Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Ah, the naivete of the American-centric mind.
Surely nobody will break news of like the Big 4 merging with Samsung, Hyundai, and SK to (formally) make idols indentured servants or something. Surely.
Well, that was a short-lived break (still not updating further than this today) for Thanksgiving, as NewJeans have held an emergency press conference and announced the termination of their contract with ADOR.
On November 28, Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein held an emergency press conference.
At the press conference, the members explained, “The time period for rectification ends at midnight tonight, but it seems HYBE and the current ADOR have no plans for reform or to listen to our requests.”
Minji said, “The exclusive contract between NewJeans and ADOR will be terminated as of November 29 at 12 a.m. KST,” adding, “We are tired of HYBE’s insincere attitude and felt once again that they have no desire to listen to our requests.”
This was mostly predictable after Min Hee Jin left the company and following NewJeans’ formal notice a couple weeks ago. That said, it’s obviously still the major story and now will be going forward indefinitely.
Hanni and Danielle, respectively, have left messages in English.
We have faced mistreatment not just toward us but also toward our staff, countless preventions and contradictions, deliberate miscommunication, and manipulation regarding multiple areas. [It is] a company that no longer has any sincerity in the art of music that is created, is rather fixated on appearing like a well-working company despite only having thoughts about making money, and does not have any conscience about the negative effect they create through their non-authentic means. This is not the type of work ethic we respect nor want to be a part of, and to continue working under a company with no intention of protecting NewJeans would only do us harm. So that is why we, the five of us together, have agreed to leave ADOR. And for us to clearly express ourselves before misleading information is released regarding this, we have chosen to hold an emergency press conference today.
So basically once we leave ADOR we will aim to pursue freely the activities that we really desire. Especially with the schedules that have already been arranged, we will try our very best to continue them without any complications. We really wish to be able to release new music for Bunnies next year, as soon as possible, whenever. And we really hope that we have the opportunity to meet you guys from all around the world. Lastly, we are well aware that from today we may not be able to use our current name NewJeans, however, that doesn’t mean that we are giving up on the name at all, and we will continue to fight for NewJeans. Regardless of our name, just remember that NewJeans never dies.
They mostly have had the support of the public so far, which is understandable given that HYBE have effectively shot themselves in the foot time and again throughout this saga. But as I’ve been saying, winning in court is a different animal and figures to be an even bigger hurdle to clear for NewJeans, and I wonder if further information emerges in those legal arguments. Either way, I’ll obviously be following the case, since like its predecessors, it could potentially lead to ripple effects throughout the industry.
Update
ADOR has issued a statement in response, predictably saying the contracts are still valid.
We regret that a press conference to announce the termination of exclusive contract was planned and conducted even before receiving a response to the certification of contents and without sufficient review.
ADOR, as a party of the exclusive contracts, has not violated the contracts, and claiming that trust has been unilaterally broken does not constitute grounds for termination.
The exclusive contracts between ADOR and the NewJeans members remain valid. Therefore, we expect them to continue their scheduled activities ahead together with ADOR as they have until now.
We have requested several meetings with the artists, but they were not carried out. We hope that even now, we can open our hearts and have sincere conversations together.
