About an hour after ADOR formally confirmed that NewJeans’ HAERIN and HYEIN intended to return, the remaining trio ― MINJI, HANNI and DANIELLE ― also announced plans to rejoin the label. With all five members arriving at the same decision, the staggered timing and separate channels of their statements are drawing fresh scrutiny.
On the 12th, ADOR said, “After careful discussions with their families, HAERIN and HYEIN have decided to respect the court’s ruling and honor their exclusive contracts,” adding, “We will give them full support to continue activities stably.” The announcement landed a day before the deadline to file an appeal of the lower court ruling (midnight on the 13th).
Roughly an hour later, MINJI, HANNI and DANIELLE shared their stance through law firm Hanil, saying, “After careful deliberation, we decided to return to ADOR.” They explained the delay this way: “One member is currently in Antarctica, which slowed communication, and because we had not received a response from ADOR, we announced separately.” In other words, unlike HAERIN and HYEIN, their notice went out before the label had coordinated on a joint statement.
ADOR quickly responded that it was “verifying the sincerity of the three members’ intention to return.”
Industry sources point to a mix of parental input, appeal strategy and internal coordination as likely reasons for the split timing. Some parents had been signaling an intent to appeal, narrowing the path to a clean agreement. ADOR, for its part, had been weighing both a return for HAERIN and HYEIN and the option of individual activities while monitoring the situation.
Insiders also note that the “official return” of HAERIN and HYEIN may have created a psychological ripple effect for the others. HAERIN was at the center of controversy during the contract dispute ― including her father’s solo opposition and a parental authority case ― but after her mother obtained sole parental authority, she opted to go back to ADOR. That shift may have increased the pressure on MINJI, HANNI and DANIELLE not to be the ones left behind.
NewJeans had declared the termination of their exclusive contracts last November amid conflict surrounding ousted former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, but the court sided with ADOR in both the injunction and the main suit. While the members initially indicated plans to appeal, they did not file and instead signaled a return ― a clear pivot. All five now say they intend to go back to ADOR, though the staggered messaging and mismatched timing suggest there’s still some internal housekeeping to do.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)
