Danielle Marks Hanni's Birthday After Being Ousted From NewJeans

Former NewJeans member Danielle shared a social media post that appeared to mark her former bandmate Hanni's birthday, months after ADOR terminated her exclusive contract with the group.

Shortly after midnight on Oct. 6, Danielle posted a photo of a woman seen from behind near a rocky stream in a wooded area. She added honey jar and fairy emojis to the post.

The woman's face is not visible, and Danielle did not identify her by name. Still, the timing and the honey emoji led fans to interpret the post as a birthday message for Hanni, whose name fans connected sounds similar to the English word "honey." Hanni, who was born on Oct. 6, 2004, turned 22 that day.

Danielle and Hanni debuted together as members of NewJeans in 2022. In November 2024, all five members announced that they were terminating their exclusive contracts with ADOR. The agency maintained that the contracts remained valid and filed a lawsuit seeking legal confirmation of their validity.

Following the trial which ruled in ADOR's favor, the members indicated that they intended to return to the agency. ADOR later terminated Danielle's exclusive contract, saying it had determined that she could no longer continue as a NewJeans member or an artist under the label.

ADOR released new content to mark NewJeans' fourth debut anniversary on July 22. The video featured Minji, Hanni, Haerin and Hyein, with Danielle absent. Hanni, Haerin and Hyein have confirmed their return to ADOR, while Minji remains in talks with the agency.