SM Entertainment has moved forward with a lawsuit against EXO members Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin.
It's been reported that the entertainment agency filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Eastern District Court on June 12 KST, demanding that EXO-CBX fulfill the obligations outlined in their previously settled contract.
A representative of SM Entertainment commented on June 13 KST, "It's true that a lawsuit has been filed against CBX. The matter will be dealt with according to the law."
Previously, Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin renewed their contracts with SM Entertainment in December of 2022. However, in June of the following year, the three EXO members filed for the termination of their contracts, claiming unfairness. A legal dispute unfolded for approximately a month, resulting in the three members coming to a settlement with SM Entertainment. It was agreed that the three would promote under SM Entertainment for EXO's group activities, while gaining freedom for their individual promotions under a new, independent label. During the duration of the settlement contract, 10% of all sales made by the new label would be paid to SM Entertainment.
Afterward, in January of this year, Baekhyun established his agency INB100, listing himself, Chen, and Xiumin as the label's artists. Then, earlier this week on June 10, CBX's side held a press conference to claim unfairness over the required 10% payment outlined in their settlement contract. Furthermore, CBX's side accused SM Entertainment of not paying 5.5% of all earnings from album sales and streaming, another clause outlined in the settlement contract.
In response to the claims by CBX's side, SM Entertainment refuted, "The receipt of 10% of all sales by the independent labels was a standard set by the court during SM Entertainment's previous lawsuit against the Chinese members of EXO, and therefore it is considered a reasonable payment based on precedents."
I think it’s bonkers to try to compare CBX and the Chinese members of EXO that left years ago. Should be interesting to see how this plays out.
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