Approximately 30,000 NewJeans/NJZ fans have signed a petition requesting for a Seoul court to dismiss ADOR‘s injunction against the band.
Korea JoongAng Daily reported on March 12 that a coalition of 30,000 NJZ fans have signed the petition and released a statement calling for the dismissal of ADOR’s injunction. According to the outlet, the petition had been open for signatures since February 24 and included both international and domestic fans.
This comes after the first hearing for the injunction last week, where ADOR notably expanded the scope of its injunction for the court to ban all of NJZ’s independent music and entertainment activities, on top of the initial attempt to prevent independent brand deals.
“We support the members’ termination of their exclusive contracts,” read the fans’ statement. “Should they be forced to continue their activities with a company with whom their trust has been destroyed, then it would only prolong the members’ agony to continue working in a hostile environment, and neither the artists nor the fans would be able to enjoy their activities in the future.”
The statement also noted that fans “do not wish for their musical career to halt due to outside factors”. It added: “We ask the court turn down ADOR’s injunction on the members’ activities so that they may continue in a safe and happy environment with people who the members can trust.”
When the expansion of ADOR’s injunction was first revealed by NJZ a day before the hearing, the music label told NME, when asked for comment, that this was “to ensure that they can continue their activities under our existing contractual agreement”, rather than “hinder the artists’ careers”.