EXO’s Xiumin, Baekhyun, and Chen have filed a lawsuit back against SM Entertainment in response to a civil lawsuit previously filed by SM, amid ongoing conflicts over their contracts. According to legal and entertainment industry sources on June 27th, the members, collectively known as CBX, filed a counterclaim for monetary compensation at the Seoul Eastern District Court on June 25th. This counterclaim is in response to SM’s lawsuit demanding the fulfillment of their contract obligations.
CBX’s position is that they have filed the counterclaim to receive proper settlement payments based on actual financial statements during their 12-13 years of exclusive contracts with SM Entertainment.
INB100, the agency representing CBX and established by Baekhyun, held an emergency press conference on June 10th to announce their plans to counter-sue their former label. CBX began their dispute with SM last June over the termination of their exclusive contracts. Since then, they agreed to continue EXO activities with SM and pursued unit and individual activities under INB100.
However, recent developments have fractured this agreement. INB100 claims that SM Entertainment failed to uphold the agreed terms, including guaranteeing a 5.5% commission on music sales. INB100 asserts that CBX entered the new contract negotiations believing these conditions would be respected. However, INB100 argues that the contracts became invalid as SM did not fulfill these promises and CBX did not receive the customary signing bonuses.
On the other hand, SM Entertainment clarified that their offer to assist CBX with distributor negotiations was meant to help the group during the disagreement. SM filed a lawsuit against CBX on June 12th, demanding the group fulfill their contracts, stating the group’s actions were “unreasonable” and could no longer be tolerated.
With CBX’s counter-lawsuit against SM’s civil suit, the conflict between the entertainment company and its artists is expected to intensify.
Additionally, CBX and INB100 filed police reports against SM’s co-CEOs, Lee Sung Soo and Tak Young Jun, for alleged fraud under the Specific Economic Crimes Aggravated Punishment Act. CBX claims that SM deceived them by promising a 5.5% commission on album distribution, which is significantly lower than the industry standard of over 15%, This alleged deception, they argue, led them to sign unfair contracts and allowed SM to unfairly profit from their work.
SM, however, maintains that their exclusive contracts with CBX remain enforceable. They claim the contracts allowed individual activities through personal companies, but with a condition: CBX would need to pay SM 10% of their personal company revenue. SM further emphasizes that CBX signed agreements confirming these terms in person.
>> EXO-CBX Holds Press Conference to Expose SM Entertainment’s Unfair Practices
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