NewJeans member Danielle. [Newsis]
NewJeans member Danielle. [Newsis]

Ador, the agency of girl group NewJeans, disclosed in court Wednesday its reasons for terminating the exclusive contract of only one returning member — Danielle — and filing a damages lawsuit against her. The agency argued that Danielle was the only member to have pursued independent music and commercial activities, constituting a breach of contract. Danielle's side rebuffed the claim, saying Ador was "stitching together previously submitted evidence to make it look as though only Danielle violated the contract."

The 31st Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court held the third hearing Wednesday in Ador's 33.09 billion won damages suit filed against Danielle, her mother and former Ador CEO Min Hee-jin.

Ador's legal team said Danielle was "the only NewJeans member to have independently pursued music and commercial activities," adding that "any performance or vocal activity conducted outside of Ador constitutes a breach of the exclusive contract."

As evidence, Ador presented details suggesting Danielle had already been active as an independent musician, including circumstances surrounding recording sessions and production costs related to her work with US band Emotional Oranges.

Alongside this, Ador cited records of fund usage to argue that "NJZ was a kind of entertainment management venture" and "a partnership formed to carry out activities that constitute violations of the exclusive contract."

NJZ is the group name NewJeans members adopted to continue their activities after declaring the termination of their exclusive contracts with Ador.

Danielle's side rebuffed the argument, saying Ador was "stitching together previously submitted evidence to make it look as though only Danielle violated the contract."

Her legal team also said the Emotional Oranges activities cited by Ador as grounds for the contract breach had in effect generated no meaningful financial income, and that the evidence presented contained nothing new — all of it had already been submitted in prior proceedings.

"As far as we know, there was no separate payment made in connection with Emotional Oranges," Danielle's side said. "NJZ was also an activity all the members participated in together, yet only Danielle is being singled out."

Meanwhile, Ador filed the lawsuit after determining that Danielle, her family and former CEO Min bore responsibility for Danielle's breach of her exclusive contract as well as for NewJeans' departure from the agency and the delay in the members' return.

The original claim was 43.09 billion won, but Ador later revised the amount down to 33.09 billion won in its submission to the court.

Among the NewJeans members, Haerin, Hyein and Hanni have finalized their return to Ador, while Minji continues to negotiate with the agency over the specific terms of her comeback.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com