Krowdpop is at the center of massive controversy once again, with an insider leaking chat logs that show the company cannot afford to continue their EXID concert in Vietnam.
On November 4th, the company Krowdpop announced that they would be bringing EXID to Vietnam on December 10th. Over 5000 Vietnamese fans voted to bring the group to their country.
However, the event was quickly plagued with controversy and issues. Koreaboo reported on this story with an in-depth explanation as to the history of Krowdpop, it’s parent company KPOP UNITED and its association with company TGM Events.
Since then, Krowdpop has not released any statements on controversy or answered fans questions in a public forum. Banana Culture answered fans through EXID’s Official Facebook Page. The message was posted in both Korean and English:
[Notice] Hi, this is BANANA Culture Entertainment.
We’ve received lots of concerns about EXID’s first visit to Vietnam. We are well aware of the situation through thorough monitoring.
Therefore we spoke strongly to the concert organizers and are currently trying to come up with a new solution. Since this is EXID’s first visit to Vietnam and we hope the event to go well.
We will post another notice after we are settled with the condition.
Thanks for your support.
BANANA Culture EntertainmentPosted by Banana Culture on Wednesday, November 23, 2016
An insider has now stepped forward, revealing crucial information about the tour and the state of Krowdpop. The leaked information reveals Krowdpop’s CEO, Richard Choo, had hired his wife, Yeri Oh as one of the key employees in the company.
Yeri Oh has revealed in a group chat message to current Krowdpop Vietnam employees that, “I am aware of the situation that is going on. [..] We do not have the money to cover for the show.”
The insider’s post reveals that Krowdpop had a previous mass leaving of employees:
Yeri Oh’s missive exposes Richard’s irresponsible financial activity, his propensity for blaming his multiple failures on everyone but himself, psychological manipulation of his followers, disdain for his employees and partners, and blatant disregard for the fans.
On November 18, the Krowdpop Vietnam staff demanded that [Krowdpop CEO] Richard Choo take responsibility. Although this is the first time a KPOP UNITED production has been criticized publicly so harshly, Yeri Oh admits that things had “gone wrong” with previous shows, resulting in (apparently internal) “failure and loss” and a backlash against Richard Choo by the staff. “Every time something goes wrong for a show, all the staff puts the blame on Richard and they just leave the company,” she writes. “This has always been the cycle.” KPOP UNITED previously produced the 2014 Teen Top USA tour, and the 2015 “Unite the Mic” show in Canada.
The most revealing information about the tour and Krowdpop’s current state is revealed when Yeri Oh sends a group message to current employees.
Below is this message:
, D****, P*****, H***** and A*. I am aware of the situation that is going on. We do not have the money to cover for the show. By what said to me, you said this was Richard’s plan. But do you really think this was RICHARD’S PLAN all along?
Did Richard PLAN to not have enough money to run this show? No.
Did Richard PLAN for to do such a crappy job of our platform development and have the app fail on us for our first show? No.
Did Richard PLAN the confusion with TGM Events? No.
Did Richard PLAN this venue and all the unexpected fan anger? No.
What happened is what happened and he will try to find solutions to overcome all this unexpected mess.
Every time something goes wrong for a show, all the staff puts the blame on Richard and they just leave the company. This has always been the cycle.
I have been with Richard over 3 years now. And I’ve seen everything that happened to this company from Krowdpop’s very first show.
Richard has never scammed anyone or done anyone wrong purposefully. If he did, I would not be with him until today. I am still with him because I know the truth behind everything that has happened in this company. If not, am I crazy? Or am I dumb??
Even for TGM Events (which he has no relation to) he took the blame and did not say anything (until it started to have direct effect on our show). Banana verified this with the BTS manager and they even posted a support announcement on their official fan club that they verified everything from Korea and that fans were mistaken about Krowdpop. That’s how the TGM fume died down. )
And for our old developers who did bad things to Richard, and for all their damage to this company, he took all the shit and did not say anything.
, I know you do not want to take the blame for the venue. AND YOU WON’T. Richard will make sure you don’t have to take any responsibility for any of this. Neither will . Richard will put the full blame on himself. So don’t worry.
I know you all believe Richard to be a good person. This was why you had given him your trust and respect from the very beginning. What a person feels cannot be manipulated. You saw his good heart.
you said Krowdpop is a game? But what game are we playing?
you said this team is just a tool for you guys to control. But control for what? For failure?
The money was used upfront so that everyone at Krowdpop COULD GET PAID. (The payroll excludes Richard and myself)
Richard was only trying to keep his team paid and going so that we can get this show done. What GAME is in this?
If this was all RICHARD’S EVIL PLAN AND GAME then why is Richard playing a game that just gives him loss and failure?
Even our wedding savings went in to cover for your payroll in August. If Richard is playing A GAME then why am I making this sacrifice?
, you said Richard is calming everyone down during the weekends so we could make up stories by today. Huh?? . Seriously.
Richard will protect you first. NO MATTER WHAT. That’s all he cares about right now. So just give him a chance and put your imaginations on hold . You don’t need to kill Richard just so that you can live because Richard will die first so that you can live. Don’t worry.”
Looking further into the issue, Koreaboo was able to obtain a timeline of events that led to this moment by Krowdpop. Below is an excerpt:
September 2016: Krowdpop signed agreement to go with EXID. [Krowdpop CEO] Richard did not reveal that he doesn’t have the money to cover the payment or deposit for the show. The team was mislead into thinking that the company is financially healthy and had scored a big win.
This report will be released on Koreaboo in a longer story describing the mass corruption, financial abuse and unethical treatment of K-Pop fans found in certain K-Pop production companies. This report will be released in December 2016.
