Goodbye, NewJeans—hello, NJZ. That's the latest revelation of the five-member South Korean girl group consisting of Hanni, Haerin, Minji, Hyein, and Danielle.
On February 7, 2025, their new Instagram account which was first launched with the username "jeanzforfree" was changed to "njz_official." Along with the username change, new creative portraits were posted, and an official announcement of their first public appearance as NJZ!
NJZ will be part of the lineup for ComplexCon Hong Kong on March 21-23, 2025. The announcement read, "Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein’s new group name: NJZ
Get ready for an exciting journey with NJZ in 2025! Stay tuned!"
This comes amid their ongoing battle for freedom from their first—and now previous—management, ADOR. The girl voluntarily left ADOR after the reported dispute involving their former executive producer, Min Hee Jin. Subsequently, the K-pop idols allege that ADOR failed to protect them as artists following the assumed unjust removal of Min Hee Jin from ADOR.
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A quick recap of NewJeans' battle against ADOR
On November 28, 2024, the girls held an emergency press conference where they boldly declared their stance as a K-pop group. There, they stood their ground, proclaiming that they would remain as a group despite their current struggles under ADOR.
ALSO READ: A Timeline Of ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin's Feud Versus HYBE
The press conference was highlighted as a move to prevent unprecedented "media play" or "media manipulation of HYBE, the parent company of ADOR. Moreover, NJZ members pointed out the lack of effort from ADOR to protect them and to communicate their requests. In a document sent on November 13, 2024, conditions were set regarding the girls' contract with ADOR. It highlighted the girl group's pleas for better management and if their requests were not met, NewJeans' exclusive contract with ADOR would be automatically relinquished within 14 days.
"Actually, tomorrow morning we are leaving for Japan and are returning next week because we have scheduled activities abroad. We were worried because we are not sure what kind of media play or media manipulation HYBE and the current ADOR will do during that time, and we wanted to express our thoughts accurately, so we discussed a lot among ourselves, and we had no choice but to hold an emergency press conference today," the girls expressed during the press con, according to Soompi's translation.
With the supposed end of their contract with ADOR, the girls are prohibited to use the name "NewJeans" for activities that are no longer under ADOR or HYBE's management.
Come January 23, 2025, the girls released a statement to the public proclaiming that they will never return to HYBE and ADOR. They also claimed how the management continuously harass and attack them.
Their statement read, "HYBE and ADOR have failed to fulfill their responsibilities as an agency to protect their artists and support their growth. Throughout our activities, we faced numerous obstacles, both big and small. They even disguised their intent to 'suspend our entertainment careers indefinitely' as a 'long-term break,' essentially abandoning and replacing us.
While ADOR and HYBE publicly claim they want us to return, behind the scenes, they have continued to harass and attack us relentlessly, just as they did before. Recently, they even secretly met with some of our parents in an attempt to persuade or sow discord among us. Instead of resorting to underhanded tactics to defame, divide, and manipulate through false information and media play, we hope they will address the matter truthfully and fairly.
We will state this firmly. The five of us have no intention of ever returning to HYBE or ADOR, where even the minimum level of trust cannot be expected."
