There are many cases where international artists, right after achieving budding success, quickly turned around and dismissed the efforts of their management company. A famous case in Kpop is the group Fifty Fifty – owner of the global hit Cupid.
Cupid emerged as a TikTok phenomenon in 2023 and began “breaking” the music charts. This song achieved great success on the US Billboard Hot 100, surpassing BlackPink’s record and even entering the annual chart.
Fifty Fifty.
Despite the opportunity for promotion, four members suddenly filed a request to terminate the contract with the management company Attrakt, claiming that the company violated the contract, did not pay salaries and caused distrust. The lawsuit lasted for months, the court ruled that Fifty Fifty’s side did not have enough evidence.
Public opinion continuously reversed because of conflicting information between the two sides. Finally, the audience criticized Fifty Fifty for being ungrateful when they found evidence that the group was treated well by the company. During their activities, members can wear expensive outfits even though Attrakt is only a small company. Attrakt CEO Jeon Hong Joon shared with Hankyung that it took billions of won to invest in releasing Cupid, even though they knew it would be difficult to compete with entertainment industry giants.
Keena is the only member of Fifty Fifty to “turn the wheel” and not have to pay off the huge debt. Photo: Getty.
After releasing Fifty Fifty’s first album, Mr. Jeon had to sell his car, eat cheap food, and go to an acquaintance’s recording studio to maximize production costs.
In order for Fifty Fifty members to have a good place to live, the company rented a spacious three-bedroom apartment in Gangnam for 2,402 USD/month (nearly 61 million VND). In addition, Mr. Jeon also hires teachers for each class to learn individual skills, from vocal music, singing, rap, dancing, English, acting, and health training. MV production costs cost 18 billion VND.
In the midst of a lawsuit, the band was dismissed by the court, and member Keena suddenly withdrew, remaining in the company as a part of Fifty Fifty. Attrakt’s side acted decisively by terminating all contracts with Saena, Sio and Aran, and filing a lawsuit for 13 billion won (9.9 million USD) against the three members and related people.
While the remaining girls struggled to pay off their debts and had to look for new companies, Keena continued to pursue international activities, receiving major domestic rookie awards and attending international music events. She also received her first month’s salary of tens of millions of won.
The incident that is causing turmoil in Korean showbiz is currently facing the same problem but on a larger scale. HYBE – the corporation behind BTS – discovered that the board of directors of subsidiary Ador, including CEO Min Hee Jin, was plotting to take over management to become independent. HYBE is holding 80% of Ador shares, while Min holds 18%. HYBE side asked Min Hee Jin to leave the director’s position.
In response, Min Hee Jin accused the subsidiary Belift Lab (part of HYBE) of intentionally plagiarizing NewJeans to create the “little sister” group ILLIT. HYBE President – Bang Si Hyuk – had a hand in production but turned a blind eye. CEO Min does not accept that his brainchild, NewJeans, is being used as PR for a new girl group.
CEO Min Hee Jin (green hat) took a photo with girl group NewJeans.
In many previous interviews, the audience discovered that Min Hee Jin deliberately dismissed HYBE’s efforts, only mentioning Ador’s existence in the success of NewJeans. However, the public knows that Ador received capital from HYBE, and Min Hee Jin was favored by the group with full autonomy from the first day of its establishment.
The online community discussed the controversy, many people criticized Ador for “having a hard time” and intending to “treason” as soon as NewJeans was on the rise. Some evidence pointed out by Korean media such as Min Hee Jin creating bad publicity for HYBE artists, revealing confidential information of the group… Meanwhile, NewJeans is a group that has received a lot of good resources since its debut. At first glance, each member becomes a luxury brand ambassador even though they have never met them.
According to Edaily, in 2023, NewJeans will receive 26.1 billion won (18.9 million USD), each member will receive about 5.2 billion won (nearly 3.8 million USD). In case NewJeans quits and follows Min Hee Jin and leaves HYBE, the group must compensate the contract up to 210 billion won (152 million USD).
According to Tien Phong