Girl group New Jeans announced that it will terminate its exclusive contract with its agency, Adore, from 0:00 p.m. on the 29th.
New Jeans held an emergency press conference at the SpaceShare Samsung Station Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of December 28, and said, “Even though today’s business hours are over, Hybe and the current Adore show no room for improvement or any willingness to meet our demands. The exclusive contract between New Jeans and Adore will be canceled from midnight on the 29th.”
“The reason for leaving Ador is simple,” New Jeans said, adding, “New Jeans is an artist belonging to Ador, and Ador has a duty to protect New Jeans, and it is the most basic duty as a company, and he has no will or ability to protect New Jeans.” “It’s a waste of time and mental pain for us to continue to stay here,” they said. “Most of all, there’s no reason for all five of us to remain in Ador because there’s nothing we can get from work.” Regarding the prospect that the penalty will reach hundreds of billions of won due to the termination of the contract, New Jeans said, “We saw a penalty article, and we didn’t violate the exclusive contract. We’re still working as best as we can.” They said, “There’s no reason why we have to pay the penalty at all. Rather, we came to this situation because Ador and Hybe violated the contract, and of course, we’re responsible.”
“If it goes past midnight today, we may not be able to use the name New Jeans for the time being, regardless of the will of the five of us,” they said. “We have no intention of giving up the name New Jeans.”
“To some people, the name may simply be seen as a name or trademark issue. It’s not that simple for us,” New Jeans said, adding, “We will continue to work hard to secure the right under the name New Jeans.”
Amid the recent dispute between the former CEO and Hybe, New Jeans claimed that another label girl group under Hybe imitated their concept and was treated unreasonably by the label manager, saying, “Ignore you.” In this regard, they sent a proof of content to their agency, Adore, on the 13th, demanding correction.
SOPHIA KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
