2025-03-06 NJZ_PR Statement

English Translation (@juantokki): https://x.com/juantokki/status/1897447452741132548

Clarification About ADOR's Statement

Hello, this is NJZ.

Last Friday, we felt it necessary to clarify our position in response to ADOR's additional statement and to prevent any misunderstandings regarding the upcoming injunction. We formally notified ADOR of the termination of our exclusive contract on November 29, 2024, due to ADOR’s failure to fulfill its contractual obligations. As a result, the contract has ended, and ADOR no longer has the authority to manage or interfere with our activities.

Despite this, on January 6, 2025, ADOR filed an injunction requesting recognition as NJZ’s management company. While ADOR initially appeared to focus solely on advertising activities, their filing explicitly included a request to be recognized as our management company. This was not just an attempt to restrict our advertising but a broader effort to limit all of NJZ’s entertainment activities, revealing ADOR’s ultimate goal of completely obstructing our career.

Furthermore, on February 11, 2025, ADOR expanded its injunction request to ban not only advertisements but also all of NJZ’s musical activities, including songwriting, composing, performing, and singing, as well as all related activities. This development came right after we received reports that Chairman Bang Si-hyuk had exerted pressure on the organizers of the Complex Concert. Given the timing, it appears that ADOR took retaliatory action after their attempt to cancel the concert failed. Until just a few days ago, ADOR continued to claim that they respected NJZ’s independent activities, yet they concealed the fact that their injunction aimed to ban all of our entertainment activities. This starkly contrasts with how they widely publicized their January 6 injunction request.

On the surface, ADOR has framed their actions as addressing advertising issues and preventing confusion among fans and advertisers. However, in reality, they are asking the court to prohibit NJZ from engaging in any entertainment activities at all. This is a clear attempt to violate our right to work, and by not disclosing their true intentions, they appear to be trying to avoid public criticism. NJZ’s core identity is rooted in music, and restricting our ability to pursue music undermines our very existence. Ultimately, ADOR’s injunction was intended from the beginning to block all of our activities.

We have endured continuous discrimination and unfair treatment within HYBE. Since our fan meeting at Tokyo Dome in June 2024, HYBE made it clear that they intended to keep us inactive for an extended period under the pretense of granting us a long break. They have also repeatedly attempted to devalue our achievements by making disparaging remarks to the press. Although we refrained from publicly addressing these issues, such efforts to undermine us persisted even after our contract was terminated and have only intensified in recent times.

Despite repeatedly raising objections and protesting to ADOR, they failed to protect us as our agency and instead sided with HYBE or other labels, treating our concerns as false claims. The lack of execution on our anticipated major activities for 2024 has caused us significant losses, and even after contract termination, we continue to face interference and harassment concerning advertisements, visas, and other matters. We made multiple efforts to maintain our exclusive contract by requesting corrections from ADOR, but they ignored all of them, leaving us with no choice but to terminate the contract. The severe and repeated breaches of ADOR’s contractual obligations have long since destroyed the trust necessary to maintain an exclusive contract. If NJZ were forced to operate exclusively under ADOR, it would not only make normal entertainment activities impossible but also inflict unbearable emotional distress.

ADOR is fully aware of this situation, yet they are actively seeking ways to block our activities. Their injunction and other forms of obstruction are deliberate attempts to fundamentally halt our careers as artists. We want to make it clear that ADOR’s actions amount to unilateral harassment aimed at incapacitating us, even after we have lawfully terminated our contract and sought to continue our activities independently. The termination of our contract was carried out based on legal principles under the exclusive contract framework and civil law.

Therefore, any claims from ADOR or certain groups that our independent activities following the termination are somehow illegal or unjust are false. It is absurd to argue that only the artist should forfeit the legally guaranteed rights and consequences of a lawful contract termination. We will actively participate in the ongoing injunction proceedings and the forthcoming main lawsuit to reaffirm the legitimacy of our contract termination in court.

We hope that no one else will have to endure the kind of unfair treatment we have experienced.

Thank you.