Can ADOR even bring NewJeans back? Danielle's side challenges label in heated court clash.

[K-pop Courtroom]

Does ADOR truly intend to resume NewJeans’ activities — and is it even capable of doing so? The question emerged as one of key points of contention in court Thursday, as former member Danielle’s legal team demanded evidence of the HYBE label’s plans for the girl group.

The clash came during the fifth hearing in an ongoing lawsuit filed by ADOR seeking 33.1 billion won ($24.7 million) in penalties and damages from Danielle, a family member of hers and former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin.

The contentious 45-minute hearing took place at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul, with the courtroom packed with journalists, fans and observers.

One of the key issues initially expected to be addressed at Thursday’s hearing was the estimated financial loss caused during NewJeans’ roughly yearlong hiatus, which began after the members announced their departure from the agency.

During the previous hearing in July, a court-appointed expert was ordered to estimate how much revenue ADOR could have earned between November 2024 and November 2025 if NewJeans had not halted its activities.

Then five members of NewJeans, including Danielle, announced in November 2024 that they were terminating their exclusive contracts with ADOR, citing alleged breaches of contract by the agency. ADOR challenged the termination immediately, and in October 2025, the court ruled in favor of the agency, finding that the contracts remained valid.

The members did not appeal the decision and announced their return to the agency, yet ADOR terminated Danielle’s exclusive contract in December last year.

ADOR — the plaintiff — argues that Danielle, her family member and Min are responsible for NewJeans’ departure from the agency, and is seeking about 33.1 billion won in damages. The defendants dispute both their liability and the method used to calculate the alleged losses, including whether projected revenue should be based on NewJeans’ past performance under Min’s production system.

But the detailed estimates were not discussed Thursday, as lawyers from Yoon & Yang LLC representing the defendants accused ADOR of delaying the process by refusing to share with them data and other materials it had provided for the estimation. The defendants said they were only allowed to inspect the materials at the court-appointed expert’s office and take notes.

ADOR argued that the materials contain confidential information that does not need to be directly shared with the defendants.

“The biggest problem is that the defendants are people in the same industry,” said ADOR’s legal representative from law firm Leehan.

After a heated back-and-forth, the court proposed that the defendants could inspect documents at the court-appointed expert’s office in the presence of an accountant for the defendants.

The defendants then questioned whether ADOR truly intends to resume the group’s activities, noting that it had been nine months since the group became a four-member act with no activities despite ADOR’s claims that it had everything prepared for a return.

“The basic premise is that ADOR had sufficient ability and intention, but could not proceed because of Danielle,” said the defendants’ lawyer. “That is why we want to know whether ADOR has the intention and ability to normalize NewJeans’ activities.”

ADOR countered that the delay was fundamentally caused by Min and Danielle’s side.

“It makes no sense to ask us to provide NewJeans’ activity plans first,” the plaintiff said. “Activities may be delayed because of the hiatus caused by the defendants, but we wouldn't have come so far without a plan for the group’s return. We are under no obligation to submit it, and isn’t such a demand contrary to common sense?”

The judge then noted that financial records submitted to the court-appointed expert could contain detailed budgets for NewJeans’ return, suggesting that the two sides examine the issue through the figures and financial data submitted for the appraisal.

The next and sixth hearing for the case will take place on Oct. 22, followed by a seventh hearing on Nov. 12.

Meanwhile, a hearing in Belift Lab’s lawsuit seeking 2 billion won in damages from Min will take place on Friday.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [[email protected]]