On March 7, all five members of NJZ (NewJeans) attended the first round of questioning in their case against ADOR. The Seoul Central District Court is conducting its first round of interrogations concerning the legal dispute between NJZ and ADOR over the group's contractual status.
The five members — Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein — attended the court session even though they were not obliged to appear in person. The members were seen wearing all black as they approached the court building.
As the court session proceeded, it was known that groups under HYBE would be mentioned. While this was not entirely surprising, it angered ARMY — the fandom of BTS. The biggest group in the world was mentioned in the court and it did not sit well with the fans.
The frustration traces back to events surrounding Min Hee-jin's emergency press conference last year, following HYBE's accusations that she engaged in "shamanic management" — allegedly consulting shamans about BTS members' military service.
HYBE claimed that Min Hee-jin discussed the matter with shamans, with one reportedly saying, "I wanted to send them [BTS] away. It's not like I won a gold medal," while Min Hee-jin allegedly responded, "I thought it would benefit me if they weren't there."
ADOR has claimed that NewJeans was promoted as the 'next BTS' at Min Hee-jin’s request: "NewJeans appeared in BTS' music videos before their debut, and whenever they released a new song, they promoted dance challenges with other HYBE artists. NewJeans was introduced as 'BTS's little sister' from the beginning and was promoted as 'the next BTS' and 'surpassing BTS' at Min Hee-jin's request. This was the only case in HYBE where another group's popularity was used for PR."
ARMY's reaction
Following these revelations, BTS fans quickly took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to voice their outrage against Min Hee-jin, accusing her of trying to undermine BTS for the benefit of her girl group.
One fan wrote, "I remember during their debut days, every article about NewJeans was 'the next BTS,' 'BTS's little sisters,' 'BTS enlistment no problem because HYBE has NewJeans,' 'the new pillar of HYBE,' and 'surpassing BTS.'"
Another said, "The 'next BTS' can only be BTS members."
One post read, "Bringing this back again for the slow people" — accompanied by a screenshot of Min Hee-jin's alleged conversation with a shaman.
Another fan added, "These people were trying to end BTS while BTS members were helping promote their songs!"
One even said, "And after all of this mhj tried to get rid of BTS because she thought it would benefit her and her group...disgusting…"?
This case is part of the ongoing legal dispute between ADOR and NewJeans over the validity of their exclusive contract. ADOR claims the contract is still in effect and argues that the group's rebranding as NJZ breaches their contractual obligations. On the other hand, NJZ asserts that the contract was lawfully terminated, allowing them to promote independently of ADOR's authority.?
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