NewJeans members announce they are terminating their Ador contracts

On 28 November 2024, the five members of NewJeans (Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein) held a livestreamed press conference in Seoul. They announced that their exclusive contracts with the agency Ador, a subsidiary of entertainment giant Hybe, would be terminated, taking effect at midnight that night.

The group said the agency had breached its obligations and that trust had broken down. Earlier in November they had sent Ador a formal demand to correct what they described as violations within a set period. They said that demand had not been met, which they cited as grounds for ending the contracts. The dispute followed months of conflict between Hybe and Ador's former chief executive, Min Hee-jin, who had been removed from her post as Ador's CEO in August 2024.

The announcement was unusual in K-pop, where exclusive contracts typically run for years and groups seldom leave this way. Ador and Hybe rejected the claim, arguing the contracts remained valid. The disagreement led to a legal fight over whether the members could act independently, and it became a central case in debates over artists' rights and agency power in the industry.