NewJeans To Debut Under New Name Amid Legal Battle With ADOR And Hybe? Member Hanni Drops A Major Hint

K-pop girl group NewJeans have dropped in a big surprise for their fans. Amid legal battle with agencies ADOR and HYBE, the girl group have decided to rebrand their group's name. Member Hanni even dropped a cryptic post on Instagram hinting at the same. Fans are now eagerly waiting for their re-debut.

NewJeans’ member teases big announcement on social media, fans react

Hanni took to her Instagram stories and wrote, “Bunnies…Are you ready?Are you?..I don’t think you’re ready”. The group even unveiled new solo and group photos and also announced their first musical activity. Reportedly, the group will be making they debut under new name NJZ.

Fans had mixed reaction to the announcement. One user wrote, “What if the new group was incorporated in Australia or Vietnam under Hanni's name, and that is how they are able to circumvent whatever copyright Hybe may try to hold them to?”. Another user wrote, “I'm really curious about their songs now and everything without a doubt NewJeans caught us again”. “Yay, welcome back NJZ”, wrote the third user.

This announcement comes months after the  NewJeans had filed several complaints against their agency, HYBE. The issue began when 20 year old Hanni and the other members raised concerns about their treatment by ADOR during an expected YouTube livestream on September 11 last year. Reportedly, the group accused the label of workplace harassment, mistreatment, defamation and favouritism.

But, the Ministry of Employment and Labor was dismissed the workplace harassment claims, stating that celebrities are not considered workers under the country’s labour laws and therefor do not qualify for the same rights. With the chaos around this situation, this led to the resignation of ADOR’s CEO and manager.

All about NewJeans

NewJeans is a five-member girl group under ADOR and HYBE Labels. The members consist of Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein. They made their debut on July 22, 2022 with their single Attention which was followed by their debut extended play, NewJeans which was released on August 1, 2022.

Their songs Hype Boy and Hurt were released on July 23 and July 25, 2022. The group had surpassed 444,000 stock pre-orders, the lightest number achieved by any girl group debut album in history.