The Seoul Central District Court has sided with former Momoland member Daisy over her lawsuit against MLD Entertainment. Although she just partially wins, the agency will finally give her unpaid earnings.
The SCDC declared MLD had to pay Yoo Jung Ahn, Daiy's real name, 79,260,000 KRW or $66,382. However, the court did not agree to her request to get another 10 million KRW for additional damage.
MLD launched its new girl group, Momoland, in July 2016, after the success of its reality show "Finding Momoland." Though Daisy was eliminated during the show, she joined the group in April 2017 after signing with the music label in September 2016.
At the time, MLD deducted about 66 million KRW from her earnings, saying she should pay for the show's production cost. The series' total production cost was, reportedly, evenly divided among 10 contestants, AllKpop noted.
Daisy, then, sued MLD for withholding part of her earnings for the cost that was incurred before she signed the contract. So, the court agreed with her claims.
"Contract is effective since the signed date unless otherwise specified," it explained. The deal even had the word "pre-debut," which referred to when the complainant signed the contract to the actual debut date.
It also stressed there was no "evidence beyond reasonable doubt" to prove that this had been a usual practice in the entertainment industry. With that said, the court also ordered MLD to pay Daisy another 13 million KRW that it had yet to pay the artist.
Alternatively, MLD took its legal action against Daisy for falsely accusing it of "manipulating the member selection process," per Korea Times. Everything began when the singer claimed "Finding Momoland" was "fraudulent."
In an interview with KBS in September 2020, the rapper accused the agency of deceiving the viewers by manipulating the votes. She even exposed that the company had already asked her to join the group even after she was eliminated from the final round.
At the time, she revealed MLD told her not to worry about her future as it had a plan for her. Daisy, then, claimed it collected money from the group's members for the program's production cost.
Later, MLD released an official statement, denying all of her allegations. It revealed the show's finalists failed to secure 3,000 audience votes to mark their official debut, which eventually led to the series' fall. It also explained that Daisy got the call because the CEO saw her potential, so she received an offer to stay.
