BREAKING: EXO’s Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin file to terminate contracts with SM Entertainment; Agency responds

EXO members Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin, who also happen to go by the sub-unit name EXO-CBX collectively have officially filed for their contract termination with SM Entertainment for unfairly long contract tenures as well as refusal to provide monetary settlement data.

Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin’s legal stand

The three EXO members have reportedly requested to receive a clear record of their monetary earnings for a total of seven times so far over the period of March to May however the same was paid no heed to by SM Entertainment. Hence, Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin decided to share an official stance via their legal representative. In the statement, it has been revealed that the three will be terminating their contracts with SM Entertainment as of June 1.

EXO members’ want for contract termination

Further, the statement lists out the many reasons why the artists decided to go ahead with this. They have cited unclear earning records, which is their right as artists of the agency, as their foremost reasoning behind notifying the termination. Their requests for clear and transparent earning calculations were said to have been not met by SM Entertainment. The agency said that they could not provide the information to the artists. 

Moreover, they have claimed that SM Entertainment has made artists sign ‘slave contracts’ where initially they were not satisfied with 12-13 years of tenure, and have since increased it to 17-18 years, by having them sign subsequent contracts. The legal statement has called it an ‘unjust use of power by SM Entertainment’. Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin have apologised to their fans for causing them concern with this. 

SM Entertainment’s response

Subsequently, the agency has responded to the claims by issuing an official statement of its own. They have stated ‘outside forces approaching their artists’ as the cause behind all of this, as the company focuses on working on its new phase. SM Entertainment has claimed that false information, false court documents, and unreasonable offers have been made against their artists making them believe that there will be no legal repercussions of signing a contract with a different company while already being signed under them. They plan on taking legal action.

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