Excerpts Of Former Girls’ Generation Jessica Jung’s Novel “Shine” Resurface Amid EXO-CBX’s “Slave” Contract Claims
On June 1 (KST), EXO‘s Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen stunned fans and netizens with the announcement they would be suing SM Entertainment to terminate their contracts.
According to a Yonhap News report, the members asked for a full accounting of their activities and the revenue produced since March, but SM Entertainment has yet to provide them. The members released a complete statement detailing all of their grievances with the company, in addition to an apology to fans.
We apologize to the fans for causing concern, we are deeply sorry.
Although we are currently in a legal dispute with SM, we will choose a gracious path to settle our differences so as not to create concerns for fans.
We are currently, at this moment, very scared and in fear, but we have decided to raise our small voices about the mistreatment we have received.
We hope that you will be interested in our story and our struggling courage. We would like to sincerely thank our fans who have supported us for so long. Thank you so much.
— Lee Jae Hak
One of the grievances listed in the statement is the extremely long contracts the EXO members signed. According to the announcement, the artists originally signed contracts lasting twelve to thirteen years, much longer than the standard seven dictated by the Fair Trade Commission.
In addition, SM allegedly has artists preemptively sign contract extensions, bringing the total number of years under contract to at least seventeen to eighteen years. Lee Seung Gi recently exposed his company for keeping him under a “slave contract” like the above.
According to fans online, this revelation about EXO-CBX’s contracts was already hinted at by a past SM Entertainment artist — Jessica Jung.
Jessica Jung was a member of GIrls’ Generation from her debut until her removal from the group in 2014, leaving the company just a year later. It was initially said that it was to pursue her fashion career with her brand BLANC & ECLARE.
In addition to her fashion, Jessica pursued several other avenues, including the much-anticipated release of her first novel, Shine. About a young Korean-American joining the K-Pop industry, Jessica has confirmed that the depictions found in the book are “based on experience.”
Now years later, an excerpt from Shine has begun recirculating online after the recent revelations from the EXO members.
On a page from the novel, the main character asks another about their contract length, and the other bitterly explains how DB Entertainment, the fictional label in the book, controlled her career.
Somewhere in a bank in Switzerland, in some secure vault, are the three-year extension contacts DB forced the rest of Electric Flower and me to sign the same day we signed our original contracts. Postdated, of course, so everything will hold up in court.
— Excerpt from Shine by Jessica Jung
The character also mentions how the company attempted to make everything her fault, similar to SM Entertainment’s statement that accused another company of trying to poach the trio and denied the trio’s listed complaints.
As Jessica’s novel is so closely related to her own story, some fans have shared this to support EXO-CBX’s claims, stating the former girl group member tried to shine a light on this issue.
Jessica Jung said pic.twitter.com/tFavqi5rrW
— Ri 🎂 418 (@hyori_sunie) June 1, 2023
"They'll fucking ruin you and make it seem like you're the one who destroyed yourself. Look at me. My career is over." – Jessica Jung.
this is happened, Sm make jess in a difficult position, they created an opinion that jess was the one who destroyed everything 🥺 https://t.co/n5M9OczHDc
— JJ (@Jesstie418) June 1, 2023
The way SM has fucked over so many of my favorite artists for years…. https://t.co/vX0NYcTulX
— Elle (@Megawarrior345) June 1, 2023
