by: Tanvi Ambekar

Opinion Editor

The music industry remains one of the most dynamic of the century, with artists gaining and losing popularity quicker than ever before. The Korean pop (K-pop) industry, for example, frequently debuts groups whose first song gains traction, only for the group to fade into the background mere months later. In 2022, when K-pop group New Jeans released their song Attention, listeners from around the world praised them for their fresh lyrics and youthful vocals. The group was under ADOR, a subsidiary of Hybe Entertainment. 

Shortly after New Jeans’s debut, Hybe accused Min Heejin, CEO of ADOR, of trying to turn the subsidiary into a separate company. Min Heejin, in turn, accused Hybe of stealing her concepts for New Jeans to distribute to a more recent group called ILLIT. On these grounds, Hybe fired Min Heejin from her position as ADOR CEO on Aug. 27, 2024. The internet immediately exploded with speculations about New Jeans’s future, as Min Heejin was the visionary behind their music style. 

Barely three months after her dismissal, all five members of New Jeans, including Minji, Hyein, Haerin, Danielle, and Hannie, held an emergency press conference in which they demanded Min Heejin be reinstated as ADOR CEO, or they would leave the company. But because the group’s binding contract expires in 2029, they legally could not leave unless they proved the company had broken a portion of the agreement. 

Thus began the year-long lawsuit of New Jeans against Hybe, in which they pressed charges of maltreatment and exploitation. As the lawsuit continued, all five New Jeans members actively continued their rebrand to their new chosen name, NJZ, without the knowledge or permission of the court. For example, in February of 2025, the members renamed the group’s official Instagram from @jeanzforfree to @njz_official. In response, ADOR released a statement saying they “worry that announcing an unauthorized new group name… could constitute a material breach of the exclusive agency contract.” 

However, in October of 2025, a South Korean court ruled that New Jean’s contract with ADOR remained valid because there were “insufficient grounds to support the group’s key claims for terminating the contract.” One month later, Haerin and Hyein agreed to return to ADOR, exactly one year after the first press conference where they threatened their departure. Netizens around the world celebrated, hopeful the group would reunite.

On Dec. 29, 2025, Hybe announced the shocking contract termination of Danielle and a lawsuit against multiple members of her family. The internet exploded with disappointed comments and pleas for Hybe to reconsider, but the lawsuit has continued.

Although the case has not reached a definite end, New Jeans returning as a five-member group seems unlikely. While the large fandom continues to stream New Jeans’s music, the turmoil surrounding the group underscores the fragility and unpredictability of not just the K-pop industry but the music industry as a whole. 

(Sources: CNN, Forbes, Korea JoongAng Daily, Teen Vogue, The Guardian)