It feels like NewJeans may never be five again. Fans of the girl group, originally made up of Haein, Hyerin, Danielle, Minji, and Hanni, were recently overjoyed when their agency, ADOR, a HYBE subsidiary, announced that its dispute with the members reached a statement, with all five members slated to return. That optimism, however, was short-lived.<\/p>\n
ADOR has now decided to terminate its contract with Danielle, once again throwing the group\u2019s future into uncertainty. The agency is also suing the former NewJeans member. The news has sent K-pop social media into a frenzy, with fans questioning what lies ahead for Hanni, Haein, Hyerin, and Minji, and whether NewJeans can truly move forward after yet another setback.<\/p>\n
Why did ADOR decide to terminate Danielle’s contract? <\/p>\n
ADOR released a detailed statement explaining its decision to terminate Danielle\u2019s contract, placing significant responsibility on her family and former CEO Min Hee Jin. The agency said it would \u201ctake legal measures against members of Danielle\u2019s family and former CEO Min Hee Jin, who hold grave responsibility not only in our conflict with NewJeans but also in the members\u2019 delayed return to the agency.\u201d <\/p>\n
Danielle removed from NewJeans, ADOR announces | Credit: X\/@AniEMPIRE<\/p>\n
ADOR further claimed that it had discovered the members were \u201cfed continuous and twisted information about the company over an extended period of time,\u201d which it described as the core reason the conflict escalated. Despite this, the label said it had initially hoped to resolve misunderstandings, adding, \u201cWe agreed that we would need to take the chance to sort out all misunderstandings, even if it takes a long time, in order to fully restore the love from the fans and the public.\u201d ADOR also announced that it plans to explain the full details of the dispute at a separate event, with the date and format to be revealed later.<\/p>\n
The agency also announced that Hanni has returned, while Minji is still in negotiation. Notably, ADOR had already announced Hyein and Haerin’s return following the Seoul court’s ruling in October. <\/p>\n
NewJeans fans in disbelief following Danielle’s contract termination <\/p>\n
NewJeans fans, officially known as Tokkis, have been spiralling online following ADOR\u2019s statement, with many expressing shock, anger, and uncertainty over the group\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
One fan wrote, ” I know this is just Twitter, and it\u2019s never that deep, but I\u2019m actually crying about Danielle. I know I don\u2019t know her, and she doesn\u2019t know me, but her energy in NewJeans is just so crucial, like every other member. I really love her so much. So I\u2019m sorry if I get in my feelings about her.” Some fans have also slammed HYBE for “separating a family,” highlighting the close-knit bond the girls shared. <\/p>\n
More about NewJeans and ADOR’s legal battle<\/p>\n
The legal battle between NewJeans and their label ADOR began in November 2024, when all five members publicly declared that they were terminating their exclusive contracts with the company, citing a breakdown of trust and mismanagement after the departure of former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin and alleged mistreatment. They even began independent activities under the name \u201cNJZ\u201d, signalling their intent to leave the label altogether. In response, ADOR filed a lawsuit seeking a court ruling to confirm that the exclusive contracts remained valid and obtained an injunction to block the group from pursuing activities outside the agency without consent. <\/p>\n
Court sided with ADOR in NewJeans contract dispute. | Credit: X|@NewJeans_ADOR<\/p>\n
On October 30, 2025, the Seoul Central District Court sided with ADOR, ruling that the contracts were legally binding and that the company retained exclusive management rights over the group, effectively forcing the members to halt independent promotions and appear under ADOR\u2019s authority again.<\/p>\n
All five members’ announced their return<\/p>\n
Following the court decision, the reconciliation process began with Haerin and Hyein\u2014they were the first two members to publicly announce their return to ADOR, stating they would \u201crespect the court\u2019s latest ruling\u201d and continue under their exclusive contracts after discussions with the label and their families. Shortly afterward, Hanni, Minji, and Danielle also issued a statement saying they intended to return to ADOR \u201cafter careful consideration,\u201d though they noted delays in communication because one member was overseas. <\/p>\n
With Danielle\u2019s contract termination, it remains unclear whether NewJeans will continue as a four-member group or if ADOR plans to introduce a new member.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It feels like NewJeans may never be five again. Fans of the girl group, originally made up of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[3385,64,63,203792,134,3388,203795,62543,136,24868,203793,203796,203794],"class_list":["post-378208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ador","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-danielle-contract-termination","tag-entertainment","tag-hybe","tag-k-pop-contract-dispute","tag-min-hee-jin","tag-music","tag-newjeans","tag-newjeans-legal-battle","tag-seoul-central-district-court","tag-tokkis-reaction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}