The fanbase of NewJeans (new activity name NJZ), 'Timbernies,' announced that they submitted a petition containing 30,000 signatures supporting the members' contract termination to the court, amid ongoing suspicions that the number '30,000' may have been inflated.
ADOR, the agency of NewJeans, filed a request for an injunction against the members of NewJeans at the Seoul Central District Court in January this year to maintain the status of the agency and prohibit the signing of advertising contracts.
The request aims to ensure that, until the first instance ruling on the lawsuit filed in December last year to confirm the validity of the exclusive contracts, ADOR is recognized for its agency status under the contract and that the members of NewJeans cannot independently engage in any entertainment activities, including advertising shooting, without ADOR's approval or consent.
Although the petition lacks legal effect, it can be used as reference material in court. In particular, the fact that a fanbase of '30,000' stated, "If NewJeans are forced to participate in exclusive activities in a hostile environment where the trust has broken down, it will extend the members' suffering, and fans will not be able to enjoy the members' music and entertainment activities with happiness," cannot be ignored. Attention is drawn to how the 'inflated number' controversy of this petition will impact the injunction decision.
◇ Petition via Google allows multiple signatures… Closed after controversy
Timbernies collected signatures from the 24th of last month to the 5th of this month and submitted the petition on the 13th, just one day before the conclusion of the injunction hearing requested by ADOR.
The criticism regarding the credibility of the petition arises because Timbernies received signatures from domestic and international fans through a Google form, which lacks real-name verification or duplicate signature prevention features aside from the electronic signature platform 'GloSign.'
The petition is estimated to contain a significant number of signatures that fail to meet the requirements, such as providing personal information like the name, address, contact details, and signature, along with the petition's purpose and specific reasons supporting it, including the attachment of identification for authentication.
In fact, it has been confirmed that one can sign even if they enter a name as 'ㄱㄴㄷ' and a birth date as 'January 13, 2025' in the Google document. It is possible to submit entries by selecting nationality as if a Korean were a foreigner and using false names and email addresses.
After submitting one entry, a page for signing appears again, raising the possibility that one person could repeat this process hundreds of times. It seems highly likely that the same name, phone number, and email could be confirmed.
The controversial English Google account is currently closed, stating that 'it no longer accepts responses.' According to Timbernies, about 20,000 of the 30,000 people submitted the petition through Google. Currently, it is only open for signatures via the Korean Google account (GloSign has expired).
◇ Some 'assault' by teams of petitioners?… Event offering chicken for posting petition verification photos faces criticism
Criticism has emerged that the verification prize event conducted to encourage participation in the petition undermines its credibility. The event offered prizes such as chicken for first place, a hamburger set for second place, and a convenience store gift certificate for third place, encouraging participants to post 'petition submission verification photos' through global social media (SNS) platform X (formerly Twitter) and major domestic entertainment community bulletin boards.
Petitions written to express unfair circumstances or request leniency should be based on objective factual relationships to aid the court's fair judgment. However, petitions presented alongside promotional events raise doubts about their sincerity.
In response, Timbernies stated, "The event was conducted not by Timbernies, but by some teams involved in a total assault (short for total attack, meaning online collective action), and Timbernies has not led or conducted any events," adding, "The number of event participants is about 130, which does not affect the approximately 30,000 total petition signers."
A legal expert noted, "In cases where signatures are made without the consent of others, the possibility of constituting the crime of document forgery exists even without real names, through addresses, contact details, etc. Whether the court will recognize this Timbernies petition, which fails to meet even the basic requirement of attaching identification, is uncertain."