NewJeans Members Barred from Independent Activities as Court Injunction Becomes Final
According to the legal community on June 25, the five NewJeans members did not file a re-appeal by June 24 against the appellate court’s decision to uphold the injunction banning activities such as entering advertisement contracts without the agency. A re-appeal must be submitted within seven days of receiving the court’s ruling.
Regarding this, netizens commented, “Idols have a time window, and they’re wasting all that golden period”, “Just blame Min Hee-jin and go back, lol”, “Seriously, how did it come to this; pretending to be victims only makes things harder for the actual victims”, “So they can’t promote as NJZ, right? Seems like they already finished all the songs” and “Doesn’t seem like they can win the main lawsuit either—what are they even planning to do?”
Previously, on June 17, the Seoul High Court’s Civil Division 25-2 dismissed the members’ objection to the court’s initial approval of ADOR’s injunction. This means that neither the objection nor appeal from the NewJeans members was accepted after the court fully granted ADOR’s request back in March.
The appellate panel rejected the claim that HYBE’s unfair audit and dismissal of former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin undermined the core premise of their exclusive contracts.
The court stated, “Since around 2023, former CEO Min expressed dissatisfaction with shareholder agreements, demanded revisions and sought ways to take NewJeans outside of HYBE’s control or independently control ADOR. She appears to have taken a stance that destroys the foundational structure uniting ADOR, Min and the members.”
The court also dismissed the members’ claims—such as the “ignore her” remark allegedly heard by member Hanni from another HYBE label manager, and allegations of concept plagiarism—which had already been rejected in the first trial.
The ruling emphasized, “If NewJeans members were to unilaterally leave the exclusive contract and conduct independent entertainment activities, they could monopolize the results of their success, while ADOR would face severe losses, forfeiting all past investments.”
The court did not recognize the ban as a violation of the members’ rights to work or artistic expression, stating, “Even if the injunction is upheld, the NewJeans members can still conduct entertainment activities as long as they comply with the exclusive contract.”
Back in March, the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Division 50 ruled in favor of ADOR’s injunction request, stating, “ADOR temporarily retains its status as the managing agency under the exclusive contract with NewJeans. The members must not engage in entertainment activities independently or through any third party without ADOR’s prior approval or consent.”
As a result, NewJeans is now prohibited from conducting any entertainment activities—such as lyric writing, performance, singing, broadcasting, event appearances, commercial contracts, and any other professional engagements—without ADOR’s authorization.
NewJeans previously held an emergency press conference on November 28, 2024, announcing their intention to leave ADOR, citing unresolved internal issues. They declared that their exclusive contract would terminate as of November 29, 2024, and that they would pursue independent activities.
However, ADOR argued the contract remained valid and filed a lawsuit in December 2024 to confirm the continued validity of the exclusive agreement. A month later, they filed an injunction request seeking to block the members from signing advertisements or acting independently until the first trial verdict was delivered in the exclusive contract case.