Spire Entertainment Reportedly Changed All Passwords On OMEGA X’s Fan Cafe So That Members Could Not Access It
Content Warning
Spire Entertainment reportedly blocked all OMEGA X members’ communication with FOR X (OMEGA X’s fans) on their fan cafe by changing the passwords.
In an exclusive report for Kyunghyang, it was confirmed that Spire Entertainment blocked each OMEGA X member from accessing their official group fan cafe, “OMEGA X Official Fan Cafe,” by changing passwords.
In August, OMEGA X were seemingly banned from using their social media. After that, the group carried out their tour of North America, 2022 OMEGA X WORLD TOUR [CONNECT: Don’t give up], which was also fraught with issues. Still, the members kept FOR X (fandom) updated with daily posts on the group’s shared Twitter account.
After the tour wrapped with OMEGA X’s final show in Los Angeles, FOR X reported witnessing the members being verbally and physically abused by Spire Entertainment‘s CEO, Kang Seong Hee. SBS News also released a video showing Kang Seong Hee both verbally and physically abusing OMEGA X leader Jaehan, who appeared to be having a panic attack. Such attacks toward the members continued at their hotel, and additional witnesses reported more instances of mistreatment.
SBS News shared a clip of OMEGA X's Jaehan who was seen having a panic attack and the CEO yelled at him: “Stand up. Stop being a K-pop idol if you're always sick like this.”
DANG! These boys deserve better protection from this kind of CEO!pic.twitter.com/qkrYpzp6z0
— BL Update (@BLUPDATE2022) October 24, 2022
Not only did additional witnesses report witnessing even more instances of mistreatment, but OMEGA X were stranded in Los Angeles as many staff left for Korea while the members’ plane tickets were canceled. It was reported that they were forced to pay for their own flights back to Korea (some with their parents’ help), which are priced on an average ₩975,000 KRW (about $675 USD), and they have since safely arrived in Korea on October 25.
We realized that the seats we originally booked could lead to the members sitting mixed with fans. So we talked about potentially canceling the tickets from three days ago. It is not true that we left the members behind on purpose.
— Spire Entertainment
OMEGA X has finally arrived at the airport in South Korea#OMEGA_X #오메가엑스 pic.twitter.com/VJ1bEkIs0n
— ΩX ia #PROTECTOMEGAX (@omgxupdates) October 25, 2022
Despite OMEGA X consistently posting daily on social media, the members have been unable to do so as they were seemingly put on a social media ban again. No member has posted since Xen shared selfies immediately following the final concert on the group members’ account, thanking their fans for attending the concert. The post was made on October 22, 11:45 pm PST.
[#OX]
마지막까지 고마운 포애기들 🫶🏻#OMEGA_X #오메가엑스 #젠 #XEN pic.twitter.com/YpIp98gtOO
— OMEGA X (@OmegaX_members) October 23, 2022
It appeared that OMEGA X member Sebin might have shared a photo of himself via the official Twitter account for SNUPER, which he is still a member of, to reassure his fans. All OMEGA X members were previously in other K-Pop groups. SNUPER is technically not disbanded but instead currently inactive as four of SNUPER’s six members are completing their military service.
Some fans believe one of his fellow SNUPER members might have shared it. Regardless, it has since been deleted.
oh they deleted the post :( pic.twitter.com/xe5QHVWimM
— 제현 (@j6hyun) October 25, 2022
If all this didn’t make FOR X sure that Spire Entertainment had enforced yet another social media ban on the members, they created a new Instagram account to communicate about the recent situation with FOR X (OMEGA X’s fandom) in November. The members made the account regardless of the memorandum they signed that stated they would have to take “civil and criminal responsibility if uploading to social media without the agency’s consent.”
Hello. We created this small communication space to convey the current situation regarding the issues that have happened to us and to thank the fans who love and support us. According to Spire Entertainment, we have all signed a memorandum stating that we will take civil and criminal responsibility if uploading to SNS without consulting the company. We ask for your understanding that although we wanted to communicate with the fans as soon as possible, we had to be very cautious.
We have had happy times since our group activities but also had to endure some painful times. When our situation became known to the public, we were worried that what we had achieved so far would be in vain. But now we have put our fears behind us and decided to be brave.
The eleven members have decided to get back up and not give up on our dreams and take this as our second opportunity. The driving force that allowed us to challenge ourselves and stick to our plans was the fans who waited, believed, and supported us. It was because of our fans that we were able to survive two years.
Although there were days when we wanted to cry because the agency was mistreating us, remembering our fans’ shouts and reading your messages before going to sleep was the only strength that kept us going.
From now on, we will continue moving forward toward our dreams as we always have. We will stand in front of our fans again with good music and performances. The eleven members have the same goal, and the fans have the same dreams as us, and it is something that is the most precious to us that we don’t want to lose again.
We apologize for the delay, and we know that many people have been worrying and waiting for us. Thank you for reading the truth that we took the courage to post. Thank you. From OX. #오메가엑스 #OMEGAX #PROTECTOMEGAX
— OMEGA X
Now we know that this was OMEGA X’s attempt to reach FOR X after Spire Entertainment broke all access to their social media accounts. Kyunghyang reported that “Spire Entertainment, having all the members’ personal information, changed the password of each member’s personal account on the fan cafe without any notice.” Some of the OMEGA X members attempted to get their passwords back after they were changed and succeeded.
221201
재한 601
휘찬 532
세빈 481 (+1)
한겸 549
태동 542
XEN 216
제현 520
KEVIN 588 (+1)
정훈 541
혁 568
예찬 498회원수 8967
— OMEGA X 공카 방문수 (@OMEGAX_cafe) December 2, 2022
OMEGA X’s fan cafe had been being used as a means of communication for the group and their fans. FOR X have sent messages of support for the members daily, knowing they were going through a difficult time.
omega x i am so so worried about you boys but i hope looking into fan cafe that you seen an overwhelming amount of love and support. omega x and forx is forever. you’ve done so amazing and have grown so much. i’m proud of you. keep being strong. #PROTECTOMEGAX #HearOmegaXVoice
— kassidy #PROTECTOMEGAX (@bananakassii) October 25, 2022
Since Spire Entertainment operates the official fan cafe, the company restricted the communication. It was done so via an ID that members usually use too.
Yet, this act by Spire Entertainment could result in imprisonment for the guilty party as personal information was stolen. Attorney Jang Hyuk Soon of the law firm Eunyul said, “If you break into a communication network without permission or steal other people’s information, you may be sentenced to imprisonment for up to five years or a fine according to Article 71 of the Information and Communications Act.”
OMEGA X held a press conference on November 16, revealing the verbal, physical, and psychological abuse as well as sexual harassment they faced at the hands of CEO Kang. Although she allegedly resigned from her position on November 8, the members had reason to doubt due to her relationship with Spire Entertainment’s Chairman, and sure enough, it was recently revealed that she holds another position at the company.
Additionally, OMEGA X is pressing charges against Kang, applied for termination of their exclusive contract with Spire Entertainment (the interrogation date will be held on the 7th), and have applied for all related trademarks to their group and fandom.
OMEGA X To Press Charges Against Former CEO And Apply For Termination Of Contract
Spire Entertainment has since posted a statement, claiming that the password changes on the fan cafe were due to new management and that “communication will be resumed immediately.”
Spire posted a statement on the fancafe that the password change was because of the new management of the fancafe and that communication "would resume immediately". #OMEGA_X #오메가엑스#PROTECTOMEGAX pic.twitter.com/qsLHh0ukTU
— Omega X World Wide #PROTECTOMEGAX (@OmegaXworldwide) December 2, 2022