NewJeans has failed in its attempt to leave ADOR.
On the 30th, the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Agreement Division 41 delivered its ruling in the case over the validity of NewJeans’ exclusive contract with ADOR. The result was a complete victory for ADOR. NewJeans must also cover all legal costs.
The court stated, "It is difficult to conclude that ADOR has violated any serious obligations of the contract and or that the trust relationship has been broken down."
Normally, civil court only announces the decision, but in this case the judge read a 40-minute detailed statement point by point.
① Dismissal of Min Heejin = Management vacuum?
The court first addressed NewJeans’ argument, saying, "It is difficult to conclude that a management vacuum ocurred simply because ADOR dismissed CEO Min Heejin." The court ruled that NewJeans' high trust in Min Heejin is not enough to guarantee her position as CEO in the exclusive contract.
The court also pointed out that Min Heejin could still act as an in-house director and producer even after being dismissed as CEO, saying "The contract does not specifically state that Min Heejin must be the CEO to manage the group"
Furthermore, the court revealed, "ADOR offered Min Heejin a contract to re-delegate her duties as the producer, but she refused. ADOR later attempted to re-appoint her as an in-house director, but she resigned herself. Therefore, it's hard to say that ADOR unilaterally broke the trust relationship."
② HYBE’s ability to continue management duties
NewJeans claimed, "ADOR failed to fulfill its management duties after Min Heejin's dismissal." The court disagreed, saying, "The delay in hiring a new producer for several months was because ADOR was waiting for Min Heejin's cooperation. During that time, ADOR still continued to handle management tasks like album production, concert preparations, world tour planing, and ad shootings."
③ Min Heejin’s audit and dismissal procedures were legitimate
Another issue was whether Min Heejin's dismissal was justified. The court ruled, "Her dismissal can not be seen as a result of an unfair audit."
The judge directly cited KakaoTalk messages between Min Heejin and former ADOR VP, Lee Sangwoo.
In February 2024, the VP said, "Let's make things difficult for HYBE and gain our freedom,” to which Min Heejin replied, “That would be great.”
In a conversation the next month, Min Heejin said, "Plan change, we're moving up the timeline. We won't talk about the media here. We will fight a public opinion war and then sue. We'll wait for a response, then release the story."
They also quoted a KakaoTalk message that showed Min Heejin had prepared a complaint for the Fair Trade Commission on 20 April 2024. Min Heejin said, "The mothers need to file the complain with FTC and announce it publicly. The important thing here is not about HYBE's sales, it's about making this known to the public."
The court continued, "She also contacted the investors and trying to gain support from the public by using the parents of the members. These actions are enough reason for ADOR to launch an audit. There is enough evidence to suggest that Min Heejin intended to take NewJeans and ADOR independent. ADOR's decision to launch an audit was simply a response to this plan."
④ Dispatch trainee videos = trust breakdown?
The court also rejected claims that the video of NewJeans members' Source Music trainee days, which was released by Dispatch, was not enough as a reason to say that trust was broken.
The court confirmed, "Two videos were actually deleted and others had been blurred out. HYBE even selected an additional company to handle this, sent an email to Source Music to check how it got leaked, and sent an official document to Dispatch. It is difficult to say that they did not take all the necessary measures."
⑤ HYBE defamed NewJeans’ achievements?
Regarding the claim that a HYBE PR staff member tried to downplay NewJeans' achievement to a reporter, the court said, "It is difficult to say that this is a defamation. They were correcting facts that were important for HYBE and its stock price."
At that time, a reporter had incorrectly reported that NewJeans' debut album in Japan sold 1 million copies, which was false. HYBE said, "We requested a correction because it could confuse the investors."
⑥ ILLIT plagiarized NewJeans?
The claim that ILLIT plagiarized NewJeans was also not accepted. The court stated, "There are similarities between NewJeans and ILLIT, but it is difficult to see them as being copied."
⑦ Hanni's 'ignore her' incident
The court pointed out that the first person to use the phrase 'ignore her' was Min Heejin.
The court found that Min Heejin emphasized the word 'ignore' when she messaged Hanni, "Did all the ILLIT members ignore you?"
The court also noted that Hanni did not accurately describe the situation at the time, saying "The CCTV footage confirms that the ILLIT members bowed to greet Hanni. Based only on the submitted evidence, it is difficult to accept that Hanni heard remarks that violated her personal rights."
⑧ Dolphiner Films
The court also found it fair that HYBE asked the production team, Dolphiner Films, to delete the NewJeans 'ETA Director's Cut' video.
The court explained, "If you look at the contract, content cant be posted without HYBE's permission. Despite that, Dolphiner Films still posted it. The action that HYBE took against Dolphiner Films is an exercise of a right based on the contract. Therefore, it is hard to view this as a violation of any major exclusive contract obligations."
⑨ Album pushing
The court stated that this was just a tool Min Heejin used to create conflict.
The court said, "Based on the submitted evidence, it is difficult to conclude that 'album pushing,' which would harm NewJeans, was actually carried out. Min Heejin merely used this as a way to attack HYBE."
⑩ 'Ditch 'New', start fresh'
NewJeans was focused only on the phrase 'Ditch 'New', start fresh' in a report at the time. However, the court looked at the report as a whole and decided that it did not contain anything negative about NewJeans.
The court also questioned Min Heejin's actions, pointing out, "Min He-jin, who was the CEO at the time, received the report but did not raise any objections."
The court also mentioned that HYBE invested 21 billion KRW in NewJeans, saying, "it is hard to believe that HYBE would give up on NewJeans and focus on another idol group."
The court ruled, "It is difficult to see that ADOR seriously violated the exclusive contract. We also cannot accept NewJeans' claim that the relationship of trust has been broken. Therefore, the claim to terminate the exclusive contract has no grounds."
As a result, the exclusive contract between NewJeans and ADOR remains valid. This ruling gives ADOR legal authority to stop NewJeans from pursuing independent activities.
NewJeans cannot carry out independent activities without ADOR's permission, just as was decided in the preliminary court order before the main lawsuit was finished.
Immediately after the verdict, NewJeans announced their intent to appeal. Their legal representative, Sejong, stated, “While we respect the court’s decision, it is impossible to return to ADOR given the complete breakdown of trust. We plan to appeal immediately.”
Dispatch
