K-pop band member sued for $30m after record label feud

Chart-topping Ok-pop band NewJeans’ file label is suing one of many band’s members in what’s one more twist within the group’s bitter year-long feud with its file label.

Hybe, the file label’s mum or dad firm, confirmed to the BBC that it’s suing Danielle Marsh, certainly one of her relations, and ex-boss Min Hee-jin for $30m (£22m) in damages and as a part of a contract break penalty.

The band has been plunged into additional turmoil because the return of Minji, one other of its stars, stays unsure, leaving the band with three members.

Coming lower than two months after studies that NewJeans would return to the label as a band of 5, this information dashes followers’ hopes of a comeback.

Many took to social media with the slogan: “NewJeans is 5 or nothing, whereas others questioned why Danielle was singled out.

“Does this make any sense??? NewJeans with out Danielle is not NewJeans. Do you assume you may simply erase a member this simply? Give us again Danielle,” one wrote in an X publish.

“It is not honest in any respect. Free NewJeans [all 5 members],” one other wrote on Instagram. “All they needed to do was to be [artists] and make their followers joyful.”

NewJeans, which grew to become the eighth biggest-selling act on the planet a yr after their debut in 2022, had been seen as a game-changer by critics for his or her mix of Nineteen Nineties R&B and sugar-coated pop melodies.

Then got here a dramatic fallout with the file label Ador in 2024, sparked by the controversial dismissal of the company’s former CEO Min Hee-jin, whom NewJeans thought to be a mentor.

The transfer shook the Ok-pop world, setting off a battle between massively profitable and really younger stars – they’re between 17 and 21 years of age – and the South Korean leisure large, Hybe.

NewJeans accused Ador of “mistreatment” and “deliberate miscommunications and manipulation”, then introduced they would go away the company. Ador in flip launched a lawsuit blocking their departure, which it gained in October this yr. A district court docket dominated that NewJeans should honour their contract with the label which runs till 2029.

A month later, native media studies indicated that every one 5 members would return to the company.

Then in a shocking flip, Ador issued a press release on Monday, saying it had terminated its contract with Danielle and would take authorized motion in opposition to a member of the family of hers and Min, who based the label and created NewJeans earlier than her dramatic departure.

Each of them, Ador claims, “bear important duty” for the fallout between the company and the Ok-pop group.

Monday’s assertion didn’t point out a lawsuit in opposition to Danielle, saying solely that Ador had determined it was troublesome to proceed working along with her, and instructed her they might be ending the contract.

Ador additionally claimed that NewJeans’ members had been “uncovered to persistently distorted and biased info” which led to “important misunderstandings” concerning the label.

That assertion named two different NewJeans members: Hanni, who it stated determined to stay with the label after “prolonged conversations” which included her household, and Minji, who remains to be in “ongoing conversations” with the company.

It has been a whirlwind for followers, particularly since Ador initially introduced in November that solely two members, Hyein and Haerin, would return to the company, sparking fears the group would cut up up.

These fears had been allayed when Hanni, Danielle and Minji stated in a separate assertion hours later that they too would return – however just for a short while, because it seems.

“NewJeans is a vital group that modified the world of feminine Ok-pop acts. For the music listeners and followers, it has been the hope to see their return as a full five-member workforce. That is now not attainable,” music critic Lim Hee-yun instructed the BBC, including that this end result wouldn’t “make anybody joyful”.

Mr Lim believes Ador could be pressured to recruit new members into the group, particularly if Minji additionally leaves the label.

It’s laborious for three-member teams to search out success within the Ok-pop trade, the place followers pay shut consideration to the relationships and chemistry between members.

Danielle’s future as a musician can be unsure.

“Not solely will there be a big a part of the general public that see her negatively [because of this controversy], however the file labels will too… She may must pursue being a solo act as an actor, mannequin, or an influencer,” Mr Lim stated.

Further reporting by Leehyun Choi and Hosu Lee in Seoul