EXO members (from left) Xiumin, Baekhyun, Chen. Image: Twitter/@weareoneEXO
EXO’s Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin have denied SM Entertainment’s claims of “external forces” allegedly persuading them to end their contracts with the label, saying they are adults who can “think for themselves.”
The EXO members, also known as sub-unit EXO-CBX, made headlines after deciding to end their exclusive contracts with the label last June 1, where they cited lack of pay, illegal slave contracts, and failure to provide settlement data or payslips despite following up for seven times since March 21 of this year.
Despite this, the South Korean label refuted the EXO-CBX’s claims, and alleged that a third party is trying to poach its artists and start conflict between their acts and the company.
In a follow-up statement via their lawyer, the K-pop idols told Korean media last Friday, June 2, that SM’s third party claim is “false information” that’s meant to “mislead” public opinion.
“[We] feel very distressed after seeing SM’s official statement that keeps talking about an external third party. [We] feel especially distressed as it seems to clearly show the perspective that SM views the artists with,” they said, according to a Soompi translation.
EXO-CBX then stressed that they are “adults who can think for themselves and take responsibility” in their own decisions, as they pointed out that they experienced doubts in the handling of their career for 10 years.
“[We] are definitely adults who can think for themselves and take responsibility for their own decisions, and they are individuals with independent thoughts and judgments,” they said. “[We] have felt some doubts for a decade, and they mustered up fearful and difficult courage with the thought that the questions they couldn’t dare bring up as rookies should at least be brought up now.”
“[We] are clearly human beings who can make decisions for themselves and take action for themselves. [Our] decision to find their rights such as requesting settlement data was made by themselves after long deliberation and deep thought, and it is definitely not due to the intervention of an external influence,” they continued.
The EXO members also stated that they didn’t attempt to sign other exclusive contracts with different labels, as they were signed with SM at the time. They also noted that they have the right to view their settlement reports since it was stated in their contracts with the agency.
“It’s [our] legitimate right to request settlement reports according to their exclusive contracts. And the artists took action after the legal representative provided legal consultation on their legitimate rights. For SM to claim that ‘the artists suddenly started making claims as soon as their legal representative changed’ upon the artists’ action is no different from telling them to never exercise their legitimate rights,” they said.
The K-pop idols then stated that they’re doing their best to find ways to continue activities with EXO, even if they depart from the agency.
“[We] are seeking ways to faithfully continue EXO activities together with the other members even if [we] terminate their exclusive contracts with SM. In fact, during the process of negotiation prior to this termination of [our] exclusive contracts, [we] preemptively proposed ideas to continue EXO activities even if [we leave],” they said.
Despite the legal battle with SM, EXO-CBX expressed its gratitude to fans for showing support “for a long time,” as they maintained that they want to remain as members of the group.
“Aside from the issue of resolving the legal relationship with SM, [we] are sincerely and deeply grateful for the great love and support that fans showed to EXO for a long time. No matter how the legal issue gets resolved in the future, [we] will continue their activities as EXO diligently and whole-heartedly,” they said.
Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin debuted as members of EXO in April 2012. They also made their debut as the sub-unit EXO-CBX in October 2016.
The K-pop idols also released solo music throughout their career including the hit songs “Everytime,” “UN Village,” and “Brand New,” by Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin, respectively. EDV
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