Ador has filed a civil lawsuit seeking £22.1m in damages against former NewJeans member Danielle Marsh, a member of her family, and former CEO Min Hee Jin.
The label is seeking 43.1bn won (£22.1m) in damages with the suit filed on Monday, the same day Ador announced that it had terminated its exclusive contract with Danielle, according to a Channel News Asia report.
NewJeans, one of the most popular K-pop groups, was composed of Minji, 21, Hanni, 21, Danielle, 20, Haerin, 19, and Hyein, 17. The girl group is managed by Ador, a sublabel of Hybe, the South Korean multinational entertainment company behind popular K-pop groups like BTS, Le Sserafim, Seventeen, and Katseye.
The Independent has reached out to Hybe for comment.
The new lawsuit comes after months of acrimony between NewJeans and Ador, sparked by the group’s attempt last year to rebrand and go independent under the name NJZ.
The conflict dates back to April 2024, when Hybe accused Min Hee Jin, also the band's former creative director, of attempting to take Ador independent, triggering an internal audit and eventual dismissal.
NewJeans followed by unilaterally declaring their exclusive contract with Ador invalid, and accused the agency of having “neither the ability nor the will to protect” NewJeans.
Ador denied the band’s allegations of mistreatment and bullying, maintained that they had “not violated the terms of the agreement”, and filed a suit to confirm the contracts’ validity.
NewJeans sought to continue activities independently under the name NJZ, debuting a new song at ComplexCon Hong Kong. The group also announced that they were going on an indefinite hiatus, adding that it “wasn’t an easy decision, but we believe this is something we need to do at this moment”.
In October, a Seoul court ruled in Ador’s favour, determining that the members’ exclusive contracts remained valid and binding until at least 2029, and ordering the members to halt independent activities. At the time, Ador struck a conciliatory tone, saying it had watched the “series of processes with a heavy heart” and was committed to supporting the group, adding that it had “completed preparations for the artist's activities, including the release of a studio album”.
That posture shifted on Monday, with the announcement that Danielle’s contract was being terminated and legal action would be sought against her.
On Monday, Ador said it had conducted “extensive conversations with Minji, Hanni, Danielle, and their families” and had determined that it would be “difficult for her to continue as a NewJeans member and Ador artist”.
The label added that it would pursue legal action against Danielle, seeking penalty fees and damages, as well as against Min and a member of Danielle’s family “for causing this dispute, NewJeans’ departure, and significant delays in their return”.
According to Ador, Danielle entered into arrangements that put her in conflict with her contract with Ador, which were “not remedied within the given timeframe,” leading to the termination.
Additionally, the label claimed: “Through discussions, we learned the members had long been exposed to distorted and biased information, leading to misunderstandings about the company and the dispute.”
danielle kinda defined newjeans sound for me, especially during their debut era so like i really can’t imagine them doing anything without her in it pic.twitter.com/GWAUsOoxyM
— ْ (@armaegeddon) December 29, 2025
newjeans without danielle feels illegal... pic.twitter.com/kqnoJNdEMu
— njz. (@archivenewjns) December 29, 2025
The news comes as a blow to fans who were hoping NewJeans would reunite as the original five-member group it started out as. Since their 2022 debut, NewJeans have gone on to combine award-winning domestic success with rare chart dominance for a rookie group, leveraging their late-1990s and early-2000s-inspired aesthetic that made them popular not just in Korea, but internationally.
Following the court’s verdict, Ador announced in November that Haerin and Hyein had “decided to continue their activities” with the label. Hours after Ador’s statement, the remaining three members released their own statement, writing that “after careful discussions, we have decided to return to Ador”.
In a statement to The Independent on whether Minji, Hanni, and Danielle were also returning to the label, Ador said at the time it was “checking” if they intended to.
The new announcement clarifies the group’s status, leaving Danielle outside Ador, Hanni confirmed to continue with the label, and Minji’s status unresolved.
The label’s statement on Monday said that Hanni “engaged in lengthy, in-depth discussions with Ador,” and subsequently decided she would “continue with Ador”. Minji, on the other hand, was “currently in discussions with Ador” and they were “continuing efforts to broaden mutual understanding”.
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