'The New York Times' Calls Out NewJeans' Label On Their Best Songs Of 2024 List

Hardcore fans have showered girl group NewJeans' former company HYBE, with criticism since the quintet announced the departure from the label in November but it seems that even The New York Times has joined the mix.

The outlet seemed to fire shots at ADOR and their handling of the situation in their "Best Songs of 2024" list, where they crowned the group bronze, with their song "Supernatural" at #3.

The New York Times' pop critic Jon Caramanica alluded to the label's contentious lawsuits against the girl group, seemingly pointedly confused as to why anyone would want to block the success of what he considered to be one of the best tastemakers in the music scene at the moment.

"Why anyone would want to get in the way of the most stylistically impressive K-pop group of the past few years making tremendous, nostalgically precise, and modernly sophisticated songs like this one is beyond me," wrote Caramanica.

The critic linked to an article reporting on NewJeans' complaints against ADOR and HYBE, as well as their grievances against the label's diminishment of the work of their executive producer and frontwoman, Min Hee-jin.

"Here was a group putting its external image and its internal leverage at risk to argue for their creative lives," penned Caramanica.

"It is an infrequent scenario at this level in K-pop, a genre and business in which careful choreography — of music, visuals, and star behavior — is crucial to the power of the art."

The critic goes on to critique the label for "derail[ing] NewJeans's career," calling it out for its "micromanaging methods."

HYBE has filed a lawsuit against the members of NewJeans to prove that their contract remains exclusive, as well as lawsuits against their management, despite the girls' proclamation to leave.