4 Times K-Pop Idols Made Heartbreaking Confessions About Their Companies
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While there are plenty of great companies in K-Pop, there are also lots of companies that have mistreated their artists. Throughout the years, more and more idols have been coming out and revealing the mistreatment they suffered due to their companies. Here are four times K-Pop idols made heartbreaking confessions about their companies.
1. Former U-KISS member Alexander revealing that he got kicked out of the group
Alexander debuted as a member of U-KISS in 2008 but ended up “leaving” the group in 2011. During a recent interview, he revealed that he was actually kicked out of the group by his company.
We were doing a lot of overseas events, and I was helping with that. I even taught them how to use Twitter and with promoting our stuff. But then they came to me and said, ‘We’re thinking of swapping out some members. How about you join the overseas team instead?’ I knew they were just trying to kick me out.
— Alexander
Alexander also shared that an employee at the company even tried to give him a reason why he should leave the group.
An employee told me, ‘Think about it, Alexander. Where do you think you rank in terms of popularity in Korea? You’re not popular.’ I was young at the time, so I just agreed.
— Alexander
While Alexander did leave U-KISS and the company on good terms, the company ended up lying about the reason why he “left” the group.
The agency stated that I left the group because I wanted to go back to school.
— Alexander
2. Former Yellow Bee member Ari speaking on the abuse the members dealt with
Yellow Bee’s agency, Addiction Entertainment, recently announced that the group was going to be disbanding due to a member having a “rather slutty lifestyle“.
But with member B carrying on her rather slutty lifestyle, plus the other members being unable to come to an agreement, we’ve decided that the group cannot stay together.
— Addiction Entertainment
However, this ended up confusing a lot of netizens, and it caused them to question the company’s statement. Former member Ari soon released a statement and refuted the claims made by Addiction Entertainment. In her statement, Ari revealed that the members were sexually harassed multiple times by employees at the company.
It wasn’t the member who was promiscuous, but rather the agency.
There were acts of sexual assault by an employee and manager of the agency.
And that employee even dragged a member away to a practice room and tried to engage in sexual relations, and on top of that, everybody was there when it happened, but it was only the members who tried to stop her from getting dragged away.
They also told us to call them ‘oppa’ and touched our thighs, and a former manager even said, ‘Let’s go to a motel so I can give you a baby’ and ‘But it’s up to you to find the father.’
— Ari
Ari also revealed that the company never helped Yellow Bee during activities and that the members were the ones who had to pay for everything
Also, we didn’t have any money, and we even took care of our own clothes, shoes, and video editing.
And when we had to go to Japan for our activities, the CEO said he was the only one available to drive us to the airport for our 5 AM flight, and once he got us there, he gave us a card and told us to buy the tickets ourselves and fly over to Japan.
We had never bought plane tickets before, and only our leader had a phone so we used that to make multiple calls and managed to buy our flights.
— Ari
3. Former The East Light member Lee Seokcheol revealing the physical abuse the members went through
In 2018, Lee Seokcheol revealed that he and the rest of the members of The East Light were the victims of assault and abuse by their company.
Lee Seokcheol revealed that the members got beaten every day with different objects, such as baseball bats, mic stands, and iron bar mops. The members ended up getting assaulted for various reasons, such as making mistakes during practice. Lee Seokcheol even provided photos showing some of the damages done to his body due to this abuse.
4. Gugudan’s Sally revealing that the company told all the members to never return
Sally recently made a shocking statement when she shared that in 2019, her agency, Jellyfish Entertainment, told all the gugudan members to go home and never return.
At the beginning of 2019, my agency told me to go back home. When I asked them when I should come back, they told me there was no need to come back.
— Sally
Sally also shared that some of the members tried to resist, but they were ultimately unsuccessful. An official statement was never made by Jellyfish Entertainment, and due to their lack of activities, many fans fear that gugudan has disbanded.
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