K-pop label ADOR has refuted a recent statement by girl group NewJeans, claiming that their contract with the K-pop act has not been terminated.
Yesterday (November 28), NewJeans held an emergency press conference announcing their departure from their label, ADOR. The news came two weeks after the group issued a legal notice to the agency, stating that they would terminate their contracts if ADOR did not resolve alleged breaches of their contracts.
ADOR has since sent out a press release stating that their contract with NewJeans is still in effect. “We regret that the press conference regarding the termination of the exclusive contract was planned and conducted without sufficient review, prior to receiving a response to the legal notice,” said the agency.
The label added that it “has not violated the terms of the agreement” and that a “unilateral claim of a breach of trust does not constitute valid grounds for terminating the contract”.
“The exclusive agreement between ADOR and the NewJeans members remains in full effect,” said the agency, which also requested for the group to continue collaborating with it on their upcoming activities.
Around the same time, NewJeans also released a document from ADOR, which had addressed the girl group’s legal notice to the company earlier this month. According to Korea JoongAng Daily, the label sent the letter an hour after the group called for an emergency press conference last night.
In the letter, ADOR shared the steps it had taken to address the demands NewJeans outlined in their original legal notice. These include getting an apology from the Belift Lab manager who allegedly told another group to “ignore” member Hanni, resolving a dispute with one of their music video directors and reinstating former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, among others.
In response, the label wrote that some of the group’s demands were “too abstract or overly broad”, and also went beyond its authority and legal obligations. However, it said that ADOR would “take all possible measures” to address NewJeans’ needs.
“We are willing to share progress updates regularly if necessary, and we hope to maintain communication with the artists,” it said, claiming the group are “refusing to discuss plans for their activities next year”.
ADOR then shared that they have not forced the members to attend meetings “out of respect for them”, but are committed to support the group in their activities.