HYBE-owned ADOR on Wednesday (April 9) announced that it’s ramping up legal measures against online defamation and harassment targeting NewJeans.
The statement comes amid an ongoing contract dispute between ADOR and the K-pop group.
The agency issued a statement announcing expanded efforts to combat “malicious posts” across various platforms and social media channels including Naver, X, YouTube and more.
“We would like to inform you about the legal response to protect the rights of NewJeans.” said ADOR in a statement on X.
“Since the debut of NewJeans, we have been constantly monitoring and taking legal action against malicious online posts targeting artists. Recently, as the amount and level of malicious posts targeting artists have increased rapidly, we have appointed additional dedicated personnel and further strengthened our response system,” according to a translated text of ADOR’s statement.
ADOR said it is pursuing criminal complaints against perpetrators of defamation, privacy invasion, and the spread of misinformation about the group.
The agency revealed that a suspect allegedly involved in creating deepfake content targeting NewJeans members has been detained and referred to prosecutors.
“We are closely cooperating with investigative authorities regarding the production and distribution of false videos targeting artists, and the actual suspect involved has been sent to the prosecution while under arrest,” ADOR said.
The campaign comes as NewJeans members await a court decision following their appeal of an injunction that blocked them from independent activities. The group recently announced an indefinite hiatus amid the dispute.
“We are closely cooperating with investigative authorities regarding the production and distribution of false videos targeting artists, and the actual suspect has been sent to the prosecution while under arrest.”
ADOR
On Wednesday afternoon, a 15-minute closed hearing at the Seoul Central District Court addressed NewJeans’ appeal against a March 21 ruling that prohibited the members from operating independently under the name “NJZ,” news outlet YTN reported the same day.
A representative from ADOR reportedly said that there has been “no significant change” in circumstances since the injunction was granted.
The conflict between the two sides centers on NewJeans members’ assertion that “the relationship of trust has been broken,” while the agency maintains that the band’s contractual obligations should be honored.
Last week, ADOR revealed that payments to group members have continued even after the group attempted to terminate their exclusive contract. The agency claimed that settlements to NewJeans have amounted to about KRW 12 billion ($8.2 million) since 2023, and that HYBE had invested a total of KRW 30 billion ($20.6 million) in helping NewJeans debut.
Last week’s court proceedings also heard from NewJeans’ legal team, who maintained that former CEO Min Hee Jin‘s removal rendered the current ADOR a “different corporation” from the one they originally worked with.
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