NJZ (formerly NewJeans) announced a temporary group hiatus during their ComplexCon Hong Kong headline performance on Sunday (March 23), amid ongoing legal battles with their label, ADOR.
“It is really hard for us to say this but this might be our last performance for a little while,” Hanni told the audience in English. “Out of respect for the court’s decision, we’ve decided to pause all our activities for now. It wasn’t an easy decision but we believe this is something we need to do at this moment.”
NJZ’s Danni continued, “Honestly, we’ve known from the start that this journey wasn’t going to be easy—and even though we accept the court’s ruling and this whole process, we had to speak up to protect the values that we believe in and that was a choice that we don’t regret at all.”
“We truly believe that standing up for our dignity, our rights, and everything we just deeply care about is something that we had to do and that belief will not change,” she added.
The group, who debuted in 2022 and rose to fame with hits like “Hype Boy,” “Super Shy” and “OMG,” have been clashing with ADOR over alleged “contradictions, deliberate miscommunication, and manipulation regarding multiple areas,” as stated during an emergency press conference last November, according to Soompi.
On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court sided with ADOR’s injunction request, banning the former NewJeans members from independent activities under the NJZ name, including advertising deals.
ADOR (whose parent company HYBE Corporation also manages BTS, Le Sserafim, and Enhypen) promised in a statement to support the group’s ComplexCon appearance.
NJZ issued their own statement respecting the court’s ruling while pointing out that “the decision did not sufficiently take into account the fact that the members’ trust in ADOR has been completely destroyed.”
The members plan to challenge the ruling through an objection process and reminded fans their lawsuit against ADOR continues with a hearing set for April 3.
The ComplexCon Hong Kong show marked NJZ’s first performance since adopting their new name on Feb. 7. They performed covers including TLC’s “No Scrubs” and Ghost Town DJ’s “My Boo,” and debuted a new track called “Pit Stop.”
