CJ ENM stirred up a power trip controversy when they ordered n.CH Entertainment to take their hands off from rookie group TOO’s management.
According to n.CH, they and CJ ENM organized a joint project to foster idol groups back in October 2018. At the time, n.CH agreed to helm the casting process and the management for 7 years since the group’s debut, and CJ ENM was put in charge of record production and marketing. As part of the project, TO BE WORLD KLASS was launched in September 2019, and the chosen applicants debuted as TOO.
However, after TOO made their official debut, CJ ENM tried to reduce the duration of a management contract from 7 years to 2 years with reasons like changes in management policy followed by management shuffle in n.CH. Afterward, CJ ENM ordered n.CH to pull out of all duties related to TOO, about 7-months into their debut.
An official from n.CH told Starnews, “Per CJ ENM’s request, we cast 20 trainees in a short period of time and even included our own trainees. We have put a lot of effort into the group, but CJ ENM changed its words. By the end of the negotiations, we offered to work for free for 2 years with responsibility for TOO members, but this offer was also rejected.”
On the other hand, CJ ENM believes their order to be fair. One official shared, “The agency contract with n.CH ended last year, and we have discussed (with n.CH) for the next 3 months, but failed to reach an agreement.” He then added that CJ ENM decided not to renew the contract because a majority of n.CH staff were replaced soon after TOO was launched.
Meanwhile, TOO, who planned to make their comeback in the second half of last year, is reportedly suffering from internal problems, such as postponement of their new album.
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