Do we like Hanni?
Our score: 7 out of 10. Nothing harmful turned up, she gave to charity and spoke up publicly, but a court did not accept her main complaint and the record is thin.
Hanni is one of the members of NewJeans, whose last new music was the June 2024 EP Supernatural. Since then the group's story has been less about songs and more about a long fight with its own label, and she has been at the centre of it. That's the backstory you need to read everything else.
The moment that made her a household name in Korea came in October 2024, when she told a National Assembly audit that a manager from another HYBE subsidiary allegedly told their team to ignore her. She also said ADOR's new CEO first dismissed her complaint for lack of evidence, even though CCTV existed. The CEO told the hearing she believed Hanni's claims but the evidence was inconclusive, the footage had expired, and she could have handled it better. Hanni told fans first, on the group's app, before her own managers.
Where it landed is more mixed. In October 2025 the Seoul Central District Court upheld the group's contracts with ADOR until 2029 and dismissed her claim, finding it “difficult to conclude” the remarks reached the level of infringing her personality rights. The other side, Belift Lab, had denied the allegation, while ADOR said at the time that Hanni clearly remembered the remark. A court saying the proof fell short is not the same as proving anything about her honesty, but it is the asterisk on her story.
On the harm test, there is honestly very little to go on, and what there is is clean. We found no statements from her on LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants or the climate, and her public words are about her own working conditions. No co-stars or collaborators to check either: her recent work is with her own group and its label.
There's also the abuse aimed at her. In July a Seoul court ordered two online commenters to pay her 100,000 won each over insulting posts under an article about her testimony, which mocked her nationality and language ability and accused her of seeking money. It's a small sum, but it shows the kind of pile-on she copped for speaking up.
The recent chapter is a messy one. Hanni returned to ADOR in December 2025 while Danielle's contract was terminated, and ADOR has since sued Danielle, her family and former boss Min Hee-jin. Hanni was spotted with Haerin and Hyein in Copenhagen in April, and in July the four remaining members posted 'Summer of NewJeans' videos, though ADOR hasn't announced any release. Korean coverage noted that both Hanni and Danielle drew criticism for the way they told the agency about their return.