Recently, the Korean girl group NewJeans has become a hot topic once again. Following the news that their former company representative, Min Hee-jin—considered the 'mother of NewJeans'—won her lawsuit against management company ADOR, a series of changes to company platforms have come to light. The public generally believes that the group will move forward as a four-member team. The avatars on official accounts such as IG, Facebook, YouTube, and X have all been changed from original five-member group photos to the 'NEWJEANS' logo image. Previous visual materials that included Danielle (Mo Ji-hye) have also been simultaneously removed. Even HYBE’s self-developed mobile games have set Danielle’s name as a banned word.
Music Platforms and Games Updated Simultaneously
This major revamp doesn’t just cover social platform avatars. The group’s exclusive fan app, 'Phoning,' has also seen observable changes: multiple terms related to Danielle have been listed as banned keywords. As soon as you input certain nicknames or slogans, the system will pop up a message saying “contains banned word,” making it impossible to display. Phrases like “NewJeansAreFive,” “FreeNewJeans,” and other related strings have also been blocked, further ramping up fan outrage. These restrictive measures have disappointed fans who support the five-member lineup, with the issue quickly spreading across Korean web forums.
In addition, the changes aren’t limited to social media. The group member information on major Korean music platform Melon and China’s QQ Music have recently been updated to show only four members. Furthermore, in HYBE’s mobile game 'Rhythm Hive,' both Danielle’s character and the group’s full group photo have been removed. Since these platforms typically require official notification before updating such information, outsiders interpret these actions as proof that decision-making within the company has become clear-cut.
Source: TODAYnews