HYBE’s label ADOR, which manages girl group NewJeans, filed a 43.1 billion won ($29.8 million) civil lawsuit against former member Danielle alongside a member of her family and former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin.

The lawsuit was filed on Monday, the day that ADOR announced the termination of its exclusive contract with the NewJeans member, according to media reports citing legal sources on Tuesday.


The case has been assigned to the Seoul Central District Court’s 31st civil division, presided over by Judge Nam In-soo, which is the same division handling a separate, ongoing 26 billion won civil lawsuit between Min and HYBE over a shareholders’ agreement.

On Monday, ADOR announced it had terminated its exclusive contract with Danielle and said it would pursue legal action against her family member, who allegedly “provoked the string of events regarding the legal dispute,” along with Min.

Born Danielle Marsh, the Korean-Australian singer debuted in 2022 as a member of NewJeans. After a high-profile feud between Min and HYBE erupted in April last year, the members claimed in November that their exclusive contracts with ADOR were null and void, claiming a breach of contract by the label. In response, ADOR filed a lawsuit seeking to confirm the validity of the contracts. After almost a year of litigation, a Seoul court ruled in favor of ADOR in October, ultimately leading to the members to return to the agency.


BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]