EXO's Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin to stay with SM Entertainment after 'resolving misunderstandings'—report
EXO’s Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin have reportedly resolved their misunderstandings with SM Entertainment and decided to stay with the agency.
According to local media Naver, SM Entertainment on Monday, June 19 released a joint statement with EXO’s Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin announcing that the three have agreed to do contract modifications instead of leaving the management.
After expressing their apologies “for causing concern” to supporters of the K-pop artists following their legal dispute, the agency and EXO-CBX said they have thoroughly discussed the matter and have reached a “mutually amicable agreement.”
“The company and the three artists had enough time to discuss all issues candidly. We are pleased to inform you that through this, we were able to resolve differences of opinion that occurred due to misunderstandings and reach a mutually amicable agreement,” the statement read.
The agency also acknowledged in its initial statement that there were third parties involved that have been “approaching the three artists with unreasonable intentions.”
“We initially received a report that a third outside force was approaching the three artists with unreasonable intentions, and we mentioned this as the main cause of the dispute. However, through this discussion, we learned that there was a misunderstanding about the involvement of third parties. We would like to take this opportunity to apologize to those concerned for causing concern with our announcement,” they wrote.
Moving forward, EXO-CBX will continue participating in EXO activities following necessary revisions in the artists’ contracts.
“We listened to and understood the thoughts of all three artists, and also conveyed our position on them in detail. The three artists were also open-minded and understood our position regarding artist contracts. Accordingly, the company and the three artists promised to further solidify their relationship in the future by going through a process of mutually equal discussions and corrections,” they said.
“In addition, we decided to cheer and support each of the three artists so that they can fully demonstrate their individuality and promote in a new way,” they added.
Early this month, Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin filed for the termination of their contracts with SM Entertainment, citing issues with transparency regarding their earnings and unfair “slave contracts.”
“If someone has been taking advantage of the memories, love, youth, efforts, and passion shared between the members and fans over the past 11 years, we believe that must be corrected,” they wrote.
“If the 'SM Community' is forcing artists to tolerate the injustices of the past, we think we need to speak out against that coercion,” they added.
Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin are members of iconic K-pop group EXO, along with D.O., Kai, Sehun, Suho, and Chanyeol. They are best known for their hit songs Growl, Love Me Right, and Love Shot, among others. They are set to release a comeback album on July 10.