Recently on Sunday, March 23, in Hong Kong, a well known K-Pop group, NewJeans, had debuted their new song, called Pit Stop, and played a sold out show after a South Korean court had approved an injunction that will forbid the group from carrying out any commercial activities and independent music. At ComplexCon Hong Kong festival, where NewJeans had recently performed, shocked over 11,000 audience members since the band members have announced that they will be taking a break in deference to the temporary ruling.
Back on Friday, March 21, the Seoul Central District Court had taken the side of the record company, Ador, in the ongoing legal conflict with NewJeans stating, “The band’s attempt to rename itself and break away from the label could seriously damage the latter’s reputation.”
A band member from NewJeans, Pham Ngoc Han, who goes by the name Hanni, said, “The group’s decision to pause all activities wasn’t easy, but that we believe this is something we need to do.” Each member from the group had prepared messages on pieces of paper to address to their fans, that are well known as “bunnies” in English and Korean. The disappointment rippled throughout the audience at Hong Kong’s AsiaWorld-Expo, where NewJeans had performed for the first time since their attempt last month of rebranding as NJZ.
On stage, another band member of NewJeans, Danielle Marsh, who goes by Danni, stated, “As strong as we are trying to stay, it is honestly taking a bit of mental and emotional toll on us.” The group had frequently claimed that the contract with Ador was void amid the allegations of mistreatment. The band members of the group had accused Ador of deliberate miscommunications, workplace harassment, and manipulation.
Meanwhile, Ador had declared that NewJeans have been kept under contact, arguing that they are unable to carry out any entertainment activities without having the label’s approval. Ador is a record company that is a subsidiary of Hybe, a South Korean multinational entertainment company who is also behind many K-pop acts such as BTS, another famous k-pop group who have argued about allegations of mistreatment. Hybe told CNN, a multinational news organization via email stating, “Most of the NewJeans claims have arisen from misunderstandings.” Ador filled out the lawsuit that would be heard on Thursday, April 3rd.
A conciliatory statement that was shared with CNN before NewJeans’ Hong Kong show had Ador showing support to the performance only on the condition that it took place under the name NewJeans, not NJZ. NewJeans appear to approach the situation delicately, with no name appearances on any of the screens surrounding the stage, even though others of the festival acts were explicitly named.
However, the name NJZ does have a brief appearance as parts in the visual projected behind NewJeans. A booth in the festival grounds sold merchandise with different logos of NJZ, such as T-shirts, plushies, hats, and keychains. On stage, Danni did address the issue; she stated, “No matter what our name is, no matter what kind of tough time we’ve been through, I feel like to be able to share a moment like this with everyone, is what we live for.”
Also, NewJeans appeared to be avoiding to play songs from the back catalog, with every band member performing covers of any other artists’ before they came together to debut their new song, Pit Stop. On X, formerly known as Twitter, a hashtag is referencing NewJeans re-debut, which had over 50,000 posts in the hours of the show. Many fans in the AsiaWorld-Arena did express their disappointment with the band’s hiatus and support for NewJeans. Soie So, a twenty-five year old fan, said, “I hope they can keep staying strong, fight this battle well. We know this is going to be hard to win. To be honest, at that moment (when the ban announced a pause on activities) I just felt very touched. I thought they’re very brave.”
According to legal experts who are familiar with the case, Friday’s ruling on March 21 ruling was a significant setback for NewJeans. A lawyer at South Korea’s Law Firm, Pill, Sangrock Kho spoke to CNN on March 21 stating, “The court’s decision to uphold the injunction suggests NewJeans’ legal case is either extremely weak or virtually nonexistent.” He also said over an email, “Under the Korean Judicial system, in cases like this where an agency files an injunction to suspend an artist’s activities, the proceedings are generally very favorable to the artist.” He added, “This is because courts are usually extremely reluctant to issue injunctions that could cause irreparable harm to an artist’s career by restricting their freedom of occupation. Given that, the fact that the court has nevertheless issued this type of injunction suggests that, after reviewing all the claims, evidence, and extensive presentation materials the court concluded that NewJeans’ argument that the breakdown in trust was entirely caused by Hybe and Ador lacks sufficient legal basis.”
