NJZ Announce Hiatus Amid Dispute With Record Label at ComplexCon Hong Kong
NJZ, the K-Pop girl group formerly known as NewJeans, will temporarily pause all activities as a group.
The quintet—which consists of members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein announced a hiatus during their headlining performance at ComplexCon Hong Kong on Sunday (March 23) amid a lengthy legal dispute with their record label, ADOR.
“It is really hard for us to say this but this might be our last performance for a little while,” Hanni told the crowd in English. “Out of respect for the court’s decision, we’ve decided to pause all our activities for now. It wasn’t an easy decision but we believe this is something we need to do at this moment.”
“Honestly, we’ve known from the start that this journey wasn’t going to be easy—and even though we accept the court’s ruling and this whole process, we had to speak up to protect the values that we believe in and that was a choice that we don’t regret at all,” said Danni.
“We truly believe that standing up for our dignity, our rights, and everything we just deeply care about is something that we had to do and that belief will not change,” she added.
The girl group, who made their debut in 2022 and gained popularity for hits such as “Hype Boy,” “Super Shy” and “OMG,” have been at odds with ADOR over alleged “contradictions, deliberate miscommunication, and manipulation regarding multiple areas,” during an emergency press conference held last November, per Soompi.
On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of ADOR’s injunction request, prohibiting the former NewJeans members from engaging in independent activities under the name NJZ, including signing advertising contracts.
ADOR, whose parent company HYBE Corporation is home to other successful K-Pop acts like BTS, Le Sserafim, and Enhypen, pledged in a statement to support the group’s participation in ComplexCon.
Meanwhile, NJZ released its own statement respecting the court’s decision while noting that the decision “that the decision did not sufficiently take into account the fact that the members’ trust in ADOR has been completely destroyed.”
The members vowed to contest the ruling through an objection process and reminded fans that their lawsuit over their contracts with ADOR is ongoing with a hearing scheduled for April 3.
NJZ’s performance at ComplexCon Hong Kong was their first since adopting their new moniker on Feb. 7. The group performed covers such as TLC’s “No Scrubs” and Ghost Town DJ’s “My Boo,” and debuted a new song, “Pit Stop.”
