Block B sues Stardom

 



K-Pop isn't always sunshine and rainbows.

I have been waiting on more information before I posted about this one, but about a month ago Block B announced that they would be suing their agency, Stardom. They are asking for their exclusive contract to be nullified.

According to their contracts, the members of Block B are suppose to be paid on the 25th of the following month. But, they have claimed that they haven't been paid for over a year. Also, the CEO of Stardom has apparently disappeared with roughly $66,000 that was collected from the member's parents for promotions and production costs. The thing about this though is that this money taken from the parents never had the chance to be used....And here is why.

Last year, the group was caught in a controversy due to poor translations. While they were in Thailand for an interview, one of the members made a comment about not being able to donate towards the flood relief.  This comment was translated to make it sound harsher than what it was meant to be. The member said that he hardly had enough money to donate, which to some people seemed absurd because he was a "well-paid celebrity". People felt that he was mocking Thailand and that his actions were immature. But, he actually tried making a comment about how he really didn't have any money, which we now see what he meant way back then. You see, during this time the band was not being paid and the legal actions they took recently brought that incident to light. They also were not being paid before that even though they had released an album and appeared on many shows. So, there was some money that was due to them. Right after the scandal, the group took a hiatus to reflect on their actions from the interview because of the harsh response they got from people and fans. They even received death threats during this time. According to their contracts, they were still suppose to be paid during their hiatus, even though they weren't.

But 8 months later, they dropped their album 'Blockbuster' in October 2012. That promotion money the CEO collected was never used for this or anything. The group also has yet to be paid for any money and appearances made from this album, which was a hit. Actually, the song I included (titled "No Joke") is from that album and seems like it is about the scandal in Thailand and how they are coming back from it. Here are a few of the translated lyrics which speak for themselves...

"Most people are like this, do you earn money easily?
My answer is never. "

"Yeah its the rebirth

It’s been a while, my body felt itchy, we back, aight~ we got the power back

No matter how much you copy, the real people will find out what is real when we warm up a little"

"I suspended Twitter and gave up my youth to working like a housewife and laboring on lyrics
A guy with eloquent speaking skills, who will block me huh?" (The leader, Zico, quit Twitter during the hiatus.)

Translation: youngha @ BLOCKBINTL

 

This song was basically their response to the scandal and saying they did nothing wrong, due to the poor translations which misrepresented them. They are fighting back.

 

So, even now they have yet to be paid and are suing the agency. The agency has denied that the CEO has ran off with the money, but the group has replied back saying he indeed has, and there has been no proof that they actually received the money. This lawsuit is currently up in the air and is bringing to light a lot of issues the company was hiding from the fans. They are still deciding on an agreement and seeing what will happen with Block B. Many people worry that the group will not be picked up by any of the other agency due to the Thailand scandal. But no one is worrying about the group splitting up because they are in this together. We will just have to see where this goes.

 

I'll keep an update as I hear more information.