NewJeans members now want to be called NJZ, but ADOR says “Not so fast.”

The five singers proclaimed their rebranded group name on Friday, not through a PR agency or law firm, but through a press release from a concert organizer announcing the quintet’s participation in a music festival set to take place next month in Hong Kong.


The announcement came around 9 a.m. on Friday, when the organizers of ComplexCon Hong Kong said that “NJZ (former NewJeans) has been included in the artist lineup of ComplexCon Hong Kong’s concert series, ‘Complex Live.’” The organizers also released a new group photo of the five singers sporting braided hair and street-style outfits along with the neon-jelly-textured logo of NJZ.

Soon afterward, the girl group members changed the handle of their Instagram account from @jeanzforfree to @njz_oficial and uploaded new pictures of the members and the new logo. The PR account set up by the members’ parents was also changed from @jeanz_pr to @njz_pr. The girl group currently does not have an official PR agency that represents them.

The five singers are legally represented by Shin & Kim, the law firm that also represents Min Hee-jin, the producer of girl group NewJeans and the former CEO of ADOR — the K-pop agency that still owns the NewJeans group trademark.

The law firm will represent the NJZ members in court at two upcoming hearings: one on March 7 regarding an injunction ADOR filed to prevent the five singers from signing independent commercial contracts, and one on April 3 regarding an agency request that the court verify whether the contract between the two parties had been terminated on legal terms.

ADOR claims that the five NewJeans members’ contracts with the agency stand until July 31, 2029. Members claim that the contract ended on Nov. 28, 2024, because ADOR and HYBE, which owns ADOR, failed to protect the members as artists.

The NJZ members had asked fans to submit possible group names for two days starting on Jan. 22 on their Instagram account, saying that they would “never return to HYBE or ADOR.” ADOR had warned that such actions “to start their own activities can be seen as grave violations of the exclusive contract.”

NJZ’s participation in “Complex Live” may also become an issue in court because the girl group signed the performance agreement independently of ADOR.

The singers, however, reiterated their confidence in their actions.

“We believe we will win this battle against HYBE and ADOR,” Danielle said in an interview with CNN on Friday. The girl group gave an exclusive interview to the U.S. outlet without responding to domestic requests.

The changing of the name was part of the group’s effort to “turning this rough period of time into something more exciting,” Hanni told CNN.

“Even though we have to leave our previous name behind us for a bit, we’re not fully moving on from it. And we don’t want to, either, because [being NewJeans] was still a very special period of time to us, and it’s something that our fans also probably hold really dear.”

The members also hinted at the theme of a new song they would perform at the Hong Kong concert during the interview.

“Beforehand, we were very focused on being the kind of ‘girl next door’… So, we’re going for a [look that’s] a lot more sharp, a lot more bold,” Hanni said. “It’s definitely going to be very different to what people are familiar (with) … and the image that we debuted with.”

ADOR once more expressed dismay over the singers' decision, but did not specify any further legal action.

"We are regretful to see that the members have made such a unilateral decision even before a legal ruling has been made on the exclusive contracts between ADOR and NewJeans members," the agency said in a statement.

"We will endeavor to keep the brand value of NewJeans. We would also like to emphasize once more that we are always ready to talk to the NewJeans' members or their legal attorney to solve the misunderstandings and discuss further activity plans."

ComplexCon Hong Kong takes place from March 21 to 23 at the Hong Kong Asia World-Expo. NJZ will headline the last-day performance on March 23.

Meanwhile, Min is also set for a court hearing on March 7 at the Seoul Central District Court. Belift Lab, a HYBE subsidiary home to girl group ILLIT, took legal action against Min on charges of defamation and obstruction of business when she called out the girl group for being a “NewJeans copycat” during her first news conference last April.

The upcoming hearing will be her second since Jan. 10. Min’s attorneys claimed in the previous hearing that her claims had been made for the good of the public, and that she was thus not obligated to compensate Belift Lab.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]