ADOR’s longstanding legal battle took a new turn after the HYBE-owned management company filed a lawsuit for damages of 43 billion KRW against NewJeans’ former member, Danielle, and Min Hee-jin (the former CEO of HYBE subsidiary). Danielle took the first position since the new lawsuit. She called out the company for the delays in the trial.
As reported by Korean media platform NAVER, Danielle’s side claimed that “ADOR is prolonging the lawsuit.”
At the initial pre-trial hearing in the company’s 43 billion KRW lawsuit against Danielle, her team claims the company is intentionally delaying the process by requesting to reschedule hearings. Danielle’s team said that the prolonged lawsuit will negatively impact her career as she is an idol. They said that Danielle is seeing the shining period of her career as the K-pop idol, therefore, ADOR is deliberately delaying the legal process to interfere with it. Her team said:
“From Danielle’s perspective, she is an idol. If the lawsuit is prolonged, she will inevitably suffer damage. This is the most important and shining period of her career as an idol. Since the plaintiff (ADOR) is an entertainment agency, they are aware of this, which is why it seems they are delaying the case. They did not only target Danielle but also filed against her mother and Min Hee-jin, who are unrelated to the exclusive contract.”
Her team highlighted how ADOR filed the case not only against the idol but also against her mother and Min Hee-jin. They further demanded the swift handling of the lawsuit.
“Recently, in a written opinion, they requested to postpone the preparatory hearing by two months, and it appears the plaintiff is trying to drag this case out. We request that this case be handled swiftly and intensively.”
Danielle’s team also added that the evidences are ready, hence, there is no need for delays.
“Since this case was initiated by the plaintiff, they should already have a plan for proving their claims. The key issues have been identified, and a significant amount of evidence has already been revealed. There is no need to prolong the case to gather evidence.”
ADOR terminated Danielle’s contract in December last year
The conflict between ADOR (a HYBE subsidiary and NewJeans’ label) and Danielle began with a long-standing dispute from 2024 to 2025, which also involved Min Hee-jin.
For those unaware, Min Hee-jin was instrumental in forming and managing the girl group, NewJeans. The situation worsened when NewJeans idols accused ADOR and HYBE of mistreatment and miscommunication.
The girl group members tried to end their contracts and leave the agency, citing management problems. Hee-jin, who was removed as CEO due to power struggles with HYBE, supported the New Jeans members and faced her own legal issues with HYBE.
While most NJ members eventually resumed activities with the management company after court decisions upheld their contracts, Danielle’s case was different.
In December last year, the management company cancelled her exclusive contract and accused Min Hee-jin and a family member of Danielle of causing the wider dispute and delaying the group’s resolution. Therefore, the company filed a civil lawsuit against Danielle, her family member, and Min Hee-jin, in December last year.
Edited by Sarah Nazamuddin Harniswala