FIFTY FIFTY Breaks Silence With Handwritten Letter To Fans

FIFTY FIFTY has personally spoken up for the very first time on their ongoing dispute with their agency.

On August 17, FIFTY FIFTY shared handwritten letters to their fans in both Korean and English. A representative of the group confirmed, “It’s true that the members personally wrote [the letters].”

FIFTY FIFTY’s full English letter is as follows:

Dear fans,

This is Keena, Saena, Sio, and Aran from FIFTY FIFTY.

We would first like to begin by apologizing to everyone who loves us for causing much concern.

We know that there are fans who believe in us and are waiting for us. And that is why the members of FIFTY FIFTY decided to put our hesitation aside and stepped up to share our position.

We also know that many of you are confused by the current media and press coverage. Misunderstandings and accusations have been snowballing. We were deeply shocked by this and have been going through a tough time.

Nevertheless, we believe there is a truth that needs to be uncovered despite these difficulties. And we have strong faith that our fans will understand us and support us even more when it is clarified.

The members of FIFTY FIFTY have received overflowing love and encouragement from our fans. We also have many people around us who have worked hard and helped us. We have never forgotten, not even for a single moment, how thankful we are to our fans and everyone who supported us. We would like to take it to our hearts and return our gratitude by working even harder in the future.

However, we first wanted to take this opportunity to right the wrongs that have been forced in our relationship with the agency. And to protect our music, we had no other choice.

So, after a lot of consideration, our members have decided to face this path. We will continue to move forward by making careful decisions to overcome the current confusions and difficulties.

It has been heartbreaking to see so many untrue stories being reported in the media articles and social media these days. Nevertheless, we have been careful about commenting on ending our exclusive contracts with our agency. This does not mean we admit or accept what has been reported in the media. We believed that taking this issue to court based on facts was the right way to solve the situation. We had hoped that the truth would be uncovered during the trial process and our right would be guaranteed. This is something we hope for even to this day. To realize that hope, we will continue to collect and submit materials and evidence based on facts. In doing so, we hope to clarify any doubts and misunderstandings. We sincerely hope that you do not make too much criticism based on false suspicions and misunderstandings and look at the facts objectively.

Right now, every one of our members is in this together, relying on each other to stand strong.

What we really want, however, is to carry out our activities as true artists in a trustworthy environment. Our members will do everything in our power to make this wish come true. We will do our best to come back in good shape and return our thankfulness to all of you who have been following us.

Thank you.

Back in June, FIFTY FIFTY filed to suspend their exclusive contracts with their agency ATTRAKT, and the court ultimately recommended mediation between the two parties. However, on August 16, the FIFTY FIFTY members informed the court that they had no intention to continue with mediation, meaning their legal dispute with ATTRAKT will return to trial. The following day, FIFTY FIFTY filed criminal charges against the CEO of their agency.

Meanwhile, ATTRAKT previously claimed that FIFTY FIFTY had been persuaded by The Givers CEO Ahn Sung Il (who was formerly in charge of producing FIFTY FIFTY’s music) to illegally violate their exclusive contracts with the agency. ATTRAKT also filed criminal charges against Ahn Sung Il and several other The Givers employees for fraud, breach of duty, and obstruction of business.

Although Warner Music Korea initially denied allegations that they had been involved in approaching FIFTY FIFTY about violating their contracts with ATTRAKT to sign with another agency, ATTRAKT later released an audio recording from May in which an executive director at Warner Music Korea asks ATTRAKT CEO Jeon Hong Joon about a 20 billion won (approximately $15.3 million) buyout that he had already discussed with Ahn Sung Il.

FIFTY FIFTY has filed a criminal complaint with the police against Jeon Hong Joon, the CEO of their agency ATTRAKT.

On August 17, FIFTY FIFTY’s legal representative—the law firm Barun—officially announced that the group had filed a criminal complaint against Jeon Hong Joon for “violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (breach of trust).”

Before ATTRAKT, the FIFTY FIFTY members were originally signed to Jeon Hong Joon’s previous company Star Crew Entertainment, though they later transferred to ATTRAKT ahead of their debut. Reiterating an argument the law firm previously made in court, Barun made claims about specific financial issues stemming from funds and debts being transferred back and forth between the two companies.

The law firm’s full statement is as follows:

On August 17, 2023, FIFTY FIFTY (Keena, Saena, Sio, Aran) filed a criminal complaint against ATTRAKT CEO Jeon Hong Joon on the charge of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (breach of trust) at the Seoul Gangnam Police Station.

It came to light that CEO Jeon Hong Joon used the advance payment Star Crew Entertainment originally received from their album distributor for unknown expenditures, then nominally included it under girl group investment costs, meaning that ATTRAKT took on the financial obligation of that advance payment, and FIFTY FIFTY’s digital music and album revenue is being used to pay off this debt.

Additionally, it was confirmed that ATTRAKT had the advance payment of 2 billion won (approximately $1.49 million) that needed to be received from FIFTY FIFTY’s album distributor deposited to Star Crew Entertainment, not ATTRAKT.

The above act is a crime that falls under commercial breach of trust by causing financial damage to ATTRAKT.

Up until now, the agency [ATTRAKT] has consistently evaded responsibility by making light of FIFTY FIFTY’s request for provisional disposition [to suspend the validity of their exclusive contracts] as complaints about the payment of their earnings. However, the FIFTY FIFTY members’ [grievances] about ‘the agency’s delay in providing statements on their earnings, missing revenue, and violation of their settlement obligations’ go beyond mere complaints. Therefore, as long as CEO Jong Hong Joon, who has committed breach of trust through embezzlement and misconduct in financial accounting, remains in charge of ATTRAKT, they can no longer maintain their exclusive contracts with their agency ATTRAKT. 

In addition to publicly revealing the urgency of FIFTY FIFTY’s situation, filing this criminal complaint was an unavoidable measure to make it clear in concrete terms why they cannot maintain their exclusive contracts with their agency.

At present, the truth is being distorted on the internet, social media, and YouTube, and undue criticism has been formed on the basis of [these distortions], to the point where some of the content is beyond tolerable. We entreat you to please refrain from criticism based on unconfirmed facts or speculation.

FIFTY FIFTY first filed to suspend their exclusive contracts with their agency ATTRAKT back in June, and the court ultimately recommended mediation between the two parties. However, on August 16, the FIFTY FIFTY members informed the court that they had no intention to continue with mediation, meaning their legal dispute with ATTRAKT will return to trial.

Meanwhile, ATTRAKT previously claimed that FIFTY FIFTY had been persuaded by The Givers CEO Ahn Sung Il (who was formerly in charge of producing FIFTY FIFTY’s music) to illegally violate their exclusive contracts with the agency by signing with another company. ATTRAKT also filed criminal charges against Ahn Sung Il and several other The Givers employees for fraud, breach of duty, and obstruction of business.

Although Warner Music Korea initially denied allegations that they had been involved in approaching FIFTY FIFTY about violating their contracts with ATTRAKT to sign with another agency, ATTRAKT later released an audio recording from May in which an executive director at Warner Music Korea asks ATTRAKT CEO Jeon Hong Joon about a 20 billion won (approximately $15.3 million) buyout that he had already discussed with Ahn Sung Il.

The FIFTY FIFTY members have refused mediation with their agency ATTRAKT.

On August 16, ATTRAKT shared, “Mediation with the FIFTY FIFTY members has fallen through. The opposing side contacted the court today, stating that they have no intention for mediation.”

The court originally proposed mediation to both parties. On August 9, the mothers of FIFTY FIFTY members Saena and Aran, executives of ATTRAKT, and legal representatives from both sides attended the mediation and discussed for two hours, but the two parties failed to reach an agreement. The court then recommended that they discuss further until August 16, and on the last day, the members submitted a written opinion through their legal representative that they have no intention of continuing mediation with ATTRAKT. As FIFTY FIFTY refused mediation, the conflict between the two parties returned to the trial process.

Previously, ATTRAKT announced that they would be taking legal action against Warner Music Korea for allegedly approaching FIFTY FIFTY with the intention of persuading them to violate their exclusive contracts with their current agency. However, Warner Music Korea denied the claims, and on June 27, ATTRAKT released an additional official statement announcing that it had filed criminal charges against Ahn Sung Il, the CEO of creative content development group The Givers, as well as three other individuals. FIFTY FIFTY also announced that they would be filing to suspend their exclusive contracts with ATTRAKT.

Updated August 18 KST:

FIFTY FIFTY’s new version of “Cupid” featuring Sabrina Carpenter is out!

Check out the visualizer for the song below:

Original Article:

Get ready for a new collaboration between FIFTY FIFTY and Sabrina Carpenter!

On August 16, FIFTY FIFTY’s official social media accounts announced that the group would be releasing a brand-new version of their smash hit “Cupid” featuring American singer Sabrina Carpenter.

The new version of the song will drop in just two days, on August 18.

The announcement came just hours before the news that mediation between FIFTY FIFTY and their agency ATTRAKT had fallen through, meaning that the group’s legal dispute with their agency will be returning to trial.