Former NewJeans member Danielle Marsh has released her first statement since the December 2025 news that the beloved K-pop girl group's record label had terminated her contract.
On Jan. 12, in an over nine-minute YouTube livestream titled “Dear Bunnies,” referencing the group’s fandom name, the 20-year-old Korean Australian singer got emotional as she addressed the camera. “Why am I already tearing up?” Marsh said in Korean, per a fan translation, at the start of the stream.
“When I think of Bunnies, the first thing that comes to mind is your eyes — the way we locked eyes onstage, the feeling that our hearts stayed connected even when the music stopped,” she said, according to the Korea Herald. “Those memories are what quietly hold me up now.”
If you’ve been following along with NewJeans (or NJZ, as they were temporarily known), you’ll know that the girl group, which originally had five members, has been embroiled in a major legal battle with their label, ADOR, after it was announced that the CEO, Min Heejin, would be stepping down as its head. ADOR is a subsidiary of entertainment giant HYBE, which is also behind renowned groups like SEVENTEEN, LE SSERAFIM, and BTS. In a December 29 statement, the company said Marsh’s contract would be terminated.
Soon after Min’s 2024 departure, NewJeans announced that they were terminating their exclusive contracts with ADOR and setting out on their own as NJZ, which then led to a year-long legal dispute that basically centered on whether they were legally allowed to do that. A South Korean court ultimately ruled in fall 2025 that their contracts were valid, and then fans had to wait for the news of if they were coming back to the label or not.
Marsh did also address the legal dispute in her stream, which she said is “still in the process of being resolved.” She told fans that she intends to share more about the specifics as well as update fans “when the time comes.”
“I fought until the very end to be together with the members,” she said. She continued on to express love for her former teammates, saying that “in one corner of my heart, there’s always NewJeans.”
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Marsh’s departure came as a shock to longtime supporters. Since NewJeans’ debut in 2022, she has not only become known as a member of the much-loved girl group, but also as an actor and performer in her own right. She voiced Ariel in the Korean dub of Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid and also hosted the 2024 “Korea on Stage – New Generation” concert.
Meanwhile, NewJeans quickly became a global sensation, releasing tracks like "OMG," "Super Shy," and "Ditto." With a string of viral hits, the girl group became the eighth best-selling artist worldwide in 2023, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
As for the other members of the group, ADOR announced in the last couple months that Haerin, Hyein and Hanni are set to return to the agency, while Minji’s return is still being discussed with the label (it’s been reported that she intends to re-sign to the group, although any official decision has not yet been announced). The group’s contract extends until 2029. Marsh is the only member that has officially parted ways with the label.
“In Danielle’s case, we determined that it would be difficult to continue together as a NewJeans member and an ADOR artist, and today we notified her of the termination of her exclusive contract. In addition, we plan to pursue legal accountability for one member of Danielle’s family and former CEO Min Hee Jin,” ADOR said in a statement.
The YouTube channel where Marsh shared her livestream appears to be her own, using her full name. As a member of NewJeans, Danielle Marsh has typically gone by her first name onstage. This potentially marks a change in the K-pop idol’s career; she also hinted at more things to come in her future, ending her stream on an optimistic note.
“Bunnies, this is not the end,” she concluded in Korean, adding in English. “It’s the beginning.”
