In a sudden press conference on Thursday night, K-pop girl group NewJeans announced they will leave their agency ADOR.
But ADOR said the contract remains valid.
Our Kim Bo-kyoung has the details.
K-pop girl group NewJeans announced on Thursday, that they will end their contract with their agency ADOR –a subsidiary of Hybe, and start their own journey.
During the emergency press conference, the five-member group said neither Hybe nor ADOR have shown any willingness to improve the situation they are in.
“ADOR lacks both the will and the ability to protect NewJeans. It’s a waste of time to stay, and it also causes mental pain..
While saying they will no longer be ADOR artists with the exclusive contract terminated, the members said they will freely pursue activities they truly desire while promising to do all pre-scheduled and contracted activities as planned, including advertisements.
Regarding any legal measures, NewJeans clarified they won’t be filing for an injunction to suspend the validity of the exclusive contract. as ADOR and HYBE are the ones that violated the terms, and they would not have any obstacle in continuing their activities.
The group’s contract termination follows the company’s dispute with its former CEO, Min Hee-jin.
After months of tensions over Hybe’s allegations that Min had attempted to take control of the label and NewJeans, the agency removed her as ADOR’s CEO in August.
On November 13th, NewJeans had sent an official list of changes the group wants to be made by their agency ADOR within 14 days of receiving the paper document, which was November 14th.
Their demands included the reinstatement of Min Hee-jin as CEO and a formal apology from the manager of another rookie group under a Hybe subsidiary, Illit, over alleged workplace harassment against member Hanni.
But none of the corrective actions they demanded were properly made, said the members.
“We have less than four hours left of the time we agreed upon. If there was any intention to rectify the situation, it could have been clearly shown through actions long before now ”
After the announcement, ADOR issued a statement expressing regret over the group’s decision. even before it gave a response to group’s demand letter and without sufficient consideration.
While stressing it has not violated any terms, ADOR claimed that the contract with NewJeans remains valid.
Kim Bo-kyoung, Arirang News.
source : https://www.arirang.com/news/view?id=278495
