HYBE and ADOR defend NewJeans contracts after New York Times report
On November 6, HYBE and ADOR issued statements defending NewJeans' 2022 exclusive contracts after The New York Times published an investigation into the agreements the members signed as minors.
HYBE and ADOR pushed back on Friday after The New York Times scrutinized NewJeans' pre-debut contracts. The Korea Herald reports the companies responded on November 6 to an NYT investigation published November 5 (U.S. time) into the exclusive agreements the five members signed in 2022 while still minors.
HYBE said its labels sign the government-standard youth supplementary agreement that protects personal rights and rights to sleep, education and rest until adulthood, and that NewJeans' exclusive contract also includes basic human-rights protections. It told The Korea Herald the draft went out on January 7, 2022, and was signed in April after nearly three months of Q&A, revisions and lawyer review — a timeline it said the Seoul High Court has recognized.
On penalties and likeness rights, HYBE argued the calculation matched the standard contract's economic effect, that AI or voice/image use needs individual consent, and that security cameras were limited to common areas. Chosun Biz carried ADOR's fuller point-by-point rebuttal of the NYT story.
Responsibility for the contracts is still disputed. HYBE told The Korea Herald that then-ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin led the 2022 negotiations and asked the NYT to say so; Min's representatives countered that HYBE's legal team drafted and revised the deals and that ADOR had no independent legal department then, so parent-company approval was required.
Confirmed
- The Korea Herald reports that HYBE and ADOR responded on November 6 after The New York Times published an investigation on November 5 (U.S. time) into NewJeans' 2022 exclusive contracts signed when all five members were minors.
- Per The Korea Herald and Chosun Biz, HYBE said all HYBE labels sign the government-standard supplementary agreement for minors covering personal rights and rights to sleep, education and rest until adulthood, and that NewJeans' exclusive contract also includes basic human-rights protections.
- HYBE told The Korea Herald the draft was shared on January 7, 2022, and signed in April after nearly three months of negotiations with members, parents and legal representatives, a process it said the Seoul High Court recognized.
- Chosun Biz and The Korea Herald report Min Hee-jin's side rejected HYBE's claim that she alone led the contracts, arguing HYBE's legal team drafted and revised them and that ADOR lacked an independent legal department at the time.
Reported by other outlets
- According to The Korea Herald's summary of the NYT report, the contracts raised concerns about termination penalties, surveillance, use of artists' voices and likenesses, and how much members and families could influence the terms.
- Yonhap's Korean coverage of the NYT report cites missing standard-contract language on minors' study, sleep and rest rights, image/voice rights that do not end with the contract, dating and reputation restrictions, and trainee cosmetic-procedure cost sharing.
- HYBE told The Korea Herald that penalty wording differed from the standard contract but produced the same financial outcome, that AI or likeness use requires individual consent, and that cameras were only in common areas.
Analysis
2FC NEWSROOM analysis: The statements reopen the HYBE–Min Hee-jin fight over who owned ADOR's early artist contracts, turning a U.S. investigation into another round of domestic corporate blame.