Cube Entertainment Under Fire Again For Mismanagement Of BTOB Eunkwang’s Enlistment
Cube Entertainment is under fire once again due to the fact that they had only begun preparing for their artist’s army enlistment two weeks prior to the enlistment date.
On August 6th, it was reported that BTOB’s Eunkwang would be joining the military from August 21st and Cube Entertainment had released an official statement only after the news already broke out through the media.
Celebrities who are expecting to be drafted soon usually announce the news to fans beforehand and gradually put an end to their promotions. This was, however, not the case for Eunkwang.
BTOB-BLUE, the vocal sub-unit of BTOB that includes Eunkwang, recently made a comeback with their new song “When It Rains” on August 2nd.
Eunkwang was also added to the cast of the variety show Real Life Men and Women 2, which aired its first episode on August 10th.
The program showed a realistic side to Eunkwang as he lived alone without his members for the first time in 6 years since their debut.
Moreover, he took on the role of Amos Scudder in the musical, “Barnum”, which premiered on August 7th. He had originally been scheduled to perform until October, causing confusion and complaints among the audience, some of who had already reserved tickets to see the idol perform.
Numerous other concerts and fan meetings, as well as overseas schedules, were known to be planned throughout the latter half of the year.
And although his military enlistment was inevitable, some netizens have begun doubting the management skills of Cube Entertainment for not having prepared for the situation beforehand.
Even before the Korean military enlistment laws were changed on August 1st, Eunkwang was at an age (29 in Korean age) where he could be drafted at any time.
As a result, his future appearances on “Barnum” have been canceled and the remaining BTOB promotions will continue without Eunkwang, with some events being temporarily delayed.
“We notify that there has been an adjustment to the cast due to the personal affairs of the actors. We ask for your kind understanding.”
Those who are drafted in the military are generally given a month’s notice and therefore, if Cube Entertainment had taken the matter into their hands earlier, there would have been less confusion and chaos in terms of ticket reservations.
“If they had given notice even a little bit earlier, we could have bought more time for the ticket buyers to reserve tickets and prevented the no-shows. In this sense, the production company had been left with a needless inconvenience.” ㅡ Production Affiliate
Cube Entertainment has already been under fire by netizens and the media who have claimed that the agency “mismanaged” their artists during the outbreak of a series of relationship scandals and this incident has only damaged their image further.
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