Danielle vs. ADOR: 33.1 Billion Won Suit Continues After NewJeans' 4th Anniversary

A damages suit worth roughly 33.1 billion won (about $23 million) filed by HYBE subsidiary ADOR against former NewJeans member Danielle and former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin is still ongoing.

The Seoul Central District Court's 31st Civil Division holds the fourth hearing in the case on the afternoon of July 23. ADOR filed the suit against Danielle, her family, and Min.

At the third hearing on July 2, the two sides clashed over claims that Danielle signed a conflicting contract. ADOR argued that NewJeans entered an agreement with a Chinese-backed company that organized last year's "ComplexCon" event in Hong Kong. According to ADOR, that agreement conflicted with the group's exclusive contract with the label.

ADOR also said the other members cooperated in resolving the issue once they became aware of it, while Danielle and her family did not disclose that the deal had been signed. "Danielle's side made no effort to correct the contract violation," the company argued in court.

Danielle's side pushed back, saying the matter was "not the unilateral action of one individual, but something involving all the members." Her representatives followed up with a written statement stressing that "Danielle and the other NewJeans members never signed, or tried to sign, a duplicate exclusive entertainment contract with any specific company."

NewJeans has been locked in an exclusive-contract dispute with ADOR since November 2024. After losing the first-instance ruling on the validity of the contract last October, all five members said they wanted to return. Three of them, Hanni, Haerin, and Hyein, have since rejoined the label.

The group Danielle once belonged to marked four years since debut on July 22. ADOR posted anniversary content across its official social media channels. The material featured Hanni, Haerin, and Hyein, along with Minji, whose return is still under discussion. Danielle, who has been cut from the lineup, did not appear.

The absence in the anniversary posts, set against a courtroom fight over hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, captures where NewJeans stands at year four. What began as one of K-pop's most closely watched debuts has turned into a long legal story about who controls the group's future, on stage and off.