EXO members Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin have filed a criminal lawsuit against SM Entertainment‘s Chief A&R Officer and one of its co-CEOs.
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According to reports by The Korea Times and Korea JoongAng Daily, Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin – also know as EXO-CBX – filed the lawsuit against SM Entertainment’s Chief A&R Officer Lee Sung-soo and co-CEO Tak Young-jun.
The Korea Times reports by the trio has reported the two SM Entertainment executives to the police on fraud charges, while Korea JoongAng Daily added that the lawsuit accused the duo of violating South Korea’s Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes act.
The singers alleged in a press conference earlier this month that the agency had failed to honour a previous agreement to allow a reduced commission rate of 5.5 per cent for music distributed through Kakao Entertainment, a subsidiary of SM’s parent company, Kakao.
SM Entertainment responded to the press conference by filing a civil suit against the three members, alleging that they had been avoiding paying a 10 per cent royalty payment for two months.
Following this, the EXO members shared that they were planning to countersue the agency, adding that they were prepared to “disclose everything” including the negotiations that took place during their June 2023 dispute. “We’ll file a lawsuit against the company for a settlement of accounts, which we have always been suspicious of,” they said.
In June 2023, Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin became embroiled in a dispute with SM Entertainment after unilaterally requesting to terminate their contracts with the agency. At the time, the singers cited “mistreatment and unfair contract terms” as the reason for their request.
That conflict had appeared to be resolved after they reached an agreement to maintain their existing contracts as EXO members while pursuing their solo careers under INB100, a label founded by Baekhyun.
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