South Korean K-Pop Group Newjeans announced that they are resting from all activities, After the court ruled against them in their constant dispute with their record label Ador.
The five -sided, who tried to rebrand again as NJZ, on Sunday they announced on Sunday during the show at the ComplexCon Hong Kong that “This will be our last appearance” after debut on their new song Pit Stop.
The judgment on Friday banned the group to organize its own appearances, create music or signing advertising contracts during the dispute with Adora.
Newjeans tries to break up relations with Adora after being accused of harassment and said they would challenge the judgment of the court.
The group has been built into a long-term dispute with its record label since August 2024, when Hybe, the home company Ador, allegedly forced the Newjens mentor, Min Hee-Jin.
The band released an ultimatum that demands that min should be restored – and when Hybe refused, he went public with a series of complaints on the label, including the claim that he had intentionally undermined their career.
One of the group members, Hanni, also claimed that suffered a harassment in the workplace While working with label.
At a press conference in November, Newjeans announced his departure from the company, saying that Hybe and Ador had lost their right to represent them as artists.
The Seoul Court ruled that Newjans claims “did not prove enough that Ador had violated their significant duty as part of their contract,” adding that the music label supported “most of their duties, including payment”.
The decision of the court prevents the band from performing independent activities, which means that it will face difficulty in rebraining under its new name, NJZ, without confronting the severe financial penalties for violating the contract.
The Hong Kong concert on Sunday night marked the first public appearance of the group from the verdict.
After debuting their new song, five members of Minja, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Heyin alternated to read a letter addressing their fans in English and Korean.
“This phase means so much to us and each of you who only gives us strength by being here,” Hanni and Dani said.
“It’s really hard for us to say that, but this could be our last appearance for a while. Out of respect for the court’s decision, we have so far decided to stop all our activities.
“It was not an easy decision,” they added, “but we believe that this is something we need to do at the moment.”
The group also said that the decision was “about protecting yourself so that we could return to even stronger.”
“We had to speak to protect the values we believe in, which was a choice we don’t regret at all,” they added.
“We certainly believe that standing for our dignity, our rights and everything we deeply care about that we had to do and that belief will not change.”
The speech ended with a one -hour title set in front of a crowd of more than 11,000 fans in Asiaworld EXPO Arena, the largest place of living music in Hong Kong.
The group performed under their new name NJZ, in a seemingly defiance of last week’s verdict.
In a statement on Monday, Ador said that “they regret the decision of the members to continue their performance under the name except News, despite the court order and their unilateral announcement of the suspension of the activity.”
“Ador is fully dedicated to the support of Newjeans, in accordance with the conditions of our legal valid exclusive contract,” they added. “We hope to meet with artists as soon as possible to talk about the way forward.”
NewJeans is considered one of the brightest new bands in K-Pop, and were the eighth largest sales rank in the world in 2023.
