4th Generation K-Pop Group Announce Legal Action Against Their Company Through Bubble

All but one member are involved.
News
Koreaboo

Recently, eight members of the K-Pop boy group NINE.i shared news of a legal dispute with fans.

IMG_5575
NINE.i | @NINE_i_Firstone/X

NINE.I debuted as a ten-member group in 2022 under FirstOne Entertainment with the release of their first album, New World.

The group made one comeback before it was announced that three members, Seowon, Jiho, and Winnie, would go on hiatus to participate in Boys Planet. Winnie would return to a hiatus due to a shoulder injury, ending with his departure from the group in January 2024.

On March 14, all members except Eden shared a message through Bubble, announcing their legal dispute with the company, stating that their current promotion activities would be unaffected and apologizing to fans for the news.

IMG_5574
| Bubble

Hello, everyone, we have a sudden announcement for i.ENIN.

Eight members of the group (Jewon, Minjun, Vahn, Vari, Seowon, Taehun, Joohyoung, Jiho) are currently involved in a legal dispute with FirstOne Entertainment.

First, we apologize for sharing this difficult news with i.ENIN, who have always given us so much love.

We know that NINE.i exists because of i.ENIN, and that the happy memories received from i.ENIN have been a great source of strength for us. We will not forget this gratitude and will do our best for both i.ENIN and NINE.i in our future activities, as long as our conditions allow. We also want to assure you that the relationship between the NINE.i members is the same as always.

In addition to this, all NINE.i members intend to continue our current promotions in Japan without any changes.

After thorough discussions, our dearest Eden-hyung has found it difficult to join this dispute. However, we will do our best alongside Eden-hyung to stay by your side, i.ENIN.

We are worried that our decisions might hurt i.ENIN, but we hope you can trust our strong will and wait a little longer for us. We apologize for bringing you such difficult news at the start of the tour.

— NINE.i members

In December 2023, fans of NINE.I began an email campaign criticizing the company on several issues, including members’ injury-related hiatuses, non-stop activities in Japan, and a lack of Korean promotions.

FirstOne Entertainment has yet to release a statement.

Next Page
Scroll to top