JTBC’s News Room recently announced that BTS has filed a lawsuit against BigHit Entertainment after disputing about profit division between the group and the agency.
BigHit immediately denied the claims, but later followed up with a more in-depth response to the rumors. They first revealed that after reading the reports, they confirmed the facts with BTS and the members’ parents.
They all agreed on the company’s statement and opinions about the matter.
The agency’s opinion was agreed upon by BTS and BTS’s parents.
After reading the reports, we proceeded to confirm with the BTS members and their parents. It was revealed that the parents visited a law firm located in Kangbuk two months ago to ask about some issues regarding the exclusive contract (video content business related information). Their visit did not proceed any further, and the law firm also did not formally give them legal advice.
— BigHit Entertainment
BigHit emphasized that ever since the beginning, they have always encouraged the members and their parents to seek professional advice from external sources whenever it came to their relationship with the agency.
…Since the past, our agency has always encouraged BTS and their parents to actively seek external advice from accountants, lawyers, and more about finances, settlements, and the law. This is because BTS’s value continues to grow each day, so we believe it is important for BTS as a group, or the members as individuals, to seek external opinions.
In accordance with this, our agency and BTS have an important partner relationship, and we recognize that disagreements can occur at any time. We are resolving any and all issues through active discussions and will continue to do so regardless of the level of seriousness.
— BigHit Entertainment
BigHit recognizes that BTS’s growth rate has reached unprecedented heights and continues to grow rapidly, so they make sure to take extra care when it comes to fulfilling a contract with the members to make sure that all parties are satisfied with their agreement.
As for the contract renewal last year, our agency and BTS recognized each other as equal partners. Knowing that BTS’s value was increasing at an astronomical rate, we knew that the contract renewal can not be a simple process. BTS and we held a lengthy discussion about the contract renewal and came up with the best contract in the whole industry.
— BigHit Entertainment
Lastly, BigHit Entertainment pointed out the flaws in JTBC’s reporting methods. They revealed that JTBC barged into the restricted sections of their agency building and took unauthorized videos to use in their reports.
They claimed JTBC exaggerated small issues to cause a drift between the agency and the members, and demanded that they apologize for their unethical journalism.
JTBC did not confirm the facts before releasing their reports, but instead exaggerated the information. Not only did they link our agency to unrelated events, they showed reporting methods that questioned if they were a company that emphasizes the correct standards of journalism.
They came to our agency without notice and began to question us one-sidedly without giving us any background explanation. No one is allowed inside specific parts of our agency building without authorization, but they came into our building without permission and filmed footages of the inside to use in their reports. They must have recognized it could be problematic, so they deleted the part where they secretly filmed our building before uploading it online.
— BigHit Entertainment
Despite JTBC’s reports, BTS and BigHit have confirmed that their relationship remains stronger than ever. BTS revealed that they are currently preparing to drop their new album in the “near future”, and reports claim it will be released sometime in mid-February of 2020.
Read BigHit Entertainment’s full statement below:
Hello, this is BigHit Entertainment.
We want to announce our company’s stance on JTBC News Room‘s report made by announcer Choi Soo Yeon, and the report written by Lee Ho Jin, titled “Thought Hallyu Has Changed But… Unending ‘War Against Agencies’ Why?” that were released yesterday (December 19) at 8pm.
The agency’s opinion was agreed upon by BTS and BTS’s parents.
Before we reveal our personal opinions on the matter, the agency, BTS, and the members’ parents can’t help but ask why JTBC announced this kind of news.
Just as we had responded to JTBC Im Ji Soo reporter’s request for a statement, the contents of their reports are untrue. Currently, neither BTS nor BTS’s parents are considering taking legal actions against us. We are unsure what exactly the reports are referring to when they claim that there is an issue between BTS and the agency in terms of the profit division, but we are currently discussing with BTS about an issue that has no affect on our exclusive contract. If they are referring to this issue and exaggerated it to seem as if there was a dispute, then they’re far from the truth.
We have responded to the reports in individual categories as listed below:
1. “BTS sought legal advice from a large law firm due to a dispute about profit division with their agency, and the agency is preparing a legal response.”
This isn’t true.
After reading the reports, we proceeded to confirm with the BTS members and their parents. It was revealed that the parents visited a law firm located in Kangbuk two months ago to ask about some issues regarding the exclusive contract (video content business related information). Their visit did not proceed any further, and the law firm also did not formally give them legal advice.
Since then, our agency and BTS have been continuing our discussion regarding the issue, but it is not true that a dispute stemmed from this issue as the report had stated. Especially, the contents in question are just one of the many projects underway between our agency and BTS. Even if a problem does arise, it is only a sub-section that cannot affect the contract as a whole.
Thus, the reports that claim BTS are preparing to take legal action with our company after a significant issue was not resolved well are completely false. Instead, they sought legal advice and are currently discussing it with our agency. JTBC reported the claims without getting all of the facts in order.
Additionally, since the past, our agency has always encouraged BTS and their parents to actively seek external advice from accountants, lawyers, and more about finances, settlements, and the law. This is because BTS’s value continues to grow each day, so we believe it is important for BTS as a group, or the members as individuals, to seek external opinions.
In accordance with this, our agency and BTS have an important partner relationship, and we recognize that disagreements can occur at any time. We are resolving any and all issues through active discussions and will continue to do so regardless of the level of seriousness.
It is not true that BTS or their parents are looking to take legal actions against our agency due to limiting situations, so we have to ask why news reports claimed it was so.
2. “BTS began to have issues with their agency ever since last year when they were preparing to renew their contract. They were unable to resolve the issue, so they’ve decided to take legal actions against the agency.”
This is not true.
BTS has not currently taken legal actions, such as ‘lawsuits’, in regards to the profit division included in the exclusive contract. They made it seem as if BTS and our agency are in a serious battle over their exclusive contract by using negative expressions, such as ‘contrasting opinions’ and ‘disputes’. We are very regretful that they tried to encourage a conflict between us through their reports.
As for the contract renewal last year, our agency and BTS recognized each other as equal partners. Knowing that BTS’s value was increasing at an astronomical rate, we knew that the contract renewal can not be a simple process. BTS and we held a lengthy discussion about the contract renewal and came up with the best contract in the whole industry.
3. Problems Regarding The Connected Reports And Activities
After the reports about our company, a news article, titled “Thought Hallyu Has Changed But… Unending ‘War Against Agencies’ Why?“was soon released. We want to express our deep regret that our company was made out to seem as if it were linked to other entertainment agencies and their problems.
JTBC did not confirm the facts before releasing their reports, but instead exaggerated the information. Not only did they link our agency to unrelated events, they showed reporting methods that questioned if they were a company that emphasizes the correct standards of journalism.
They came to our agency without notice and began to question us one-sidedly without giving us any background explanation. No one is allowed inside specific parts of our agency building without authorization, but they came into our building without permission and filmed footages of the inside to use in their reports. They must have recognized it could be problematic, so they deleted the part where they secretly filmed our building before uploading it online.
We have CCTV videos of how JTBC gained the videos they initially used in their reports and how they entered our building without authorization. As much as the freedom of press should be protected, our company believes the press should also abide by the rules while reporting a story. In that regard, we plan to raise concerns separately about JTBC’s reporting behavior.
No matter what JTBC’s intensions were with their reports, they caused damage to our company and BTS by releasing false reports, reporting exaggerated claims as if it were fact, and linking the issues of other agencies that have nothing to do with our company.
We believe that JTBC did not abide by even the minimal principals with the recent reports, and we request JTBC to sincerely apologize and respond to the issue.
Thank you.
Sincerely, BigHit Entertainment.
— BigHit Entertainment
