The K-pop label Ador has filed a lawsuit against ousted NewJeans member Danielle, seeking approximately $30 million (43.1 billion Korean won) in damages. The lawsuit also lists a member of Danielle’s family and Ador’s former CEO Min Hee-jin as defendants, the BBC reports.
The new suit comes days after Ador and its parent company, HYBE, revealed that they had ended their contract with Danielle amid wider talks with NewJeans members to return and end a protracted dispute. In that statement, Ador signaled their intention to take legal action, saying they believed Danielle’s family member and Min Hee-jin “bear significant responsibility for causing this dispute and for the delays in NewJeans’ departure and return.”
HYBE and Ador did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
In November, all five members of NewJeans — Hyein, Haerin, Hanni, Danielle, and Minji — signaled their intention to return to Ador after their efforts to cut ties with their label failed in South Korean court. That same month, Ador announced that Hyein and Haerin would rejoin the group. In the statement announcing the decision to terminate Danielle’s contract earlier this week, the label said Hanni had also “decided to stay with Ador,” and that Minji remains “in ongoing conversations” with the label.
The dispute between NewJeans and Ador dates back to fall 2024, when the band announced their decision to cut ties with the label. The move came after HYBE fired Min Hee-jin — who was instrumental in developing NewJeans — after accusing her of trying to take Ador independent (which Hee-jin denied). At a press conference, the members of NewJeans also accused Ador of “manipulation,” “mistreatment,” “deliberate miscommunications,” and workplace harassment. (ADOR denied the claims.)
The members of NewJeans attempted to rebrand and relaunch as NJZ, but HYBE/Ador quickly took the group to court. In March, right before their first show, a court put a stop to the NJZ rebrand, while a subsequent June ruling held that the K-pop group must honor their contractual obligations through 2029. The members of NewJeans had originally seemed intent on appealing the decision before ultimately deciding to open up talks of a return with Ador.
Anthony Orosz*