputy director of ADOR, showing that she had actively discussed the plan to "launch a public opinion campaign" and "separate NewJeans from HYBE". This evidence was considered the decisive factor that led the court to conclude that HYBE had the right to audit and legally dismiss.

Immediately after the ruling, NewJeans' legal representative, Sejong Law Firm, issued a statement saying that the group would appeal. "The members respect the ruling, but in a situation where trust in ADOR has completely collapsed, it is impossible to continue working together. We will immediately file an appeal," the statement read.

This means that the legal battle between NewJeans and ADOR is not over yet, and the possibility of the group being "frozen" for many more months, even years, is inevitable. If they continue to work under ADOR, the group will face a crisis of confidence and spirit; and if they continue to sue, NewJeans risks stagnating and losing its position in the fierce Kpop market.

NewJeans' "mother" turned around, supported ILLIT, and danced to the pirated band's hits? Đình Như21:36:58 28/05/2024While the mother of NewJeans, Min Hee Jin, and the father of BTS, Bang Si Hyuk, were fighting fiercely and had not come to an end, the online community suddenly spread a clip of the mother of NewJeans performing ILLIT's dance moves.