The SHOCKING Company Ab*se, K-POP Idols Stories

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The world of K pop might appear dazzling and splendid
at first, but unfortunately, the situation behind the scenes is
often much different, and several idols have been harshly mistreated
by their companies, sometimes in very horrible ways. While some
of these incidents have been repeatedly discussed and highly publicized,
not many people know about one of the most shocking
and heartbreaking cases of mistreatment in the history of K pop,

(00:21):
which dates back almost twenty years. This horrible story revolves
around Kim Hung Un, who was born in nineteen eighty
one and made her debut in the Korean entertainment industry
in two thousand and three by taking part in a
comedy contest organized.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
By TV station SBS.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
Hyung Un surprised everyone by winning the competition, and so
she was able to debut as a comedian for SBS.
At that time, the Korean comedy scene was at its peak,
and Hung Oun quickly became really popular across the entire
country thanks to her great ability to make people laugh.
While her popularity was quickly rising, Hung Un began hosting
a new comedy sketch with two of her colleagues, Shim

(00:55):
Jinhua and John Kyung Hee. In this skit, the three
comedians made a parody of Charlie's Angels, a media franchise
centered around a group of secret agents, which.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Was really popular in the early two thousands.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
The popularity of this skit made the three comedians household
names in the Korean entertainment world and led them to
transition into being a full fledged K pop group while
still keeping their funny concept. The group, which kept the
name Charlie's Angels, made its debut in two thousand and
six with its first single, un Meiong, and immediately gained
a lot of attention. Despite the fact that the members
weren't really singers, the group quickly became an extremely popular act,

(01:29):
and they started being booked for one event after another.
For some time, the Korean version of the Charlie's Angels
were absolutely everywhere, appearing in several festivals, school parties, and
brand events. Many thought that this success would mark the
start of a long career in the K pop world
for the three comedians, but unfortunately, their lives instead took
a much different and darker turn. Just three months into
their career as K pop idols, on December sixteenth, two

(01:52):
thousand and six, the Charlie's Angels got into a dangerous
car accident which completely changed their lives forever. The members
suffered serious injuries, especially Hiloon, who sustained a neck fracture. Sadly,
she couldn't recover, and she passed away on January tenth,
two thousand and seven. The world of Korean entertainment mourned
the loss of one of their brightest stars, but almost
no one knew that this wasn't simply a tragic accident,

(02:14):
and the truth was much darker.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Around a year.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Later, Jinhua appeared on a TV show and decided to
speak up, explaining what really happened and blaming their label
for the accident and for Hung UN's passing. Apparently, on
the day of the accident, the group had back to
back appearances scheduled, as they were supposed to perform first
in Seoul and then in Yongpyeong, which was one hundred
eighty five kilometers away. The schedule was already tight, but
things got worse when the first performance got delayed, making

(02:38):
it almost impossible to reach the second event on time. However,
the group's CEO was reluctant to lose out on the
money the company would have earned from the Yongpeong event,
so he insisted that their manager drive them to the
second venue as soon as possible. This is where the
situation took a turn for the worse, as according to Jinhua,
the manager started driving the car at dangerously high speeds.
In fact, she claimed that the man reached a speed

(03:00):
of two hundred twenty kilometers per hour, but the speedometer
in the car only showed two hundred kilometers per hour
as it was the highest value it could measure. Jinhua
even recalled being able to smell the tires of their
car burning for how fast the vehicle was going. This
reckless driving didn't last long, and during a downhill descent,
the car crashed into a divider at a curve. The
vehicle was completely crushed, especially in the front, and every

(03:23):
person who was in the car was badly injured, with
Hyellngoon being the one who was hurt the most. As
a result of the accident, Hunguon lost consciousness and entered
a coma and suffered from three or four broken cervical vertebrae.
The dislocated bones cut off the nerves in her neck,
and this resulted in Hyung un becoming paralyzed. On December
twenty sixth she underwent a major surgery to reposition her
dislocated vertebrae. The procedure lasted nine hours, but it wasn't successful.

(03:47):
In fact, things only got worse as the surgery damaged
the blood vessels in her neck, causing excessive bleeding. Yel
Ngun's condition only kept worsening, and on December thirty first,
she suffered a cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated
using CPS are. However, hung Un already had broken ribs
and the bones were damaged even more by the CPR procedure.
Because of this, the medical staff determined that the fractured

(04:08):
ribs would make another resuscitation attempt completely impossible. For the
next few days, Hiungun had to rely on a cardiac
monitor just to stay alive and never regained consciousness. She
showed some small signs of improvement, but all hope was
lost on January tenth, two thousand and seven, when a
second cardiac arrest led to Hilmun's passing at the age
of twenty five years old. According to Jinhua, Hungoun's last

(04:29):
words spoken just after the crash and before losing consciousness were.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
I want to live?

Speaker 1 (04:34):
Jinhua and kyung He managed to recover from their injuries,
but their lives were completely changed. The Charlie's Angels were
officially disbanded, and the two surviving members took different paths.
Kyung He retired from comedy and broadcasting and later transitioned
into a career as a theater actress. She got married
in twenty eleven and now works as a shopping host
for CJO Shopping, occasionally appearing in entertainment programs. Jinhua initially

(04:57):
fell into a deep depression, which was worsened by her
fathers passing away soon after the crash. She later explained
that during the time after the accident, she suffered from
severe mental health issues, began experiencing auditory hallucinations, and at
one point even attempted to take her own life. When
her condition improved, Jinhua decided to expose her company as
the reason behind the car crash, finally revealing the truth

(05:19):
behind the accident. When the crash had just happened, the
agency of Charlie's Angels tried everything to hide the truth,
even claiming that the car wasn't speeding and they were
in no rush to reach the.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
Second event of the day.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
This claim was quickly debunked by a third party vehicle expert,
and later investigations also confirmed that the agency was attempting
to cover up the facts to protect themselves. When jin
Wa spoke up and revealed the truth, the case.

Speaker 2 (05:40):
Exploded once again.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
However, she didn't only expose how their CEO and manager
caused the accident, but also revealed that the company made
things even worse with their shady business practices. Jinhua revealed
that the agency made its artists sign up for insurance
policies where in case of an accident, the money would
get paid to the artist directly unless they pass away,
in which case the money would go to the agency.
Since Hyulngoon passed away following the car crash, the company

(06:04):
received around seventy three thousand dollars in life insurance payout.
Just after hil Nguon's passing, when her family was still
mourning and in shock, the company struck a deal with them,
promising to pay them one hundred thousand dollars. However, they
later claimed to be struggling financially and told hyilng UN's
family that they could only afford to pay fifty thousand dollars.
Ylng UN's parents later revealed that in the end, the

(06:24):
agency only gave them twenty four thousand dollars. Jinqua didn't
stop here with her bombshell revelations and also exposed how
the company overworked the group while paying them almost nothing.
She explained that during their activities as Charlie's Angels, the
group worked on forty seven TV shows, had twenty nine
radio appearances, and ten live performances, but in total they
only got paid two thousand dollars each. She added that

(06:46):
during that time, the group basically worked as slaves, earning
money for the agency while they lived in poverty. Jinhua
also revealed that the company staff wasn't treated much better,
as their makeup artists and stylists didn't receive any payment
at all, and so they left the agency. Jinha statements
caused a conflict between her and the agency, which did
everything in its power to prevent her from appearing on
TV and radio ever again. Despite this, she managed to

(07:09):
return to the entertainment world a few years.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
Later and now regularly appears on TV.

Speaker 1 (07:13):
Shows and has also acted in a few dramas. Meanwhile,
it's unclear whether anyone at the Charlie's Angels agency suffered
from any consequence. In any case, these revelations caused a
huge controversy at the time, with the tight schedules and
low earnings of idols becoming an important issue. Another major
talking point was how many K pop agencies seem to
be completely insensitive towards the safety of their artists. Unfortunately,

(07:36):
at that time, not much was done to improve the
safety of idols, and several other groups suffered from terrible accidents.
Just a few months after Hilngoon's passing, Super Junior got
into an accident which caused various injuries to the members
of the group. Even worse, in twenty fourteen, two members
of the girl group Ladies Code passed away after another
horrible car crash.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
Well, now it seems like.

Speaker 1 (07:56):
K pop companies are doing more to protect their artist's safety.
Many of the issues that plague the Charlie's Angels almost
twenty years ago are still present to this day. In fact,
numerous groups and idols are still severely overworked and paid
very little money, while often being mistreated by their companies.

Speaker 2 (08:11):
Some improvement has been made.

Speaker 1 (08:12):
For sure, but it seems like, the K pop world
is still far away from being a healthy industry. What
do you think can be done to improve the condition
of idols? Share your opinions down below in the comment section,
and don't forget to like, subscribe and hit the notification
bell to discover more about the dark secrets of the
K pop industry. But sadly that wasn't an isolated case.
Another group's suffering would expose just how far exploitation can go. Recently,

(08:36):
Spire Entertainment held a press conference where they accused Tweechon
from Omega X of committing serious offenses, presenting a video
as proof. Omega X's side quickly responded to these accusations,
unveiling some things that left medicines completely disturbed. However, Spire
Entertainment's pattern of harmful behavior stretches far beyond these recent incidents,
and believe us, it goes from bad to worse.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
The things that Omega X.

Speaker 1 (08:59):
Were going through were first uncovered in October of twenty
twenty two after attending their Los Angeles concert. One of
their fans was waiting for their food outside the venue
when they heard the now former CEO of Spire Entertainment
lashing out at the members and hurting them physically. Even
though they were baffled at the site, they ended up
recording what happened and posting it on Twitter with the caption,
I saw the CEO of the kids company hitting the kids.

(09:20):
My hands are really shaking.

Speaker 2 (09:22):
I don't know what to do.

Speaker 1 (09:23):
The clip was devastating to watch, as you can hear
the CEO guilt tripping the members and blaming them for
not taking care of her. Then a member is heard collapsing,
but instead of helping him, the CEO gets even angrier
and yells at him to get up. It's not like
fans were unaware that some company officials tend to treat
idols and trainees like they're not human, but to see
it captured on video was especially shocking, as it happens

(09:44):
with anything. Some people were ready to give the CEO
the benefit of the doubt while this was in no
way okay. They thought that perhaps she was just having
a rough day and unfairly took it out on the members,
But some suspected there might be more to the story
than meets the eye, so they started digging around. After
going deeper, fans stumbled upon a Twitter thread from a
few weeks back posted by another Twitter user. Even though
the tweet didn't get a lot of attention initially, it

(10:06):
helped uncover even more mistreatment and cruelty that the members
had gone through by the hand of the company's CEO.
The person who first posted the claim said their mom
witnessed the CEO shouting at the members twice when the
group were in Chile, once at the hotel and another
time at the airport. The whole scene was so intense
to witness that the user's mother feared that the situation
would escalate even more if she didn't intervene. When fans

(10:28):
learned about yet another situation where the members were mistreated
by the CEO, they demanded answers from the company and
spread the word to ensure the member's safety. Fortunately for everyone,
SBS News ended up getting involved. They got their hands
on some clips in which the CEO is heard for
rating and verbally harming the members on multiple occasions. You
could hear the CEO telling the members, do you really
think you deserve to be loved by all these people?

(10:50):
What are you superstars? Now? It's not like you made
it all the way here on your own Similarly to
the initial clip, one of the members, Jahon, collapses to
the floor, but once again the CEO doesn't care. In fact,
she doubles down on it and tells him to stop
being a singer if he's always going to be sick,
then turns the conversation to herself. In another clip, she
pushes the same member to the floor by grabbing him
by the caller. It seems like this is not the

(11:11):
first time that something like this has happened, as the
others immediately rally around Jahon in an attempt to protect him.
SBS News had also made sure to contact the CEO
before releasing the clips. In the phone conversations posted by them,
she denies ever hurting the members, despite there being multiple
recorded instances of her doing so. To explain everything, she
accused the Twitter user who posted the first clip of

(11:32):
being an anti and trying to paint the group and
the management in a bad light, and no, according to her,
she wasn't verbally hurting them, but was just asking them
if they had helped her when she was going through
a rough patch, no matter what, Spire Entertainment and their
management claimed. Though the story took off immediately after it
was reported by SBS News. Even Western media covered the
whole thing, spreading the word further. Since their first explanation

(11:55):
didn't work, Spire Entertainment came out with another statement, brushing
everything off as a misunderstand According to them, even though
CEO Kong has raised her voice at the members, everything
ended up being resolved. When this also did nothing to
calm the situation down, the CEO went on to post
her own side of things in a post captioned fact
and evidence. You all have lies, but I have the truth.

(12:15):
She had attached a screenshot in which one of the
members said that he made a mistake and that he
would continue to reflect. The member promised her that it
wouldn't happen again, but she insisted that lies are impossible
to cure and labeled him as the type of person
she hated the most. This made the member apologize even more,
as he seemed scared of what she might do to him.
Fans and netizens failed to understand why the former CEO

(12:36):
thought that this would do anything to improve her reputation. Then,
on November seventh, Spire Entertainment made an official announcement about
Kong's resignation, along with an apology to the fans and
everyone who was concerned. While this should have been a
happy update, people weren't entirely convinced of the news. Sure
it was possible that she didn't appear as the CEO
of the company on paper, but she could be very

(12:57):
well running things from behind. They wouldn't be the first
come to do so, nor would they be the last.
And it really didn't help that the person that became
the new CEO was Kong's husband. SBS News continued reporting
on the matter, sharing that Kong had been ill mannered
towards the members in more than one instance. On top
of threatening the members, she also got into a fight
with Jahon after the group got back to the hotel.

(13:17):
Then she started banging on the doors of the members
rooms until the police arrived. Sources mentioned that she got
unreasonably mad because the Omega Ex members forgot to thank
the Spire Entertainment staff at the end of their concert
to teach them a lesson.

Speaker 2 (13:30):
The company made the.

Speaker 1 (13:31):
Members pay for their own tickets back home. The members
also spoke to SBS saying that it was usual for
the CEO to call them late at night and just
lecture them for a few hours. If the members didn't respond,
she would resort to threats. Among all the bad things
they endured, the members were also made to perform when
they were sick with COVID nineteen. When they informed Kong
that they had tested positive for the virus, she told

(13:52):
them to get it together and perform. Ultimately, two out
of the four members were too sick with a fever
to perform, while the other two were urged to perform
at as many songs as they could. That wasn't all,
according to SBS's report, the members were also inappropriately approached
without their consent by Kong. If they refused to comply
with her demands for physical contact, they would be coerced

(14:12):
into doing so. Thankfully, the members were quick to act,
seeing the media coverage that their case was getting and
the support they were receiving from all sides, The group's
lawyers began a legal battle against the company. The members,
along with their lawyers, spoke at a press event where
they announced they were ending their contracts with the company
and planning to sue them.

Speaker 2 (14:29):
They pointed out that.

Speaker 1 (14:30):
While Spire issued an apology to fans, CEO Kong didn't
apologize to the members even once worse, she kept threatening
the members and bringing up their military service obligations. No
matter how much proof there was against her. Though, Kong
wouldn't go down without a fight. In fact, she kept
sticking to her story and insisted that she took care
of the members as if she was their mother. She
also insisted that Jahon, who was seen collapsing at the

(14:52):
Los Angeles Hotel, fell by himself and not by her doing.
At the end, she expressed that she didn't want to
end the partnership with Omega V and still wants the
members to keep working with Spire Entertainment. To put the
final nail in her coffin, she said that it was
fair to ask the members to pay the agency's debts,
and she believes their accusations are just a ploy to
join a bigger agency. The fate was on the member's side, though,

(15:14):
as in January of twenty twenty three, they announced that
they won their lawsuit against Spire. Several months later, they
signed with IPQ Entertainment, who they had previously worked with.
In January of twenty twenty four, the court confirmed that
the accusations of inappropriate and harmful behavior involving Omega X
were true, this should have been the end of it,
but unfortunately it wasn't. Spire Entertainment wasn't going down without

(15:35):
a fight. In January, they reported IPQ and Daniel Entertainment
to the Fair Trade Commission for suspected unfair practices with
Omega X. When that didn't fly, they resorted to making
false accusations against the members. On March nineteenth, the company
made some serious claims, saying that CEO Kong had been
a victim of the members, but didn't file any complaints
or talk about it because she didn't want to portray

(15:56):
them as criminals. However, according to the agency, she couldn't
start silent any longer, especially considering the accusations against her.
On the same day, the current CEO of Spire held
a press conference in which they played a clip from
CCTV footage. In the clip, a man who the company
claims to be Huichin is seen doing certain things with
Kong which are deemed as inappropriate. The company's current CEO,

(16:17):
huangsung Wu, claimed that Huichin was drunk from drinking with
Omega EX members preparing to join the military while his
wife was working late due to the group's international tours.
After Huichin asked to speak to the former CEO privately,
he allegedly made inappropriate advances towards her. The CEO went
as far as to suggest that the lawsuit happened because
when other members saw the video, they decided they couldn't

(16:38):
continue with the label and wanted to terminate their contracts.
On that same day, Omega X's legal team, as well
as their company, denied the accusations. To really prove who
was the victim in all this, the company released text
messages along with a formal statement. The screenshots of these
messages revealed the members weren't drinking to say goodbye to
those joining the military, as the company had claimed, but

(16:59):
were pressured by the higher ups at spire. As for
the claims that Huichin asked to talk to Kong about
military service on July eleventh, twenty twenty two, this was false,
as his draft notice was sent on August first, scheduling
enlistment for September. IPQ also claimed CEO Kong made Wuichin
do those things to her, and he had no choice
but to comply as he feared that she would start
being mean to him again. The situation gets even more

(17:21):
horrifying because afterwards, Huichin ended up falling asleep as it
was getting late, and CEO Kong took a photo and
sent it to managers. When he woke, she scolded him
and made more inappropriate demands. Huichin hid in the bathroom,
but CEO Kong went after him, shouting and banging on
the door. This lasted until Kevin and the manager returned
around five am, finding Ceo Kong taking selfies in the

(17:42):
mirror while Hichin was hiding in the bathroom. At the
end of their statement, IPQ demanded the label release the
unedited CCTV footage and thanked fans for support. They also
stated that they were collecting evidence to file a lawsuit
against Spire, which really relieved fans. It's genuinely terrifying that
the company would stoop to such levels, going as as
far is to make such severe accusations against the members,

(18:03):
knowing they would have to relive the trauma caused by Kong.
She shows no remorse and continues to target the members
despite ample evidence pointing to her as the perpetrator. Fortunately,
the members now have an agency that stands up for
them and refuses to yield despite Spier's attempts to undermine them.
And it's not just smaller companies. Some of the biggest
names in K pop have been accused of the same

(18:23):
horrifying behavior. Kg's departure from VICHA caught fans off guard,
but what truly shook everyone was the claim she made
about jyp's US division.

Speaker 2 (18:31):
Now she has laid all the.

Speaker 1 (18:32):
Accusations out, clearly backing it all up with solid evidence.
And with that kind of proof, JYP is now facing
a serious situation that's difficult to ignore or explain away.
While her legal battle with JYP Entertainment is still ongoing,
KG decided to speak out publicly. In a recent online post.
She shared a Google Drive of her court document in
screenshots to support her claims of mistreatment during her time

(18:54):
in VICHA. Among the files was a trail of evidence
that painted a concerning picture of how injuries within the
groups were handled. According to the document, several members, including KG,
were injured around mid September twenty twenty three, one head
back in hit pain, another twisted an ankle, and KG
herself tore attendant in her shoulder on September fourteenth, but
instead of being allowed to rest.

Speaker 2 (19:14):
She says she was.

Speaker 1 (19:15):
Forced to repeat the same move over and over again
up to one hundred times by a dance instructor referred
to as BM, who was believed to be Lee Bowman.
She wasn't given time to rest, nor was she allowed
water during the practice. It took two days for anyone
in the company to arrange medical attention, not just for her,
but for the other members as well. When they finally
visited the hospital on September sixteenth, all of them received injections.

(19:37):
KG says she was never told what was in the shot.
She included a photo from her camera roll showing herself
in a hospital gown that same day, along with receipts
from the visit and a close up of her shoulder
showing a vaccine mark where she says the injury happened.
Despite all this, Kg claims jyps US team showed no
concern for her condition. She added a screenshot from a
video dated just two days after her hospital trip showing

(19:59):
that the company still had her working injured or not.
Another photo in her post shows her passed out on
the floor before a morning lesson on September twenty sixth.

Speaker 2 (20:07):
According to her, the lack of sleep and NonStop.

Speaker 1 (20:09):
Training had pushed her to the edge, and she came
to a point where she was so worn out that
staying upright.

Speaker 2 (20:14):
Had become impossible.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
Cage's leg injury came next, this time in November twenty
twenty three, and just like before, she says, the response
from JYP was pretty much the same dismissive. Though she
did receive multiple injections and some form of treatment, rest
wasn't an option. The situation got so serious that doctor
stepped in and warned her about muscle damage caused by overworking.
They clearly told her to stop dancing and take time off,

(20:37):
but that didn't happen. Despite the medical advice, JYP staff
reportedly pushed her to keep going, brushing aside the severity
of the injury. To back it all up, Kge shared
a photo dated November twenty third showing visible marks on
her leg from the treatment. She also included a screenshot
from a video file showing her dancing just a day later,
proof that she was still being made to work. Right
after getting medical attention, things didn't stop getting worse. In

(21:00):
December twenty twenty three, Kg suffered yet another injury, this
time to her hip, it became serious enough to cause
internal bleeding, reportedly from repeatedly doing a move that involved
lying on the floor. Even then, she says, JYP staff
didn't step in to give her a break. Instead, according
to the court filing, she was still being made to
work over sixty hours a week.

Speaker 2 (21:19):
The environment was intense.

Speaker 1 (21:20):
The girls were often pressured to stay late, afraid they
would be labeled lazy or not dedicated enough. One of
the members was in charge of telling the staff when
rehearsals would end, which only added more pressure. Back in November,
Kg says she pushed herself even harder just to keep up.
Staff told her to match the level of Korean trainees
who had stayed as late as one am, so she agreed.
That day, she ended up training from ten thirty in

(21:42):
the morning to eleven at night. More messages revealed just
how deep the pressure from staff really went. On November
twenty eighth, twenty twenty three, KG had a conversation with
one of the members who said the company had told
them that anyone who didn't stay in practice as long
as KG was simply being lazy. This made the rest
of the group feel they had no choice, but to
stay late too, even when it crossed healthy limits. That

(22:02):
same chat showed how the pressure started affecting their relationships.
The member asked kg if she minded when others left
practice earlier, and worried that doing so made them bad teammates.
It was clear the environment was making them feel guilty
for setting boundaries and possibly pitting them against each other.
In another conversation, Kgie asked the members if they knew
their schedule for.

Speaker 2 (22:21):
The next week.

Speaker 1 (22:22):
Alex Huang, a JYP staff member, had asked her what
she planned to do, and Kge was worried that leaving
practice early would make her look bad. She admitted she
wanted to leave when the others did, but was scared
Alex might be upset. One of the girls told her
not to worry, since they were already staying late anyway. Still,
kg felt unsure. She said she was slower than the
rest and needed more time, and feared Alex might report

(22:43):
her to the company or label her as lazy if
she didn't push herself harder. One member tried to comfort her,
saying she just needed more time for the moves to
sink in, but the anxiety clearly hadn't gone away. One
of the clearest signs that things weren't okay came from
Kge's own messages to her mom. In them, she admits
she's been staying at the practice room well past midnight
and tells her how drained she feels physically and mentally.

(23:04):
In one text, she says, I go from morning vocal
lesson to lunch to five hour dance lesson, to dinner,
to pilates or physical therapy, then back to dance training
till ten to eleven PM, adding I need help. In
a different set of messages, KG opened up to her
mom about how intense things had gotten. She said that
even sitting down for just five minutes was enough to
get them yelled at by Alex. If anyone tried to rest,

(23:26):
Alex would show up, question why they weren't practicing, and
then report it to the company, apparently to make herself
look responsible. The pressure also extended to what the girls
could eat while they were in Korea. JYP pushed them
to eat only the company provided salads. Technically it was optional,
but the message was clear refusing would lead to disappointment
or judgment. In a screenshot of a group chat conversation,

(23:47):
one of the VICHA members mentioned that staff had asked
if they were eating the salads. She admitted she usually did,
but added that she had to eat other things too
because the salads alone weren't enough to get through exhausting
practice days. Still, with their schedules getting even longer, she
said she was.

Speaker 2 (24:01):
Thinking twice about continuing with it.

Speaker 1 (24:03):
The girls also shared how they were tired of eating
the same thing all the time and wanted a change.
To make them feel guilty, the company reportedly told them
that not eating the salads would be wasting food. Things
got worse when Alex told the members that gaining weight
would only.

Speaker 2 (24:16):
Make dancing harder.

Speaker 1 (24:17):
In another conversation, someone from the company said their performances
were weak and lacked energy, blaming it on the fact
that they were dieting too hard, as if they weren't
the ones responsible for it. Then there were the comments
from staff like Jan Jong Ho, who basically told the
girls things like lose weight or you'll regret how you look,
and on another occasion bluntly said don't eat. These remarks
left the members anxious about food and made them feel

(24:39):
guilty for eating anything more than what they were told
to Every month. The company insisted on measuring the members'
weights despite none of them agreeing to it, making it
feel like the company was more concerned about their weight
than their actual health. CAG shared a screenshot revealing a
hurtful comment from a staff MEMBERKG believed the remark was
aimed at one of the girls, who was already struggling
with an eating disorder.

Speaker 2 (24:59):
At that time.

Speaker 1 (25:00):
She was so consumed by it that she couldn't even
bring herself to eat after five PM. Jyp's control over
KG seemed to go beyond just the physical, with emotional
manipulation playing a huge role. This wasn't limited to KG alone,
as another member took action in December twenty twenty three,
drafting a statement for JYP to address how the girls
were being treated and point out the company's inconsistent messages.

(25:21):
In addition to that, earlier in September twenty twenty three,
a translator reached out to the group privately revealing that
JYP might intentionally be withholding affection to keep the members
from becoming spoiled before their debut. This only confirmed the
girl's suspicions that the cold treatment was deliberate. One of
the most shocking details uncovered in the court documents was
the company's restriction on the members listening to or dancing

(25:43):
to music from any other label besides JYP. The constant
fear from the staff was so overwhelming that the girls
were too scared to ask for schedule changes, a situation
that deeply affected KG emotionally. If that wasn't enough, in
August twenty twenty three, the company's staff informed the members
that their training was in critical condition, pressuring KG to
push herself further even when exhausted or injured.

Speaker 2 (26:05):
The staff controlled nearly.

Speaker 1 (26:06):
Every aspect of their lives, forcing them to speak only
in Korean despite some of the members not being able
to speak it very well, regulating what they said in interviews,
and even dictating how they spent their free time in
days off. Overall, the level of surveillance was shocking, as
it appears the company had cameras set up in their
La home to monitor the girls. KG only realized this
over time when a staff member made offhand remarks that

(26:28):
revealed they were being watched, mentioning things that happened in
the kitchen.

Speaker 2 (26:31):
And dining area.

Speaker 1 (26:32):
After the girls went to bed, she discovered that the
camera was positioned directly across from the dining table, giving
the company a clear view of everything they ate. Additionally,
KG found a sticker on the pantry ceiling indicating that
area was also being monitored, and she provided photos of
the cameras as proof.

Speaker 2 (26:48):
As for her.

Speaker 1 (26:48):
Initial accusations that one of the members had been driven
to hurt herself, it was revealed that in October twenty
twenty three, KG became deeply concerned after noticing troubling signs
in one of the members, including binge eating, vomiting, and
rumors of self harm. She suspected the member was struggling
with an eating disorder, and even more alarmingly, that she
had been using a lighter to hurt herself. This led

(27:09):
to growing worry among the group. Tragically, this member eventually
attempted to take her own life. Kge kept evidence of
the situation, but chose not to reveal the member's identity,
wanting to protect her privacy. Despite the severity of the issue,
Kge's attempts to seek help were dismissed. When she spoke
to the studio teacher, he revealed that JYP staff had
misled him, telling him the member was only ill. Cag

(27:29):
even had a recording of their conversation, which she said
she could provide if needed. She also raised the issue
with another staff member, Unji's Song, but was brushed off
with a comment that.

Speaker 2 (27:38):
Eating disorders were normal.

Speaker 1 (27:40):
Kgie's own mental health had deteriorated to the point where
she was missing school. Overwhelmed by her struggles, she reached
out to staff member g One Song, telling her that
she was thinking about leaving the group. Later that day,
she also opened up to another member about the emotional
toll everything was taking on her. Through their conversations, it
was clear that the entire group was feeling the weight
of the situation, with everyone struggling to hold onto their

(28:02):
sense of self and confidence. By February twenty twenty four,
kg was facing a financial crisis. She discovered that she
and the other members were buried in a growing unclear debt,
with JYP offering no transparency or explanation. The mounting financial
pressure only added to the stress she was already under,
and she began to feel trapped, as if no matter
how hard she worked, she would never be able to

(28:23):
escape the burden. This eventually led to a zoom meeting
with the VICHA members and their parents, where the group
discussed the toxic environment they were working in. The members
openly admitted they were being mistreated and even considered leaving
JYP together. Their parents, however, expressed concerns about the consequences
of leaving, particularly given jyp's influence. After the meeting, most
of the remaining members chose to stay, while KG made

(28:45):
the decision to leave on May nineteenth, twenty twenty four.
On June sixth, twenty twenty four, KG sent a text
to an employee explaining that her decision to leave was
based on her need to prioritize her mental health and happiness.
She had no idea that this would lead to JYP
threatening her with liquidated damages, which would prevent her from working,
releasing music, acting, posting on social media, or using her

(29:06):
talents to earn a living. The reason why KG prepared
this declaration is that JYP had publicly accused her of
making false and exaggerated claims while attempting to force the
issue into private arbitration, so she wanted to show that
whatever she was saying was one hundred percent real. As
of May first, the lawsuit is still ongoing and things
aren't looking good for jyp Usa KG has presented evidence

(29:27):
showing that the staff at jyp violated child labor laws
by making the members work late hours. She also provided
proof of the overwork, mistreatment, and inadequate nutrition the members faced,
with the staff not only allowing but encouraging this behavior.
Jypusa has yet to respond to any of the allegations
and at this point it's hard to imagine any defense
that would make them appear innocent in this situation. But

(29:50):
even outside the spotlight, idols continue to endure unthinkable treatment
behind closed doors. Gowans on y'all fans were taken by
surprise when it was revealed that the group won the
first in the lawsuit against their company, The Wave Music,
not that they didn't believe that the members had a
chance of winning, but because they didn't know that a
lawsuit was taking place at all. But the more it
was revealed about the lawsuit, the more fans found out

(30:12):
about the way the company has mistreated the member since
their debut, and the truth was truly disturbing. To give
you some backstory, first, Gonwa Sonyon made their debut in
September twenty eighteen under Kiwi Media Group. The company Kiwi
Media group changed their name to The Wave Music. It
was alleged that the group kept moving companies because the
higher ups didn't report their finances properly, so they would

(30:32):
be blocked by the stock market trading, make up a
new company, move gongwog Sonyel there, and then do this
all over again. After Gounwang Sonyeo made the switch to
The Wave Music, the fans noticed that the promotions for
the group went through a stark decrease, with the group's
latest comeback being in May of twenty twenty one. This
worried them since the group basically halted all their activities
and the members disappeared.

Speaker 2 (30:53):
Then more information came to light.

Speaker 1 (30:55):
Producer Swiney posted an Instagram story in February of twenty
twenty two claiming and that he hadn't been paid for
his work on gonwog Son's album titled The Other Side.

Speaker 2 (31:04):
Of the Moon.

Speaker 1 (31:04):
Swinney is a known producer who has worked with La Poem, Trends,
and vav in the past, and has been pretty well
liked in the gonwog Sona fandom due to his friendliness
with the fans. However, he grew tired of fans asking
him when the group were going to make their next comeback,
so he went on Instagram and informed the fandom that
he still hadn't been paid for the work that he
did on producing the album. He also said that he

(31:25):
made the whole album by himself without anyone's help. Though
it's unclear who the producer blames for not getting paid,
as he made it clear that he doesn't put the
fault on the girls nor the company, saying that he
always would support the group.

Speaker 2 (31:37):
This wasn't the first.

Speaker 1 (31:37):
Time that an employee had complained about not getting paid,
since someone who formally worked at the company for about
a year and five months quit their job and didn't
receive their overdue salary, severance pay or the four months
worth of expenses that they were supposed to be paid
after they quit. The alarm bells were now ringing in
fans' heads, who now had proof that something wasn't right.
They got together to demand justice for the members and

(31:59):
the otherployees of the company and bring attention to the
mistreatment that they've been facing from the company. They mass
emailed the agency on top of trending the hashtags save
Gongong Sona. On February nineteenth, twenty twenty two. Through the
emails and hashtags, the fans demanded to know if the
members were being paid, what had happened to members also
who had gone on hiatus and hadn't been seen since then,

(32:19):
what was going on with the group, and asking for
better communication between the fans and the company. That didn't
do much and the situation only got worse. On October
twenty first of the same year, a post was made
online with the title the agency that has virtually closed
down and the girl group found to be disbanded. The
original poster claimed that they came in contact with producer
A who said that the Wave Music has shut down.

(32:40):
They wrote, in fact, it was close to a paper
company with only the name of the agency. It is
now out of business. Now the members of gonong Sonya
will be able to transfer to other labels. The producer
went on to say that they haven't received any proper
settlement fees for their production work on gonwog Sonya's album.
The news was never confirmed, though, and the fans grew
more and more concerned of what was happening with the group.

(33:01):
The members also opened personal Instagram accounts, but the fate
of the group itself was unknown. Did gongwog Sonya disband,
If so, what were the plans of the members. The
update that fans were so desperately asking for came on
January twenty second, when multiple media outlets reported that gongog
Sonya had filed a lawsuit against their label to terminate
their exclusive contracts and had won the first trial. They

(33:22):
decided to go through the legal route of leaving the
company because of the unsuitable working and living conditions. The
news of idols seeking to terminate their contracts due to
mistreatment have become too familiar lately, and gongog Sonya's case
wasn't any different. The lawsuit revealed the absolute horrendous treatment
that the members of the group were subjected to. These
mistreatments ranged from being evicted because of unpaid rent, the

(33:43):
foreign members being paid fines because of the company's neglect
of proper visa work, to the company not providing records
for payment. Gongwang Sonya's side revealed that they were evicted
from their dorms back in February of twenty twenty two
because their company failed to pay the rent. A few
months later, in July of the same year, the company
also got rid of the studio that the members used
for dance practice, which is quite an essential space to

(34:04):
an idol group. The constant mistreatment that the staff and
the members were dealing with led to all of gongmongs
Sonya's team of managers and administrative staff leaving the Wave
Music to make matters worse. The lawsuit also revealed that
the Wave Music neglected the two foreign members of the group,
one who comes from Japan and the other.

Speaker 2 (34:20):
Who was Taiwanese.

Speaker 1 (34:21):
Mia and Solso were both penalized with hefty fines but
also criminal records for overstaying their visas, all because the
management failed to take care of their immigration status. The
report also said that the company didn't provide any adequate
records of having paid the members with their fair shares
of wages, which is the least surprising news of all. Additionally,
the members have no records of having their settlements paid

(34:41):
with regard to wages, meals or training. The members of
the group stated since our last album activity in June
twenty twenty one, we have been neglected to a level
where we cannot engage in entertainment activities. The group side
also shared a brief statement in regards to the lawsuit,
saying the failure to care for the members as well
as the failure to provide transparent records of find nancis
have damaged the trust between the Wave Music and the

(35:02):
gonngwang Sona members, hence the contracts can no longer be
held valid. Thankfully, gonwog Sonya ended up winning.

Speaker 2 (35:08):
The first lawsuit.

Speaker 1 (35:09):
The twenty eighth Civil Division of the Soul Central District
Court ruled in favor of the members to confirm the
non existence of their exclusive contract. All the members need
now is for the judgment to be finalized in two
weeks so that their exclusive contracts will be terminated and
the members will be able to go on with their careers.
The courts believe that one of the ways that exclusive
contracts can be terminated is if the trust between the

(35:29):
company and its artists is broken like not providing settlement data. Thankfully,
the gonwog Sonyan members had it easy since the Wave
Music failed to respond for more than one month after
they received the complaints, so there was no hearing process
needed to end the lawsuit. The judgment will also become
final if the company doesn't appeal within days of receiving
the judgment, the Nedicines were shot that the things that
the lawsuit revealed as mentioned. They had a slight idea

(35:52):
that gonwog Sonya were not working under the best conditions,
but they had no idea just how severe the mistreatment was,
and Nedson went on. Nate Pananc commented on the issue, saying,
evicted from their dorms because the rent wasn't paid and
foreign members have criminal records now because the immigration law penalties.

Speaker 2 (36:07):
How cruel is this.

Speaker 1 (36:08):
For gongog Sognan. Another wrote criminal records because of the
immigration laws.

Speaker 2 (36:12):
That sucks.

Speaker 1 (36:13):
I used to think gonwog Souna had a lot of potential.
I wish the best for the members. Just the fact
that the members ended up with a literal criminal record
says a lot about how horrible the situation is. The
industry experts have come to the conclusion that it's common
for idols and trainees to be neglected in mistreatment without
getting any support from the agency, like.

Speaker 2 (36:31):
In gungwog Sonan's case.

Speaker 1 (36:32):
With the rise of girl groups in K pop in
the late two thousands, after the debut of Girls Generation
and Wonder Girls, who became highly successful, small and medium
sized agencies started popping up and debuting their own groups
with the hope of reaching the success of their seniors.
Because the auto market has expanded so much, and because
so many groups have debuted every year, these girl groups
are expected to reach success in a short period of

(36:53):
time after debuting. If they failed to do so, they
won't receive any additional investments from the company. This will
make employees these agencies one after another, to the point
that only the singers who are under exclusive contracts are
still with the company. However, the way these companies are
more focused on making group after group and the hopes
that one of them will become successful, rather than invest
in a single group and treat them right, is truly disturbing.

(37:15):
What's even more disturbing is that lately, it seems like
most idles and groups who are under small companies are
filing lawsuits and revealing the horrible things that the companies
made them go through. It's terrifying that, even though we
have a small idea of what's happening, we'll never know
just how mistreated these idols are until these stories come out.
One good thing about all of this is that they're
breaking free from their companies and the South Korean legal

(37:36):
system is taking a step into the right direction when
it comes to the payment of idols and the rights
in the industry.

Speaker 2 (37:41):
It's even a good thing.

Speaker 1 (37:42):
That the Wave of Music didn't trademark any of the
stage names of the members or even the group name itself,
So if the members' contracts get terminated, the golmog Sunyam
members have the chance to continue promotions under the management
of another company and under the same name. Let's hope
that these cases encourage other groups to come forward with
their stories and put an end to them treatment of
idols and when it comes to mismanagement. One company's downfall

(38:04):
revealed just how deep the mistreatment really ran. Blockberry Creative
went from one of the most respected companies in the
industry to one that's making headline after headline over there incompetence.

Speaker 2 (38:14):
But what are the things that caused their tragic downfall?

Speaker 1 (38:16):
People started noticing the red flags of Blockberry Creative once
it was revealed that the company was going through a
severe financial crisis. In September of twenty twenty one, Sports
World published an exclusive report saying that Blockberry Creative was
dealing with a financial crisis. Sports World had spoken to
several industry insiders who revealed that the company had failed
to pay its due wages and payments to a few
external companies and outside employees who they had previously hired

(38:40):
to work with the Luna members. The media outlet claimed
that many of these outside employees, like stylists and people
who were important when it came to the production of
Luna's music, had worked for months without monetary compensation. The
outside employees were at some point order to halt all
work due to Blockberry's failure to pay them. The unpaid
wages also accumulated to several one hundred million Korean one
but this also included employee taxes, insurance, and other owte expenses.

(39:04):
Sports World sources did say that the company was currently
working on fixing everything up, but they said that it
wouldn't be easy for BlackBerry to get back on its
feet soon. When the news broke out, Netisen's weren't surprised
in the slightest about the revelation. Ever, since Blockberry Creative
lost three point five billion one in the investment lawsuit
against Donuts, the company's financial troubles were known by basically everyone,

(39:24):
adding on to that that the agency paid millions of
dollars for Luna's pre debut project, which lasted eighteen months,
knowing that there was no real way for them to
get their money back since the group hadn't even debuted
yet and sales of the solo albums could barely cover anything.
A fan of the group wrote, they have a video team,
but they make the members edit their own videos. The
group has been promoted for three to four years and

(39:44):
they've still yet to be paid. You is currently out
there on her feet doing her best to get the
group's name out there while the company heads are out
playing golf. A few days after sports World were Poor,
gim Way Jung, Luna's choreographer, spoke up about not being
paid a single cent by the company for the work
that she did. She pos stood a screenshot of an
article about Lockberry Creative's financial situation and wrote, please check

(40:04):
the fund report and deposit the fees please. She also
said that she kept working with the company because of
the Luna members who were diligent workers. The choreographer also
stated that she wasn't paid even before the promotions for
Luna's paid the town, but she worked on the choreography
because the company had promised to pay her in August
or September. She concluded her caption by saying, let's not
make things complicated, please deposit the payments starting from the

(40:26):
choreography for the past Japan promotions. Amidst the whole situation,
fans called back to an episode of World as You
Want To, which was released on September seventeenth, when she
was asked, what are you okay with paying for these days?

Speaker 2 (40:38):
She responded with no, not yet and smiled. Since Chuo
was active.

Speaker 1 (40:41):
In various activities like solo advertisements, variety shows, and her
YouTube channel, the revelation that she hadn't been paid despite
being so busy was shocking. In June of twenty twenty two,
it was reported that Chu had filed a lawsuit against
the company to terminate her contracts since she wasn't getting
any payment for her advertisements and was also getting a
lot of schedule rules to the point that she was overworked.

(41:01):
Lockberry Creative then had to come out and deny any
rumors regarding the lawsuits, saying that they were groundless. But
it didn't end there. Cho openly spoke about not getting
paid by the company, making fans even more worried when
Chu appeared on an episode of Doctor O's Golden Clinic
in October twenty twenty two, where she opened up about
her binge eating disorder. She said that she used to
eat excessive amounts of extremely spicy food, which had caused

(41:23):
her to go to the er multiple times. When she
was explaining her eating habits, Cho also shared that she
wasn't paid all that much in twenty twenty one. According
to her, the reason she started to binge eat was
because she simply didn't have enough money to eat what
she wanted. She said, to be honest, I didn't make
any income last year. Even when I wanted to eat
different things, it would cost too much and that became
stressful for me. What I decided to do instead is

(41:45):
order one big spicy meal and eat it all in
one sitting. Fans were outraged at the revelation, accusing BlackBerry
Creative of overworking too and then ripping her off, wondering
how she wasn't paid a single cent despite all of
her endorsements and shows that she had been on. A
second Luna member had all also revealed the lack of
income that she had received during the years the group
was active. In September of twenty twenty two, when yeal

(42:05):
Jane was chatting with fans on fab she was asked
whether she was rich or not. Yalgene answered that she
wasn't because she hadn't received any money from the company
ever since Luna made their debut.

Speaker 2 (42:14):
The group debuted with.

Speaker 1 (42:15):
The song High High in August of twenty eighteen, even
though the group had been releasing songs ever since early
twenty sixteen, which means that the Luna girls have been
working hard for six years and under bad conditions without
getting paid a single cent for it. Idol's not getting
paid for their work for the first few years of
their career is pretty normal in the industry, but they
weren't getting income for six years, even though that they
had worked through injuries and illnesses and constant mistreatment from

(42:38):
the company. Speaking of mistreatment, nobody knows just how bad
Blockberry Creative is at treating their artists better than two
who has been a public victim of their carelessness. Ever
since she started getting more popular and getting booked to
more schedules, it seemed like Blockberry Creative were no longer
able to manage her properly. Add to that, the fact
that she had sued the company probably made them petty,
so they slowly started removing her from group schedules. She

(42:59):
was absent from the Luna the World concerts and sold
due to conflicting schedules, which fans were devastated about. She
also didn't participate in Luna's Japanese second single, Luminus, and
Luna's first concert, Luna the World in Tokyo due to
predetermined personal schedules. This further confused fans, who were puzzled
at how the company was insisting that she was still
a member and yet she was absent from every single activity.

(43:20):
The fact that Luna were overworked was also emphasized during
their first world tour.

Speaker 2 (43:23):
Twenty twenty two had been pretty busy for them. In general.

Speaker 1 (43:26):
They had the Lunaverse concert, were participating in Queendom, had
multiple comebacks, including a Japanese one, and the tour seemed
to be the straw that broke the camel's back. She
was announced to be absent to no one's surprise, and
Teddy also had to take a break and rest for
the European leg of the tour due to health problems.
She hadn't been feeling well even before the tour started,
and the packed schedule didn't help in the slightest Kicking
the tour off in North America, the members had to

(43:48):
perform almost every day before moving to Europe and Japan,
with little to no time to rest in between the shows.
They had schedules even on the days that they were
supposed to rest. As they showed up to kikon La
performing only with ten members, Hustle was also seen with
a shoulder strap due to her shoulder pain that came
because she was performing NonStop. Yelgine also collapsed on stage
during Luna show in Mexico City due to the high altitude,

(44:10):
but also from lack of rest. Now, considering all this,
we think that Chu was getting treated any better, but
that wasn't the case whatsoever. On top of the fact
that she wasn't getting paid whatsoever, Chu was also dealing
with other mistreatments from the company side. Not only was
she running from schedule to schedule, but she also wasn't
getting support from the agency in any way. A fan
site master of Cho especially pointed out the way that

(44:30):
the company was treating her, or rather mistreating her. The
fansite master said that Chu hadn't been accompanied by a
manager to her solo schedules since May, and because of this,
she had been taking taxis to all of her schedules
and carrying her own luggage. The fan site clarified that
the manager hadn't been busy, the company simply just didn't
care about Chow. They also said that on the day
Luna had filmed for Weekly Idol, the other members left

(44:51):
work in the company van while Chu had to take
a taxi, and said that this had happened every single
time Cho had individual schedules. The hair and makeup expenses
were also all paid by Chwo herself. Fans were suspecting
that the company and Chew didn't have the best relationship
because of the lawsuit and all the rumors that she
would be leaving the company, but they at least were
expecting to to be taken care of. Hell broke loose
once Blockberry Creative announced that Chu had been removed from

(45:13):
the group, but the reason why shocked the public to
the core. In the statement the agency posted on November
twenty fifth, they claimed that Chu had been mistreating staff
and used hurtful language towards staff. They also said that
this had been going on for some time, but the
company and the Luna members refrained from saying anything about it.
Despite the fact that Blockberry Creative made serious accusations, they
didn't provide any evidence to support them. You can guess

(45:35):
that this blew up in their faces spectacularly. Not only
did the fans not believe anything that the agency claimed,
but the supposed mistreated staff and basically everyone in the
industry came to her defense. Everyone from fellow Luna member Hyunjin, photographers,
writers and staff from various recordings brands, and even send
Me herself came to choose defense, sharing their lovely experiences
with her and calling the company's claims ridiculous. A person

(45:58):
claiming to be a Blockberry Creative employee also share the
constant mistreatment the employees and members had gone through because
of them. They wrote a string of tweets saying that
they had forced the members to perform when they were sick,
coming to a point when they were constantly vomiting. The
alleged former employee also said that the staff members were
made to work long hours, that the male staff would
go to work drunk, and that the young trainees were
lashed and screened at. The members were also reportedly blamed

(46:20):
for the financial troubles the company went through, and the
higher ups even allegedly manipulated a female staff member into
working extra hours, making her late to her own to
see sister's funeral. With all this, it came as no
surprise when it was reported that nine Luna members had
filed an injunction to terminate their contracts with the company,
despite the fact that they claimed that the members were
aware of choos alleged mistreatment. Blockberry Creative deny the claims,

(46:42):
but we've seen that they have a tendency to deny everything,
whether it's true or not. In response to people asking
about proof, they also claimed that it falls on Cho
when the staff members involved, to provide the proof, even
though that they were the ones who made the accusations.
But with more people speaking up, who knows who else
will reveal Blockberry's dirty laundry, especially since Cho said that
her side of the story will come out very soon

(47:02):
since their only source of income seems to be Luna.
With the members gone and their reputation getting tarnished, beyond fixing,
Lockberry Cretive will go under sooner. Than we thought, But
that wasn't the last time fans would witness just how
badly a company could treat its artists. The media outlet
JTBC recently made a shocking revelation that an unnamed girl
group member faced severe mistreatment at the hands of her CEO.

(47:23):
While the idol's identity wasn't disclosed, many fans believe it's
ga Un from Maiden, sparking worries for her safety. Fans
started to get a sense that something was off on
November tenth, as they noticed ga Un had unfollowed one
four to three Entertainment ceo removed Maiden from her Instagram
bio and deleted all her posts. It's safe to say
that this sudden move surprised many, especially since there were

(47:44):
no prior signs of issues within the group. This led
to fans sharing plenty of theories online. Some believed she
might be leaving the group, as wiping traces of Maiden
from her social media could indicate such a decision. As
one Twitter user put it, the CEO part didn't really
raise any flags for me, but the fact that she
removed the group name from her bio is not a
good sign. Others suggested she could be going on a

(48:04):
hiatus rather than a permanent departure. However, many urged caution,
reminding everyone not to read too much into Instagram activity
as a reliable indicator of what's happening with gauw Un
or Maiden. It was also pointed out that she still
followed the group's official Instagram and all the members, so
many fans didn't see this as a reason for concern.
Just a day later, one four to three Entertainment posted

(48:25):
a statement on their Twitter account announcing that g Un
would be going on hiatus due to health reasons. According
to the company, she had visited the hospital for health
reasons and was advised to rest, so she made the
decision to take a break for a while and focus
on getting better. In the meantime, Maiden would continue promoting
with six members as expected. Fans rushed to wish got
Un a speedy recovery, asking the company to take good

(48:46):
care of her. After all, with how demanding the industry
is in its very nature, it's no surprise that idols
have to take breaks for health reasons, so nobody thought
much of it, that is, until November twenty second. On
this day, JTBC aired the newest episode of Scandal Supervisor,
in which they discussed the case of a fifth generation
female idol who was an alleged victim of predatory behavior

(49:07):
by the CEO of her company. The idol shared a
recorded statement with JTBC where her voice was altered to
keep her identity hidden. The trouble reportedly began when the
idol invited her boyfriend to the dorm to hang out.
This led to significant issues, and to make things right,
she apologized to the company and even offered to leave
the group if the CEO wished her to do so.
Instead of responding directly, the CEO suggested that if he

(49:29):
were to grant her a wish, then she should grant
him a wish as well. The wish in question for
the member to be his girlfriend, if that wasn't alarming
and disturbing enough. The CEO also asked the idol if
he could kiss her, but didn't wait for a response
and forcibly kissed her. She described how he pushed his
tongue into her mouth despite her resistance, and then licked
her neck and ears. The idol explained that she tried
to shield herself by keeping her hands in front of

(49:51):
her private parts, but the CEO ignored her resistance. He
moved her hands away and touched her inappropriately for two hours,
despite her repeatedly telling him to stop. The idle then
revealed that she agreed to the CEO's request, assuming it
would be something ordinary like sharing a meal or watching
a movie. She also wanted to stay with her group
on stage until her departure, fearing what he might do
if she didn't comply to his request. However, the date

(50:13):
was anything but normal. The CEO locked the door to
his office, kept touching her repeatedly without consent, and forced
kisses on her. The alleged victim revealed that she constantly
said that she wanted to get out of the situation,
but her pleas remained unheard. A lawyer representing one four
to three Entertainment responded, claiming that the girl group member
chose to stay with the group and agreed to be
the CEO's girlfriend for a day as part of her decision.

Speaker 2 (50:35):
The lawyer also.

Speaker 1 (50:36):
Mentioned CCTV footage showing the two in a car, insisting
nothing non consensual occurred despite the CEO's claims. The idol's
parents were invited to meet him, where he admitted to
making a mistake. Refusing to hold back, they allegedly confronted him, saying,
you have been watching over our children with ulterior motives.
Haven't you seen a lot of late night movies with
female idol. The CEO denied their accusations, claiming they only

(50:57):
went to the movies once. However, the parents argued that
their daughter had no choice but to follow his demands
and reminded him that she was still a miner. At
this point, the CEO shifted his stance. Initially dismissing the
situation as a misunderstanding, he began apologizing. Instead, he assured
the parents he would step down as CEO and avoid
contact with the group's members, which was the least he

(51:18):
could do. However, even these commitments seemed shaky. The CEO
cited technicalities, explaining that his resignation wouldn't allow the group
to disband due to obligations to the company's stakeholders.

Speaker 2 (51:28):
Additionally, he admitted that.

Speaker 1 (51:29):
Stepping down wouldn't truly separate him from the group, as
he would still oversee their activities from behind the scenes
despite no longer holding the CEO title. The company also
brought up Korea's Children in Youth Act to argue that
the member hadn't been a miner at the time of
the incident. To explain, in Korea, the definition of a
minor varies. Civil law considers anyone eighteen or younger as
a miner, while the Children in Youth Act defines a

(51:51):
miner as someone seventeen or younger. So the agency went
on to claim that under the Children in Youth Act,
the IDOL involved was not a miner during the incident.
As expects, did the CEO and the company broke their promises.
Just days after meeting with the parents, he was seen
watching the group perform, but when confronted again, he.

Speaker 2 (52:07):
Said he would leave.

Speaker 1 (52:08):
Then two days later, he flew with the members to Japan,
even sitting next to his alleged victim. JTBC reported that
the IDOL, along with the other members were in shock,
with the alleged victim visibly shaking in fear throughout the flight.
Things took a turn for the worse when JTBC reported
that the agency put the member on hiatus after the incident. Meanwhile,
the CEO attempted to convince the other members that the

(52:30):
alleged victim was actually at fault, trying to manipulate them
into believing.

Speaker 2 (52:33):
The wrong person was to blame.

Speaker 1 (52:35):
An informant repeated what the CEO told the girls, which
was apparently, if this becomes public and the company closes
or gets damages, do you know how much you have
to pay in reparation? Do you want to continue with
the group or not. Despite all that had happened, the
legal representative for one four to three Entertainment continue to
argue that nothing non consensual occurred between the CEO and
the idol. Instead, they claimed the IDOL was responsible for

(52:57):
causing tension and controversy in the group. They agnore knowledge
that the CEO hugged her, but argued it was simply
to comfort her when she wanted to keep working with
the group, insisting it wasn't inappropriate or non consensual. The
parents spoke out as well, telling scandal supervisor that the
CEO had committed a crime and that their daughter was
the actual alleged victim. JTBC didn't reveal who the member

(53:18):
was as they had altered her voice and blurred the
background video that was shown during the segment, but people
still managed to figure.

Speaker 2 (53:24):
Out who it was about.

Speaker 1 (53:25):
Twitter users in particular identified the video as Maiden's UNO
performance at M Countdown. The things that were revealed during
the episode also made people believe that the member in
question was go un due to the fact the alleged
victim had also gone on a health related hiatus out
of nowhere. The fact that she even unfollowed the CEO
on Instagram led people to think that there was some
truth to these speculations.

Speaker 2 (53:45):
The day after the.

Speaker 1 (53:46):
Report aired, one four to three Entertainment issued a statement
denying any misconduct or misuse of power between the member
and the CEO. They explained that the hotel incident actually
involved the member spending time with acquaintances, not in the
way the report suggested. The company also claimed that JTBC
relied on inaccurate accounts from people unrelated to the alleged victim,
calling the issue unfounded and apologizing for any concern caused. However,

(54:10):
the public remained skeptical and found it difficult to trust
the company's response. One detail in the company's statement caught
particular attention the mention of a hotel incident.

Speaker 2 (54:18):
This raised eyebrows, as.

Speaker 1 (54:20):
JTBC's coverage never brought up anything about a hotel making
people believe that at this point they were basically telling
on themselves. Additionally, a Twitter user pointed out how outrageous
the statement was, highlighting that the company essentially admitted the
report was about the CEO through this post. They also
acknowledged much of it was true, but claimed it was
misinterpreted and dismissed it because a whistleblower was involved, implying

(54:41):
an employee would lie without any reason. Fans were also
outraged that the statement blaming the alleged victim, not the CEO,
was posted on Maiden's official accounts instead of the company's account.
The situation got a lot more concerning when fans noticed
that Gatwun's official Instagram account liked the statement and had
refollowed both the CEO of the company account. This meant
that the same people that are being accused of misconduct

(55:03):
seem to have control of the alleged victim's account, which
could be incredibly dangerous. Fans have also recalled Maiden member
me You, mentioning in the past that the CEO frequently
confessed to her.

Speaker 2 (55:12):
With the latest.

Speaker 1 (55:13):
Information coming to light, many now view this behavior as
unsettling due to everything that's going on.

Speaker 2 (55:18):
Both fans and non fans.

Speaker 1 (55:20):
Are urging a total boycott of the group and its agency,
asking others to unfollow both and avoid their content. They
want to send a clear message no support or revenue
will come their way unless the CEO faces the proper
consequences and leaves the company. For now, all we can
do is hope Gatun is safe, surrounded by people who
care for her and will support her.

Speaker 2 (55:37):
Through everything that's happening.

Speaker 1 (55:40):
And long before these stories came to light, another group's
tragic journey set the tone for how devastating this pattern
could be.

Speaker 3 (55:46):
When it comes to K pop idols. Fans like to
assume that they had a good time when they were
promoting and that they felt comfortable and safe while doing so,
But the members of Stellar had their own stories to share,
and sadly, they all sound like horror tales. Steller went
through several lineup changes before they even debuted. Originally, they
were supposed to have six members, but ended up with
four Gay Jung Jan Yule and ex Honeydew members Lisel

(56:08):
and Joah. The group, which was formed as a collaboration
between the entertainment Pascal and shinhwas Eric made their debut
in August of twenty eleven with the single Rocket Girl,
but it wasn't successful. They did gain some attention because
they were a group produced by Eric, but this attention
didn't translate into sales, so their debut went under the
radar early on in their career. Precisely after Rocket Girls

(56:29):
promotions were over, Lisel and Joah left the group for
unknown reasons and they were replaced by members Minhi and
Hiyo Yun. Their first comeback with the new lineup, Ufo
had the same fate as their debut. In fact, UFO
did even worse since the attention they got for being
the group produced by shinhuas Eric lost any power, causing
the group to take a break. At the time, fans

(56:50):
were fearing that the company would announce their disbandments since
their first two singles did horribly, but the entertainment Pascal
wasn't ready to let them go, at least not yet.
In July of twenty thirteen, Stellar released their third single,
titled Study, and it did as well as you would think.
The song did manage to chart in the top one
hundred for the first time since their debut, but it
still wasn't enough for the group and it wasn't getting

(57:10):
any better. The company was being faced with a difficult
situation too, and the fact that the comebacks were failing
didn't help. Eric also left, leaving only the girls, the CEO,
and the manager. At some point, the members didn't have
any money for transportation or meals, having to share a
serving of food among the four of them. They were
so broke that they had no money to spend on
any outside activities and couldn't even afford to sit at

(57:31):
a cafe. The situation made the members feel humiliated, with
Guy Young explaining, we'd get so embarrassed when the van
of another celebrity would pass us by, we used to
hide our faces. Taking into consideration all of this, the
management and the team decided to change everything up. After all,
it was their last chance, so they decided to put
everything on the line. So they chose to steer away
from cute concepts and spice it up a bit more,

(57:53):
a route we've seen many second generation girl groups take
when things are hanging by a thread. According to Minhi,
in the position they were in, nobody had the luxury
to think about what would come after. If Marionette was successful,
they would continue promoting as a group. If it failed,
they would disband. The members were leaning more towards the
second option. This wasn't your typical racy concept though, but
it got the recognition that the company wanted for the group.

(58:15):
It was negative attention, but it was attention. Nevertheless, the
comeback announcement was made by releasing their first official teaser photos,
where the members can be seen wearing revealing lingerie and
interacting with the camera in a flirtatious way. The company
also made a quote unquote game on the group's official
Facebook page. This so called game involved fans liking the
Facebook page to reveal photos of different body parts of

(58:37):
the members. The caption of the post read, we will
need appa's help to reveal our Marionette. The more likes
our page gets, the more you will see of the
Marionette's charming looks. As you can see, the whole concept
was really messed up. When it came out, the comeback
wasn't received well. The music video and the choreography for
Marionette was considered too much, and the group was heavily
criticized for changing their concept. As the saying goes, though,

(58:59):
bad marketing is more marketing and Marionette became their top
selling single, reaching number thirty five on the Jayon chart
and number thirty four on the Billboard k Pop Hot
one hundred. It also became their most watched YouTube video
at the time, even though it had more dislikes than likes.
When Marionette came out, the members were too young and
inexperienced to grasp some of the references their company pressured

(59:19):
them into incorporating in their videos. For example, when filming
the milk drinking scene, the members thought that it was
only to portray a morning scene, as the director literally
told them that in the scene, they wake up and
feel thirsty, so they will drink milk. Janiol the member
who was filming the scene, drank the milk normally, but
the staff insisted that she spills the milk while drinking.
Since the staff members didn't specify why, Janiole believed she

(59:41):
was spilling the milk to portray the character's vulnerability, but
the members were completely shocked once they read comments like
this scene can make you imagine a certain act, believe
it or not. Jan Yule, who was only twenty at
the time, was so hurt that the company tricked her
like that to the point that she hasn't been able
to drink milk since then. But that's not all. Since
the company didn't want them, the buzz that Stellar got
from Marionette to fizzle out. The group made their comeback

(01:00:03):
with Masks six months later. In this comeback, the members
addressed all the hate they got from Neticins. The lyrics
talk about how they were willing to experiment with an
image that they weren't entirely comfortable with, and how the
public ignored them until they started doing more mature concepts
and just like Nedicins had asked, the outfits weren't revealing,
the choreography wasn't provocative, and the music video was pretty normal,

(01:00:24):
yet they received no attention for the song. In March
of twenty fifteen, Fool was released, but this period started
feeling a lot like their rookie years. They were putting
out good music, but due to all the competition with
the other groups that were promoting at the time and
the lack of scandalous aspects of it, it was mostly
going unnoticed. But at the same time, the members of
Stellar were not fond of the sensual concept imposed on

(01:00:46):
them by their company, so they explored alternative ideas. In
twenty sixteen, they released Sting, which showcased a more girlfriend
like concept. The band explained that they chose to portray
themselves as girlfriends rather than provocative figures, so they opted
for lighter makeup to create a stronger connection with a
broader audience. As you might have guessed, Sting didn't do
well either. This is when the company really started showing

(01:01:08):
their ugly side. Because their comebacks kept flopping, The company
started controlling the members images more. If they tried to
stand up for themselves, they would be hit with fees
and penalties. And if you remember, they didn't even have
enough money to go to cafes before Marionette. They were
also young at the time, so all they could do
was lower their heads and follow orders. In this situation,
one where they weren't earning any money, the entertainment Pascal

(01:01:29):
knew they had to shake up the public, and that's
how Vibrato came to be. At this point in their career,
already having tasted stardom, Stellar were made to feel a
bit desperate themselves. Johniel said, we wanted to get Stellar's
music out there when we didn't have skin exposure nobody
even knew we released a new song. If it's not provocative,
there is no response. The entirety of the Vibrato era,
from the photo shoots until the last day of promotions

(01:01:51):
was a nightmare for the members. The members recall being
given the infamous red outfits during the photoshoot and being
told by the company that they had to dance in them.
Immediately refused, saying that it would be impossible to perform
with clothes that short and revealing, leading to the agency
urging them to just try on the clothes and making
the girls believe they were being unreasonable by refusing without

(01:02:11):
even trying. Ultimately, they agreed and the agency took five
photos of them, but the members' opinions remained unchanged. The
outfits were too much Guy Youong recalled. They seemed to
agree and told us to change, but those photos were
released as expected. The girl's complaints were brushed aside, with
the agency promising them they wouldn't do it again, but
it was too late. The photos were out and the
members were getting called every derogatory name in the book.

(01:02:34):
The members even felt like they'd brought shame onto their families,
as Stellar weren't being associated with good things. If the
parents were asked what their daughters were doing, they would
mention that they were in a group called Stellar, but
when you would search them up, only controversial pictures would
come up. Guy Young also mentioned that they found themselves
in situations where they received sponsorships and explicit photos through messages,

(01:02:55):
owing to their reputation as an R rated group.

Speaker 2 (01:02:58):
She also got.

Speaker 3 (01:02:59):
Trauma, saying I hate looking at my legs in my flesh.
I didn't recognize the trauma, but I've been doing it
since some time ago. It only went downhill from there.
The group experienced more lineup changes, but the members seemed
desperate to get out, with fans noticing multiple signs of
distress from them, in addition to the members looking miserable
and uncomfortable while promoting. In July of twenty seventeen, Guyjung

(01:03:19):
posted a tweet on her personal account, saying, it's been
three weeks since we've made a comeback, So why do
I have to keep worrying about the production of our album.
I only want to focus on our performances. What made
it more worrying is that Hu Yun and Minhi replied
to the tweet with I just feel numb now and
every day as a battle. According to a fan statement,
during Stellar's time in Japan, the girls started crying multiple

(01:03:40):
times during their performances. The fans said that they expressed
feeling excessively exhausted, both physically and emotionally. As they still
had remaining time on their contracts and the agencies controlling Nature,
the girls felt compelled to comply with any demands imposed
by their company. One of the most disturbing things that
came out of this thing was when the members indirectly
asked for help on live tele when they were on

(01:04:01):
show Champion and the camera went around filming everyone on stage.
The Stellar members signaled seos on stage. The chilling thing
is that they're smiling throughout the whole thing, and even
though the company managed to delete most videos of the incident,
it's a memory that can't be erased from the fans' minds.
Do you want to know something that will make you
even more angry about this whole thing. The members were

(01:04:21):
paid very little from their debut until their disbandment in
twenty eighteen. During a Q and A session held on
Minhi's channel, Gay Young shared that over their seven year
run as a group, each member received only nine thousand dollars.
Let's just hope that we never hear stories like this again.

Speaker 1 (01:04:35):
What do you think can be done to improve the
condition of idols? Share your opinions down below in the
comment section, and don't forget to like, subscribe and hit
the notification bell to discover more about the dark secrets
of the K pop industry.

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