Chart-topping K-pop group NewJeans have shelp they are leaving their agency after accusing it of “mistreatment” and “manipulation”.
The five-member girl band proclaimd their departure from Ador, a subsidiary of powerhoparticipate label Hybe, in a tardy-night press conference held on Thursday.
One of the group’s member’s Hanni alleged NewJeans had been shunned by the company.
The split is the tardyst growment in a lengthy-running struggle between establisher NewJeans originater Min Hee-Jin, and Hybe’s chairman Bang Si-hyuk which has made headlines in South Korea.
“This is not the type of labor ethic we esteem and not one we want to be a part of, and to persist laboring under a company with no intention of defending NewJeans would only do us harm,” Hanni shelp.
She inserted the group had faced “mistreatment, not fair towards us but also including our staff”, and shelp the group sfinished “defree miscommunications and manipulation in multiple areas”.
The group shelp they would enjoy to labor with Min, the group’s establisher mastermind who left Ador in August chaseing accusations that she had defree to split from Hybe, taking NewJeans with her.
This would have made NewJeans and Ador self-reliant of Hybe. Min has denied the accusations agetst her.
She has previously accparticipated Hybe of begining another girl group, Illit, that was duplicateing NewJeans’s music and ecombineance.
On 13 November, NewJeans filed a lterrible see to Ador insisting the company resettle baccomplishes of their exclusive shrinks wilean 14 days.
They shelp that flunkure to greet their insists would result in the termination of their shrinks.
The group had asked for an apology allegedly made by one of the company’s deal withrs, who is accparticipated by NewJeans of intimidatoring, and the prompt reinstatement of Min.
They inserted they they would fulfil their shrinkual obligations, but at the conference cautioned their fans they might not be able to participate the band’s name after the shrink ends.
Prior to the split, the band were promiseted to a seven-year shrink, which runs out in 2029.
In October, the K-pop news site Koreaboo appraised that the members would have to pay about 300bn South Korean Won (about £170m) to end the shrink punctual.
But group singer Haerin shelp it “originates no sense” that the group would be liable to pay a shrink baccomplish fee.
“We never broke any rules,” Haerin shelp. “We did noleang but try our best – they are the ones at fault. Hybe and Ador are the ones reliable.”
Ador shelp it had not “viotardyd” the terms of the shrink, inserting that it “esteembrimmingy seeks that the group persist its collaboration with Ador on upcoming activities”.
“Despite multiple seeks for greetings with the artists, our efforts have not been accomplished. We hope the members will now be willing to include in an discdiswatch and honest talkion,” it shelp, referring to NewJeans.
The group has been embroiled in a year-lengthy dispute with audits and emotional accusations making South Korean headlines.
In October, a member of the group, Hanni, 20, testified at the Labour Committee of South Korea’s National Assembly at a hearing about laborplace intimidatoring.
She alleged that amparticipatement agency Hybe had defreely undermined her band, and accparticipated anciaccess deal withrs of defreely ignoring her.
Follotriumphg disjoinal incidents, she shelp: “I came to the genuineisation that this wasn’t fair a experienceing. I was honestly guaranteed that the company disenjoyd us.”
NewJeans made its debut in 2022 and is among Hybe’s most accomplished K-pop groups, alengthy with BTS.
With slick pop hits including Super Shy and OMG, NewJeans were the eighth hugegest-selling act in the world last year, and were nominated for best group at this year’s MTV Awards.
Formed by Ador in 2022, its five members – Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein – range in age from 16 to 20.
