Okay-pop band NewJeans proclaims hiatus after authorized setback with document label

HONG KONG — Okay-pop lady group NewJeans has introduced a pause on all actions days after a South Korean courtroom dominated in opposition to its 5 members in a long-running dispute with document label Ador.

The band, one of many top-selling acts on the planet, stated Sunday night time throughout a present in Hong Kong that it could be their “final efficiency for a short time,” sending shock waves by means of the viewers.

Final yr, NewJeans introduced a cut up from Ador after accusing the label of “mistreatment,” together with “deliberate miscommunications” and office harassment. The band members additionally renamed themselves NJZ and started to prepare their very own actions.

Ador, a subsidiary of Hybe, the South Korean leisure big behind the worldwide Okay-pop sensation BTS, denied the allegations and filed an injunction in January to claim its place because the group’s administration company.

On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court docket dominated in favor of Ador, upholding an injunction in opposition to NewJeans finishing up unbiased performances or solo industrial actions.

The group stated it revered the courtroom resolution however would problem it.

Of their first public look for the reason that ruling, NewJeans — performing as NJZ — debuted a brand new tune known as “Pit Cease” on Sunday night time in entrance of a crowd of greater than 11,000 followers on the ComplexCon Hong Kong competition.

However the followers’ pleasure didn’t final lengthy, with the group making a surprising announcement.

“Out of respect for the courtroom’s resolution, we’ve determined to pause all our actions for now,” stated member Pham Ngoc Han, who goes by Hanni.

One after one other, the 5 members — Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein — learn a letter in each English and Korean to their followers at AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong’s largest stay music venue.

The pause wasn’t “a simple resolution, however we imagine that is one thing we have to do at this second,” the group stated.

“However that doesn’t imply we’re going to surrender. We’re going to maintain going,” they stated.

Regardless of the courtroom ruling, they stated they didn’t remorse the selection to interrupt from Ador “in any respect” and that they needed to “converse as much as shield the values” that they imagine in.

The group thanked followers for his or her assist and promised to come back again “it doesn’t matter what the circumstances.”

In response, Ador expressed “remorse” over NewJeans’ resolution to carry out beneath a brand new title and “unilaterally” declare a suspension of actions.

“We’ll do our greatest for NewJeans in accordance with our legitimate unique contract. We hope to fulfill with the artist as quickly as doable to debate the longer term,” Ador stated in an announcement Monday, in keeping with South Korea’s Yonhap information company.

The label beforehand stated the contract was legitimate till July 2029.

NBC Information has reached out to Ador’s father or mother firm Hybe for remark.

NewJeans’ dispute with Ador started in August 2024 when Ador changed Min Hee-jin, the group’s govt producer and mentor, with an HR specialist. After failing to safe Min’s reinstatement, the group introduced that they might terminate their contracts and depart Ador.

Hanni, a member of the lady group, accused Hybe of intentionally undermining the band in testimony earlier than South Korean lawmakers final yr.

NewJeans debuted in 2022 and is thought for songs combining pop and R&B music. The group was named “one of the acknowledged and most influential teams in pop” by Billboard in 2023.

It additionally broke the Guinness World File for the quickest Okay-pop act to achieve 1 billion streams on Spotify, surpassing Okay-pop veterans BTS and Blackpink.