Attrakt cleared of charges in lawsuit filed by former FIFTY FIFTY members
K-pop agency Attrakt has been cleared of charges in a lawsuit filed by former FIFTY FIFTY members over alleged breach of trust.
This is according to a statement given to South Korean news outlet Yonhap News today (March 11) by a representative from Attrakt, who said that the Gangnam Police Station in Seoul has “decided not to transfer the case of breach of trust filed by former FIFTY FIFTY members Saena, Sio and Aran [with no charges]”, as translated by Soompi.
The K-pop agency also said that it would “hold those who deceived the members, who do not understand the accounting principles of corporate funds and encouraged them to file a complaint accountable for their actions of tampering [with their contracts] until the end”.
On the same day, Attrakt also announced the upcoming return of FIFTY FIFTY, with new faces set to join remaining original member Keena in “June or July this year”, per Korea JoongAng Daily. More details about the group’s new line-up and music are expected to arrive in the coming months.
In August last year, FIFTY FIFTY’s legal counsel – led by law firm Barun – officially announced that the idols had filed a criminal complaint against Attrakt CEO Jeon Hong-joon for “violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes”.
At the time, the group’s four original members Keena, Saena, Sio and Aran claimed that Jeon had been unfairly using the group’s music and album profits as a means to repay an advance payment debt for StarCrew Entertainment, another music label he owned.
Keena would later drop her lawsuit against the company, return to the label and resume her activities as part of FIFTY FIFTY. Soon after, Attrakt would terminate the conracts of the remaining three members, resulting in their expulsion from the group and company.
Attrakt would also file a separate lawsuit against the three former members, their parents and two executives of production company The Givers, Ahn Sung-il and Baek Jin-sil. The label alleged that those who had a lawsuit filed against them were involved in the “unjust” breach of the three K-pop idols’ contracts.
FIFTY FIFTY skyrocketed to fame early last year, thanks to the viral success of their single ‘Cupid’. The song has since become the longest charting song by a K-pop girl group on the Hot 100, besting a record previously held by BLACKPINK.
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Carmen Chin
NME
