The girl group Fifty Fifty, riding high on their hit "Cupid" which has swept both US Billboard and the UK Official Charts, is in the midst of a controversy as their management alleges an outside entity's attempt to poach its members and publicly points the finger at Warner Music Korea.
On June 26th, Fifty Fifty's agency, Attract (CEO Jeon Hong-jun), stated, "Recent investigations into attempted member poaching by external forces have led us to believe that an outsourcing company and Warner Music Korea are implicated."
Attract sent a formal notification to Warner Music Korea that day, capturing evidence of the outsourcing company making an offer to Warner Music Korea to acquire the girl group Fifty Fifty from Attract.
An Attract representative asserted, "We have already captured tangible evidence of blatant attempts to illegally poach members of Fifty Fifty," and demanded a "clear explanation and a statement of position from Warner Music Korea."
Previously on the 23rd, Attract issued an official statement alleging that external forces had approached Fifty Fifty, causing a ripple in the music industry. Attract claimed that "these outside forces have been confirmed to approach our artists and entice them to violate their exclusive contracts with us. They engage in illegal activities to induce our artists to dismiss valid contracts and sign with them, through defamation against our company and sugar-coated lies about themselves."
Earlier, Attract announced on the 23rd that one member is in a 1 to 2 month recovery period after surgery, during which time the remaining members were given a break. In particular, the agency noted, "During this period, we have been fully prepared to significantly expand and improve our existing system to better support our artists. Our fundamental policy is to pursue the long-term growth and development of our artists rather than immediate short-term gains."
Attract lamented, "While we are preparing so diligently, we have confirmed the presence of external forces approaching our artists and enticing them to violate their exclusive contracts with us. Such actions of the external forces seriously trample on the pure love of the fans, can greatly damage the image and future prospects of the artists who have only debuted seven months ago, and can even have a serious negative impact on K-pop as a whole."
Especially, Attract emphasized, "While we cannot contain our anger at the illegal actions of malicious external forces trying to snatch away this incredible miracle accomplished by a small and powerless agency, we will respond coolly and firmly, fighting to the end with these external forces without any compromise, to hold them legally accountable."
Fifty Fifty entered the 'HOT 100' on the US Billboard main chart and the UK Official Chart Top 100 just about four months after their debut, setting numerous global records. They thus earned the titles 'miracle of a medium-small idol', and 'girls of records'. The member's recovery period due to surgery, and the alleged presence of forces enticing breach of exclusive contracts, has drawn sympathy during this challenging time.
