After NJZ (NewJeans) announced a hiatus following their recent performance at ComplexCon, ADOR has released a statement. As reported by Soompi, ADOR said that the move was “unilaterally announced”. Last week, a Seoul court granted ADOR’s request for an injunction to bar group members from carrying out independent activities under NJZ. (Also Read | NewJeans’ fight for freedom from Ador hits a legal snag; critics claim they saw it coming: ‘Why are they surprised?’)
NewJeans perform as NJZ despite court order
The court ruled to uphold ADOR’s status as the NewJeans members’ agency till a final ruling is made in the contract dispute. ADOR announced that it would dispatch staff members to Hong Kong to “provide full on-site support.” Despite the court’s ruling, the group performed at ComplexCon under the name NJZ on March 23.
ADOR says move is ‘deeply regretful’
At the event, they also sold merchandise with the NJZ name. During their performance, they also announced that they would be temporarily halting all activities.
On Monday, ADOR in a statement said, “We consider it deeply regretful that in spite of the court’s decision, NewJeans pushed ahead with performing under a different name instead of NewJeans and unilaterally announced that they would be halting their activities.”
“In accordance with ADOR’s valid exclusive contract, we would like to do our utmost for NewJeans. We hope that we can meet with the artist as soon as possible and discuss their future,” it further said.
What NJZ had said during show
NJZ, during their performance, spoke to the audience about coming back stronger. A part of their statement read, “This stage means so much to us and every single one of you who gives us strength just by being here. It is really hard for us to say this, but this might be our last performance for a little while. Out of respect for the court’s decision, we’ve decided to pause all our activities for now. It wasn’t an easy decision, but we believe this is something we need to do at this moment.”
They also added, “Honestly, we’ve known from the start that this journey wasn’t going to be easy and even though we accept the court’s ruling and this whole process, we had to speak up to protect the values that we believe in, and that was a choice that we don’t regret at all. We surely believe that standing up for our dignity, our rights and everything we deeply care about is something we had to do, and that belief will not change.”
NewJeans comprises of five members–Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein. The group debuted under the name NewJeans on July 22, 2022.
