K-pop band breaks up after bitter feud with record label

Chart-topping K-pop band NewJeans is losing one of its members in what is yet another twist in the group’s bitter year-long feud with its record label.

In 2024, the band announced that they were leaving their record agency Ador, alleging workplace harassment which Ador denied.

The move set off a legal tussle that was only resolved in October this year – following a court ruling which said that the band had to stay with Ador until 2029. A month later, all five members said they would return to their record label.

But on Monday, Ador announced that it had terminated their contract with one of its members, Danielle Marsh – bringing to an end any hope of a full-group comeback and leaving fans devastated.

Many took to social media with the slogan: “NewJeans is five or nothing.” Other fans also questioned why Marsh was singled out.

“Does this make any sense??? NewJeans without Danielle isn’t NewJeans. Do you think you can just erase a member this easily? Give us back Danielle,” one wrote in an X post.

“It’s not fair at all. Free NewJeans (all 5 members),” another wrote on Instagram. “All they wanted to do was to be [artists] and make their fans happy.”

Marsh has yet to publicly comment on the matter.

On Monday, Ador also said it would take legal action against ex-boss Min Hee-jin and one of Marsh’s family members, who it claims “bear significant responsibility” for the fallout.

Ador also claimed that NewJeans’ members had been “exposed to persistently distorted and biased information” which led to “significant misunderstandings” about the label.

The statement also named two other NewJeans members: Hanni, who it said decided to remain with the label after “extended conversations” which included her family, and Minji, who is still in “ongoing conversations” with the agency.

It’s been a whirlwind ride for fans, after Ador had initially announced in November that only two members, Hyein and Haerin, would return to the agency, sparking fears among fans that the group could split up.

These fears had been allayed when Hanni, Danielle and Minji said in a separate statement hours later that they too would return.

“NewJeans is a very important group that changed the world of female K-pop acts. For the music listeners and fans, it has been the hope to see their return as a full five-member team. That’s no longer possible,” music critic Lim Hee-yun told the BBC, adding that this outcome would not “make anyone happy”.

Mr Lim believes Ador would be pressured to recruit new members into the group, especially if Minji also leaves the label.

It is hard for three-member groups to find success in the K-pop industry, where fans pay keen attention to the relationships and chemistry between individual members.

Marsh’s future as a musician will also be uncertain. “Not only will there be a large part of the public that see her negatively [because of this controversy], but the record labels will too… She might need to pursue being a solo act as an actor, model, or an influencer,” Mr Lim said.

NewJeans, whose members are now aged from 17 to 21, have delivered remarkable success since they debuted in July 2022. A year on, they were the eighth biggest-selling act in the world, with critics calling their blend of 1990s R&B and sugar-coated pop melodies a “game-changer”.

But in 2024, the group had a dramatic fallout with their agency – sparked by the controversial dismissal of Ador’s former CEO Min, whom the group regarded as a mentor.

NewJeans accused Ador of “mistreatment” and “deliberate miscommunications and manipulation”, then announced they would leave the agency.

Ador in turn launched a lawsuit to block the group’s departure, which it won in October – with a district court ruling that NewJeans must honour their contract with the label which runs until 2029.

Additional reporting by Leehyun Choi in Seoul