Despite their success, Kep1er received unfair treatment from their agency, especially when compared to a male artist
Kpop girl group Kep1er, who debuted from the Mnet survival show “Girls Planet 999”, is a formidable rookie group of 2022, with great popularity and public recognition. However, fans of the group have been enraged over the mistreatment their idols suffer from, despite their outstanding impact.
On January 3, 2022, Kep1er officially debuted with their 1st mini album “First Impact” and the title song “WA DA DA”, setting various records. At the time, Kep1er was the best selling girl group on Hanteo with a debut album on the first day of release, and their MV, “WA DA DA”, also became the fastest to receive a RIAJ Gold certification in Japan.
With such successes, Kep1er was supposed to be favored by their agency, Wake One, but the truth turns out to be the opposite. In particular, fans of the group were enraged, as Wake One continuously neglected and treated Kep1er unfairly, especially when compared to TO1 – a boy group from the same company.
Fans pointed out that Kep1er had to take care of their own luggages at the airport, while TO1 received assistance from their staff. Moreover, Kep1er had to use economy class when they travel, while TO1 got to enjoy business class. The girl group also had to rewear numerous stage outfits in both domestic and overseas schedules.
Fans also called out the editing staff for making poor thumbnails for the group’s YouTube contents and asked them to put in more effort. Weekly YouTube contents are supposed to attract fans but Kep1er fans have been complaining about how the company is not doing a good job at making them eye-catching to non-fans. In addition, Kep1er’s official Instagram is still not verified yet despite having reached 3.2 million followers.
Moreover, the company caused disappointment with Kep1er’s debut MV “WA DA DA” because of how low-budget it looks. The MV set is said to not match the bright and energetic concept of the song, making it look “cheap”.
The peak of fans’ anger was when Yujin shared that Kep1er had to work without rest. Despite their hard work, the group doesn’t get the treatment they deserve.
Many fans speculate that the company’s mistreatment of Kep1er is due to the fact that Kep1er is only a temporary group. Their contract only lasts for 2 years and 6 months, so the company does not take good care of them and rather overworks them to make as much money as possible.
