Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein, members of K-Pop powerhouse girl group NewJeans, likely believed until three days ago that their Hong Kong performance on Sunday would be one that signified their victory against their record label Ador . But a Seoul court dashed their hopes on Friday after it ruled against the quintet , granting Ador’s request for an injunction to establish themselves as NewJeans’ management agency and forbidding the group to pursue any kind of independent activity – making music, performing, or signing advertising deals. NewJeans and Ador have been embroiled in a feud since last year’s ouster of Min Hee Jin, the band’s former creative director and Ador’s former CEO, by Ador’s parent company Hybe.
Matters came to a head after the group held a press conference, unilaterally declared their exclusive contract with Ador invalid, and accused the agency of having “neither the ability nor the will to protect” NewJeans. Ador denied the band’s allegations of mistreatment and bullying, maintained that they had “not violated the terms of the agreement”, and argued that a “unilateral claim of a breach of trust does not constitute valid grounds for terminating the contract”. NewJeans were scheduled to perform on Sunday at ComplexCon Hong Kong where they had previously announced they would release a new song under the new name they debuted last month: NJZ.
As fans were to discover, however, the performance that should have felt like a .
