2020 has seen the debut of some awesome rookies, from CRAVITY to Weeekly. However, it’s also seen the downfall of several groups that disbanded this year. These five K-Pop groups all broke up this year, and here’s what caused their disbandment.

1. X1

Without a doubt, X1‘s disbandment was one of the most shocking in K-Pop, and everything began with a voting manipulation scandal.

In September 2019, Korean police confirmed that the results of Mnet‘s Produce X 101 had been rigged. Reports originally alleged that the votes for 2 or 3 of the winning contestants were switched with those who were eventually eliminated. Later, investigative journalists claimed that 8 of the 11 members had their spots rigged.

At first, X1 continued with their scheduled promotions and activities. However, both legal issues and public pressure weighed down on the members and companies involved. The group met up with management CJ E&M in November to discuss their fates, with reports stating that some members did not want to continue promoting.

Eventually, on January 6, the members’ individual companies sadly released a statement saying that they had been unable to reach a consensus to keep the group together. As a result, X1 disbanded just four months after debut.

2. Yellow Bee

Girl group Yellow Bee debuted under Addiction Entertainment in 2017. In May 2020, the company announced Yellow Bee would be disbanding—but the reason why shocked everyone.

In their announcement on Instagram, Addiction Entertainment told fans that Yellow Bee would be disbanding because an unnamed member (referred to as “B”) had been leading what they described as 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

The announcement stated that the group had been preparing their third digital single album when the disbandment decision came, and that Addiction Entertainment had even considered the possibility of switching out all five members for new faces. However, they eventually decided that the group “cannot stay together“.

Unsurprisingly, netizens were shocked to see the company slut-shaming one of the members, calling their announcement petty and uncaring.

However, former member Ari later issued her own statement telling fans and netizens that the company staff were the only ones guilty of promiscuity. She claimed that several staff members sexually assault the members and acted inappropriately, traumatizing them.

There were acts of sexual assault by an employee and manager of the agency. 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.

— Ari

On top of that, Ari said that the company didn’t pay for any of the group’s necessities. The members paid for everything from video editing to styling to plane ticket on their own, and once had to manage their entire event in Japan without any staff.

3. NeonPunch

The most recent group to disband in 2020 is 5-member girl group NeonPunch. They debuted under A100 Entertainment in June 2018 and officially disbanded in August 2020.

Sadly, reports revealed that NeonPunch would be disbanding because of the COVID-19 pandemic. After the current situation left the agency facing management issues, members May and Dohee decided to stop their activities in April.

On a brighter note, the report also announced that remaining members Dayeon, Baekah (who ranked #12 on JTBC‘s MIXNINE), and Iaan would be re-debuting together later in August as part of a new trio group called XUM.

4. SPECTRUM

Another group to suffer the same fate as NeonPunch was Wynn Entertainment‘s SPECTRUM. This boy group debuted in May 2018 and disbanded in July 2020.

In their statement, SPECTRUM’s agency told fans that the COVID-19 pandemic, among other factors, had worsened the situation at Wynn Entertainment. As a result, they were forced to terminate their contracts with all 6 members of the group.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first tragedy to befall SPECTRUM. Back in July 2018, member Dongyoon tragically passed away at the age of just 20.

5. TREI

Banana Culture‘s TREI debuted as a duo in August 2017, adding a third member in May 2018. In June 2020, it was announced that they would be disbanding.

Fans had been speculating that the group would disband since they went silent on social media last year. The members didn’t reveal the reason behind their disbandment in their statements, but they implied that the decision was mutual.

Some fans have suggested that the members left because of Banana Culture’s management, especially since the news came shortly after all the members of their sister group EXID left the company too. As such, many are hoping that the trio will re-debut under a new company in the future.