At the beginning of June, K-pop artists from the EXO boy band Bakehyun, Chen, and Xiumin sued their agency, SM Entertainment, for mishandling their contracts. According to the young men’s lawyers, the group was asking their company for clarity over different payments made since March this year. In addition, they requested different working contracts, as allegedly, their agency attempted to have them sign “slave agreements” which spawned for twelve to thirteen years.
As of now, the legal conflict seems to have reached a favorable conclusion for both parties. In spite of no legal details being revealed to the media, the EXO members will remain under SM Entertainment and are going to continue with their promotional activities and music agenda as planned. Recently, the Korean company released a statement to corroborate the news.
We and the three artists had enough time to discuss all of our issues carefully. Through this, we are happy to inform you that we have been able to resolve all differences caused through many misunderstandings, and we have reached a mutually decided agreement. The agency and three artists would like to express our apologies to the fans as well as the EXO members besides the three artists and those who trusted and waited for EXO.
The company later went on to thank fans and supporters who have stood with them over the years. It also expressed its support toward the artists, so that they “can carry out promotional activities in new ways while fully showcasing each artist’s individuality.” In this line, EXO will keep promoting as a seven-piece group including Baekhyun, Chen, and Xiumin. They recently put out a new single titled “Let Me In,” with plans to release another single in coming weeks and a studio album on July 10th.