While JBJ95 won the lawsuit and successfully terminated the group's exclusive contract with Star Road Entertainment, the court ordered that JBJ95 is primarily responsible for the breach of contract and will have to pay hefty fees.

On October 21, the trial to check the validity of the exclusive contract between JBJ95 and Star Road Entertainment that JBJ95 filed against the agency and the lawsuit for damages the agency filed against JBJ95 was held at the 12th Civil Division of the Seoul Western District Court.

The court ruled that the exclusive contract between JBJ95 and Star Road Entertainment is no longer valid but added, "Kim Sang Kyun should pay 220 million KRW (~152,291 USD) to Star Road Entertainment, and Takada Kenta should pay 665 million KRW (~460,335 USD) to Star Road Entertainment for damages."

Kim Sang Gyun and Takada Kenta will be responsible for 70% of the cost of the total litigation fees (the sum of the main lawsuit and counterclaim). The remaining 30% will be paid by Star Road Entertainment.

JBJ95 officially debuted in the music industry with the first mini-album 'HOME' in October 2018 after Mnet's survival 'Produce 101 Season 2,' which aired in 2017. So far, the group has released a total of 6 singles or albums and held concerts and fan meetings, but has not been active after the 4th mini-album 'JASMIN' released in October 2020.

JBJ95 filed a lawsuit against Star Road Entertainment in March last year to confirm the invalidity of their exclusive contract after claiming that "the agency did not fulfill its obligations to support entertainment activities."

According to the ruling obtained by Newsen on October 24, the court stated, "The evidence submitted by the plaintiff (JBJ95) alone is insufficient to show that the defendant (Star Road Entertainment) breached the contract and was unable to complete its obligation to support the group's entertainment activities. Therefore, the plaintiff's argument in this part is without merit."

The court further stated, "The defendant is a small entertainment company with 4 employees and a total capital of only 75 million KRW (~52,000 USD), despite this knowledge, the plaintiff still signed an exclusive contract with the defendant in a situation they were able to clearly recognize the company situation. It is seen that the plaintiffs were able to fully understand that the small company could face difficulties in operation due to financial struggles and they signed the exclusive contract with this in mind."

The court elaborated, “The defendant’s finances deteriorated sharply in 2020, but at that time, the entertainment industry suffered extreme difficulties due to the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, which made performances difficult. It is acknowledged that support for entertainment activities has not been carried out as in the past since the second half of 2020, but in light of the facts and circumstances, it is difficult to conclude that the defendant failed to fulfill their exclusive contractual obligation to support the group's entertainment activities."

The court found that Star Road Entertainment did not neglect the members and stopped JBJ95's entertainment activities but made its own efforts to continue their activities.

The basis for this judgment is that the company planned various activities such as concerts and performances - they signed an offline performance-related contract in March of last year and hired a company to bear the cost of preparing for the performance, and they also prepared an online concert in April of last year. The court took into consideration the fact that promotion and advertisement for JBJ95's activities would have taken place naturally if these activities have been carried out as planned. The court saw that JBJ95 refused to do so, nevertheless. The court also took into consideration that Star Road Entertainment hired external managers for JBJ95's activities in situations where there was a shortage of workers, but JBJ95 refused to work with eternal managers. When JBJ95 refused to work with external managers, the agency representative and the director of the company offered to accompany the group on their schedules. Additionally, the court saw that the agency provided support to the group, such as hair and makeup, skin care salons, and fitness facilities, before the company's financial difficulties.

With the court ruling that JBJ95 pays for the legal fees, fans and netizens are concerned about whether the two idols will be able to pay the hefty litigation fees. They commented, "This is so bad," "How will they pay for all that money?" "How can boys born in 1995 pay for all that?" "The court is so harsh," "Did they not have a legal representative in this case?" "I heard Star Road Entertainment CEO is a former lawyer," "This is so unfortunate for the boys," "This is so much money they have to pay," and "This is so crazy.."