Australian performer dumped from K-pop girl group
Jin Yu Young
K-pop group NewJeans was plunged deeper into turmoil this week after its management company announced it had dropped a member of the five-piece girl group, one of the genre’s most influential groups in recent years.
The band’s record label, Ador, announced Monday that it would terminate the contract of Danielle Marsh, who plays Danielle, marking the latest flashpoint in a legal battle between the label and the band that has been going on for more than a year.
The record company did not give a reason for Newcastle-born Australian artist Danielle’s departure. He said that the three NewJeans members (Haerin, Hyein, and Hanni) will continue to work while the fourth member continues to have “discussions” with Minji.
Neither Danielle nor Minji immediately responded to requests for comment on Tuesday. It’s unclear when NewJeans will record music or if they’ll perform as a group again.
Ador is a subsidiary of Hybe, a major entertainment company that includes seven-member boy band BTS, one of the first K-pop groups to achieve mainstream success in the global music market.
While K-pop companies frequently lay off artists, Danielle’s firing sparked intense scrutiny and news in South Korea. This is because it illustrates the complexity of management structures and contracts in a largely top-down industry that is highly restrictive and led by a handful of powerful entertainment groups.
Last year, five members of NewJeans attempted to have their contracts broken, alleging workplace hostility and creative sabotage. However, in October, a South Korean court upheld the validity of the decision.
During the dispute, the members briefly rebranded as NJZ and performed under that name once in Hong Kong. They also separately filmed commercials for major Western brands. However, they later said they would suspend such activities after court orders prevented them from operating independently.
Experts say K-pop artists rarely take contractual or internal grievances into the public arena. Disputes regarding contract terminations or legal settlements are often resolved internally and then communicated to fans through carefully managed disclosures.
“This practice reflects the highly centralized nature of the K-pop system, where agencies tightly control branding, messaging and media access,” said K-pop industry expert Ray Seol of Berklee College of Music in Boston.
K-pop entertainment groups have tried to streamline and scale the creation of pop stars. But there are also more innovative groups in K-pop, such as NewJeans.
Since its debut in 2022, NewJeans has made a tremendous impact by injecting K-pop music and dance with a looser, carefree spirit that moves away from the rigid, near-perfect performances of many acts.
Many in the industry see the group as the next global standard bearer after BTS. In 2023, NewJeans became the first K-pop girl group to perform at the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago.
This article was first published on: New York Times.
