HYBE Responds to New York Times Report on NewJeans Contracts

HYBE, the company behind BTS and NewJeans, and its subsidiary ADOR, the label that manages NewJeans, have responded to a New York Times investigation into the contracts the group's five members signed as teenagers. In a statement sent to Music Business Worldwide on November 6, 2026, the companies said the agreements had been leaked to international media and were being used as a means to attack the K-pop industry, the South Korean pop business.

The Times said on November 5 that it had obtained copies of the agreements. According to its report, the members signed when they were between 14 and 17 years old, and the paper described the terms as unusually restrictive.

Among the terms the Times described:

• Protections for minors' rights to education, sleep, rest, and physical and mental health were not included, the paper reported, although South Korea's government contract template covers them.
• The contracts prohibited conduct including an "insincere attitude" and inappropriate romantic relationships.
• Members were barred from publicly stating true or false facts that could damage ADOR's reputation.
• ADOR may use and license the members' names, likenesses and voices after the agreements expire in 2029, including through AI-generated voice clones, which are computer copies of a person's voice, and chatbots.
• Members were required to cover a significant share of the label's spending on cosmetic surgery and other beauty treatments during their time as trainees.

The Guardian reported the same day that ADOR had stripped child protections from the contracts. The Times also noted that HYBE operates an in-house clinic.

HYBE told the Times that it does not require cosmetic surgery or recommend procedures against an individual's wishes. It said all of its labels sign the government-standard supplementary agreement for trainees who are minors. That agreement, the company said, includes protections for personal rights, sleep, education and rest, and stays in effect until the trainee reaches adulthood.

The companies also set out a timeline. HYBE said a draft contract was first shared on January 7, 2022, that there were extensive discussions, and that the agreements were signed in April 2022. It said the Seoul High Court has recognised that the contracts were executed after sufficient discussions between the parties. HYBE described its labels' contracts as legal and negotiated in good faith, with terms meant to protect both the artist and the company's financial investment. Its representatives told the Times that the exit penalty fees in the contracts do not exceed industry standards.

The disagreement is not new. In November 2024, Reuters reported that the NewJeans members were leaving the agency after a dispute, and that they might not be able to use the group's name after ending their contract with ADOR.

For the five members, the practical stakes sit in the dates. The agreements run to 2029, and the Times report focuses on what the label may do with their names and voices after that point. HYBE's statement answers the report point by point, and the two sides now have very different accounts of the same paperwork.