HYBE’s ADOR Signals Four-Member NewJeans Return?

HYBE subsidiary ADOR posted a five-video series titled ‘2026 Summer of NewJeans’ on YouTube at midnight (local time) on June 22, 2026, to mark the group’s fourth anniversary. The first 60-second clip shows four members, Minji, Hanni, Haerin, and Hyein, together on a moonlit summer night, with them gathering, holding hands, and gazing in the same direction. 

NewJeans’ Latest Visual Campaign and Member Status

Apart from a single clip featuring all four members together, individual videos for each of them were also released to commemorate their July 22, 2022 debut. Minji's 1-minute-22-second video shows her driving a pickup truck, refueling at a gas station, while folding a gas station flyer into an origami rabbit. The clip showcases another vehicle approaching from a distance, indicating that she may be waiting for someone while leaving the narrative open to interpretation. 

Hanni's video, meanwhile, depicts her working on new music, under a tree. She is also seen with a laptop displaying pixelated graphics of a rabbit and an ice cream. An origami rabbit then falls on her which showcases a bunny-shaped ice cream, followed by a message reading, "Did you see the white furry animal?" on her computer. 

Haerin's video opens with her waking up before walking to various locations while carrying a bunny-themed bag. It also features a pixelated image of the same bunny-shaped ice cream seen in Hanni's clip, on her phone. 

On the other hand, Hyein's video takes place at an ice cream shop named "The Bunnies Scoop," where she purchases the bunny-shaped ice cream. The storefront also includes a rabbit plush photograph attached on the exterior alongside what appears to be a receipt or note. The recurring rabbit motifs connect the videos together while also giving a nod to the group’s "Bunnies" fandom.

Notably, among the solo videos, Haerin's video was the most popular on YouTube with over 940K views, followed by Hanni and Minji, both of whom gained 700K and 690K, respectively. Meanwhile, Hyein gained 450K views on her individual video.  The main one-minute clip showcasing all four gained 1.9 million views in a day. 

The rollout drew immediate market attention due to Minji’s appearance, whose status with ADOR had remained unconfirmed. According to a statement from the HYBE sublabel, they described the videos as “commemorative content” for fans, adding that particular activity plans and formats will be made public once discussions end successfully.

Legal Battle with HYBE and ADOR’s Corporate Restructuring

The anniversary campaign is the group's first activity together since the suspension, after their performance at ComplexCon Hong Kong in March 2025. Operational disruption began in April 2024 when parent label HYBE removed ADOR’s then Chief Executive Officer Min Hee-jin over management control allegations.

In November 2024, all five group members made a move to terminate their exclusive contracts, alleging breaches. Nevertheless, Seoul courts rejected the members' claims, while issuing an injunction against independent work in March 2025; thus, ruling in ADOR's favor in the primary contract lawsuit in October 2025.

After the judicial rulings, members Haerin, Hyein, and Hanni returned to ADOR late last year. However, in December 2025, ADOR ended its contract with fifth member Danielle, citing contract violations and severe damage to trust. The agency is currently seeking ₩43.1 billion (~ $29 million USD) in damages from Danielle.

But Danielle marked the group's fourth anniversary independently on social media. According to The Korea Herald, she wrote: "Life gets cloudy sometimes, but the light always finds its way back in. Until then, keep shining. Forever grateful."

NewJeans’ Market Position and Commercial Outlook

NewJeans built immense commercial scale after they debuted in 2022 with the single Attention. Since then, they continued producing hits like, Hype Boy, Ditto, OMG, and Super Shy. The group's August 2023 EP, Get Up, hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, making them the second K-pop girl group to top the U.S. album chart.

NewJeans has not released new music since its Japanese debut single Supernatural in June 2024. As reported by The Chosun Daily, in May 2026, leaked recording schedules from a studio in Copenhagen, Denmark, pointed NewJeans to be working on new music. Nevertheless, with ADOR now releasing this video series, the group appears to be slowly moving back to active commercial operations, despite no formal confirmation of the same from the label.