NewJeans Contracts Left Out Child-Labour Protections, Reports Say

The contracts that NewJeans members signed with their label, ADOR, did not include standard legal protections for minors, according to reporting published on 5 November 2026. Pitchfork reported that the members were aged 14 to 17 when they signed.

The Korean government publishes a contract template meant to prevent inhumane conditions for trainee idols, the young performers who train for years before debut. Labels are free to depart from its recommendations. According to Pitchfork, language guaranteeing rights to education, physical and mental health and other child-labour safeguards was left out of the ADOR agreements.

The reporting also describes how the members' days were run. Four of the five members dropped out of school in the lead-up to the group's 2022 debut. They often rehearsed late into the night, sometimes until 2 a.m., and breaks were discouraged. HYBE, the company that owns ADOR, said it fully complies with child-protection laws. It said it does not pressure performers to quit school or penalise them for resting.

The contract terms go further. The agreements gave ADOR the right to use AI-generated NewJeans voices indefinitely. An AI voice is a synthetic copy of a singer's voice made by software. The government template returns rights to a performer's name, image and voice once the contract ends. The ADOR contracts also banned an "insincere attitude," "inappropriate romantic relationships," and publicly stating true or false facts that could damage the label. The New York Times, in an investigation titled "Secret Deals Reveal K-Pop's Firm Grip on a Top Girl Group," described the contracts as unusually restrictive.

When one member's mother asked for changes, ADOR's vice president replied that if she did not agree to the current draft, it may be best to reconsider the contract itself. In 2024, member Hanni Pham denounced ADOR's treatment of the group in testimony to the Korean Parliament.

The contract reporting sits on top of a long dispute. In November 2024, the members said they were leaving ADOR after a disagreement, a split tied to infighting between HYBE executives and ADOR's former chief executive. Reuters reported in March 2025 that a South Korean court had issued an injunction, a court order that stops a party from doing something while a case is heard, blocking the group from leaving. The court also barred the members from pursuing independent commercial work. In November 2025, a court upheld ADOR's request to keep managing the group and to bar the five members from commercial activity outside the label.

The group continued to perform in that period. NewJeans appeared as NJZ at ComplexCon in Hong Kong despite the injunction, then announced a pause in activity in respect of the court order. ADOR later fired member Danielle Marsh. The label alleged that her refusal to work, along with unauthorised solo projects and photo shoots, cost it about $22 million. The other four members remain under contract with ADOR until 2029.

Contract disputes in K-pop are often argued in courtrooms and in public statements, and young performers rarely get to read the fine print before it shapes their lives. The new reporting puts the wording itself at the centre. For the teenagers who signed, the terms set their schooling, their sleep, their voices and what they could say in public for years to come.