260403 MARK IG Update

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Legal representation for EXO-CBX states: SM Entertainment pushes their artists to sign 20 year “slave” contracts; EXO-CBX were unable to negotiate the terms of their contract renewal; Over the past 12-13 years, SM Entertainment has not provided accurate reports of EXO-CBX’s income.

EXO-CBX have been requesting income reports since March 21st with a deadline of May 31st. Since SM Entertainment has refused to provide the reports, EXO-CBX have grounds to terminate their contracts. It is their belief that SM Entertainment has not properly paid their artists, and that is why they will not provide the reports. EXO-CBX have chosun to undertake this lawsuit knowing that this is a potential issue for all artists under SM.

7 members of EXO, including CBX, renewed their contracts on December 30, 2022, after a long consultation period starting June 2021. In April 2022, the members appointed a lawyer to review the contracts. From mid-November 2022, amendments were made to the contracts 8 times. SM claims that EXO-CBX raised no issues about their finances before or during this process.

SM claims their contract lengths are “valid”, as proven in the court case against former EXO member Tao.

SM claims EXO-CBX has had access to monthly financial reports that can be “viewed” at any time. SM claims EXO-CBX want official copies to give to a third-party. (SM previously named Big Planet Made. BPM has denied this claim). SM refuses to provide EXO-CBX with official copies of their finances as they suspect EXO-CBX have entered into a dual contract and are being externally influenced.

EXO-CBX’s lawyers have filed a complant to the FTC regarding SM’s contracts, sharing excerpts of Baekhyun’s contract and requesting a full investigation. The vagueness of the contract start date does not clearly establish when the contract ends. The contract, which should begin on the date that the contract was signed, does not begin until the first album release date. (Baekhyun’s contract was signed on May 30, 2011, but did not officially begin until April 8, 2012.)

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SM announces that they will fulfill EXO-CBX’s requests for their financial records, with the expectation that they will not disclose the information to a third-party. These financial records include other members’ payment rates and contract details. With the rest of EXO’s consent, SM has decided to share copies of the records.

1. SM’s claim that their contracts are legitimate based on the court ruling against former EXO member Tao is false. As a Chinese trainee, he had a different contract and was expected to work abroad from the start. As Korean trainees, CBX’s overseas activities were not decided at the time of their contract signing. Since 2011, the FTC has required overseas activity to be declared at the time of the contract signing. SM has managed to bypass this ruling with annexed agreements. SM extended CBX’s contracts by 3 years to compensate for “overseas expansion”.

2. SM has yet to provide copies of CBX’s financial records, despite claiming they would yesterday.

3. SM’s claim that EXO members voluntarily renewed their contracts is false. EXO were pressured into renewal a year before their contracts were due to expire, and were told the rest of the team would be at a disadvantage if even one member did not renew. Baekhyun, who was in the military at the time and was still under his original contract, was told that he must sign or else the other members would not receive their renewal contract down payments. Each member was to receive a payment one year after signing the renewal contract. Although it has been a year, none of the members have received this payment.