“Potentially difficult to win…”
Koreaboo
1 hour ago
ADOR’s decision to terminate Danielle’s contract while allowing other NewJeans members to return has raised serious legal questions, with experts suggesting the agency may face an uphill battle if the dispute moves fully into court.
| XportsNews
1. Mutual Trust
One of the biggest issues is whether ADOR had the legal right to terminate Danielle’s exclusive contract at all. Under Korean law, entertainment contracts are built on mutual trust. Courts have consistently ruled that a contract can only be terminated if that trust has been fundamentally broken. In Danielle’s case, this argument becomes difficult to sustain, as she reportedly expressed a willingness to return to the agency following the court’s ruling that NewJeans’ contracts remain valid.
| @newjeans_official/Instagram
2. Correction Period
Adding to the uncertainty is procedure. Past rulings have established that agencies must give artists a clear correction period — typically at least 14 days — before terminating a contract. If ADOR moved straight to termination without giving Danielle a chance to address alleged issues, the termination itself could be ruled invalid.
| Dong-A Ilbo
3. Family Lawsuit
ADOR’s plan to pursue legal responsibility against Danielle’s family also presents major challenges. To succeed, the agency would need to prove that a family member actively encouraged or assisted Danielle in breaching her contract. Simply offering parental advice or expressing opinions is not enough under civil law. With Danielle herself signaling a desire to return, establishing a direct causal link between her family’s actions and any contractual damage becomes even harder.
Danielle with her sister, singer Olivia Marsh | @livvy__marsh
4. Singling Danielle Out
There is also the issue of selective enforcement. If other members who took similar actions were allowed to return, singling out Danielle for termination could be viewed as an abuse of termination rights. Courts tend to look unfavorably on applying different standards to the same situation without clear justification.
| Kyunghyang News
5. Four Member Group vs Five Member Group
Finally, if NewJeans’ contract specifies the group as a five-member act, removing Danielle and pushing forward with a four-member lineup could expose ADOR to further claims of contract violations from the remaining members. What began as a dispute with one artist now risks becoming a much larger legal problem tied to the future of the group itself.
| @oddoneout.kr/Instagram
Taken together, these factors suggest that ADOR’s legal case against Danielle and her family may be far from straightforward, and potentially difficult to win.