Ador claims exclusive contracts with NewJeans still valid

NewJeans hold a press conference on Thursday, Nov. 28, in Seoul to announce the termination of their exclusive contract with Ador. Image: Yonhap via The Korea Herald

Ador, Hybe’s sublabel, claimed Thursday, Nov. 28, that its exclusive contracts with the members of the K-pop girl group NewJeans are still effective.

“The exclusive contracts signed between Ador and NewJeans members are still valid. Therefore, we ask that you (NewJeans) continue to work with Ador for future engagements, just as you have been doing,” said the label in a press release.

This came soon after the group announced the termination of their exclusive contracts with their agency as of Friday midnight during a press conference in Seoul on Thursday.

“Ador has not violated the contract, and the group’s claim that trust has been unilaterally broken cannot be considered a valid reason for termination,” it added.

NewJeans claimed that Ador and Hybe violated the contract, emphasizing that there was no reason for them to pay any penalties for its termination.

“It’s a pity that NewJeans planned and conducted the press conference without sufficient consideration, before receiving our response to their certification of content,” said Ador.

In response, NewJeans revealed through its new PR agency that Ador had sent its reply to their certification of content on Thursday.

In that reply, the Hybe sublabel claimed that it has done its best to “support its valuable IP and artists and that as a result, NewJeans was able to flourish as a global group.”

“The artists and their parents have continuously made public their stance but had never given us a chance to resolve the matter through dialogue. We hope to get a chance to talk about our plans for next year with the artists,” wrote Ador.

Meanwhile, the members of NewJeans all expressed a desire to continue working with former CEO of Ador and producer, Min Hee-jin, during the press conference.

Min was fired from her post as CEO of Ador and resigned from her post as an internal director at the company and left Hybe on Nov. 20.