Girl group FIFTY FIFTY, which suffers from disputes with their agency, will be restricted from activities in the second half of this year.
They were expected to meet overseas fans, but all plans went awry.
It was reported on July 5th that FIFTY FIFTY will not be able to attend the “KCON LA 2023” held in Los Angeles, California, USA from August 18th to 20th.
Initially, FIFTY FIFTY was expected to attend the “KCON LA 2023” event, a festival that promotes Korean cultural contents such as K-pop and K-dramas to the world, but the plan failed due to problems with the agency.
The agency Attrakt made an official statement on the same day, saying, “FIFTY FIFTY will not be able to attend due to internal circumstances of the agency. We apologize to the fans and the organizers who have been preparing for the local performance.”
They added, “We look forward to solving the (recently raised) problems smoothly so that FIFTY FIFTY can stand on stage soon.”
This performance was not the only one that failed.
It was predicted that it would be difficult for FIFTY FIFTY to attend the concert celebrating the 140th anniversary of UK-Korea Relations in London, England in mid-November.
On the same day, Joy News 24 quoted a broadcasting official and reported, “FIFTY FIFTY planned to participate in the UK-Korea Relations 140th anniversary London concert hosted by KBS, but it was canceled due to recent disputes with the agency.“
In an interview with the media, this official regretted the failure of FIFTY FIFTY’s performance, “It’s common for ordinary concerts to introduce new singers as the second lineup after introducing headliners (main performers). It was very unusual to recruit a new girl group less than a year after their debut, reflecting FIFTY FIFTY’s hot popularity in the UK.”
The four-member girl group FIFTY FIFTY, which began their activities in the music industry in November last year, gained huge popularity with their first single “Cupid” released in February this year.
They entered the US Billboard Hot 100 chart 134 days after their debut, becoming the fastest K-pop group to enter this chart. Last May, they topped the Billboard global chart and became the first K-pop girl group to be listed on the “UK Official Chart 10”.
In addition, they topped music charts in countries such as New Zealand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and India.
When FIFTY FIFTY was on a roll, they suddenly came under fire for disputes with their agency Attrakt.
This problem surfaced on June 23rd. Attrakt revealed “External forces attempted to poach the members” and claimed that The Givers, an outsourcing company (external producing team) that was involved in FIFTY FIFTY’s birth, approached Warner Music Korea, a large agency and overseas distributor, and tried to sell the group. They also sued these two companies.
On the other hand, The Givers and Warner Music Korea are claiming that “It is groundless” and stating, “We suffered defamation and obstruction of business due to Attrakt’s spread of false information” and “It is very regrettable that unsavory suspicions have been raised.”
Controversy intensified as FIFTY FIFTY members filed an injunction against the agency to suspend the validity of the exclusive contract at a time when the sides’ positions were in conflict. The members are demanding the termination of the exclusive contract, claiming that the agency unilaterally pushed ahead with the schedule despite the deterioration of the members’ health and did not make the settlement clear.
As conflicts with the agency surfaced, FIFTY FIFTY is experiencing failures of schedules such as appearing in music videos and filming advertisements.
Source: Wikitree
