EXO-CBX Responds to SM’s Accusations of Tampering, Calls for Transparency in Standards

The official agency of EXO-CBX, INB100, released a statement on June 10th addressing the ongoing dispute with SM. In their statement, Chairman Cha Ga-won and CEO Shin Dong-hyun expressed their deep regret for SM’s repeated accusations of tampering. They are requesting that SM make their tampering standards public. Additionally, they have stated their intention to respond to SM’s allegations with a strong course of action, including pursuing all legal and criminal actions for defamation and the dissemination of false information by SM.

On the same day, SM Entertainment responded to INB100’s press conference and accused them of tampering. In response, INB100 stated, “It is absurd and petty that SM once again failed to fulfill their duty and made irrelevant comments, diverting from the essence of the matter.”Despite this, SM Entertainment maintained their stance.

Despite initially agreeing to SM’s offer of reducing Kakao’s distribution fee to 5.5%, CBX members have now decided to give up on the exclusive contract down payment and continue their EXO activities under SM. However, their individual activities will still be carried out separately. In order to release their albums and music, CBX established a separate company and needed a distributor. Despite SM making the offers themselves and CBX accepting, they are now going back on their promises.

During INB100’s press conference, they once again asked SM about their standards for tampering and requested evidence to support their accusation. They questioned whether seeking advice from friends, seniors, and colleagues on personal matters would be considered tampering. INB100 pointed out that Baekhyun had sought advice from others while establishing his own one-person company, making SM’s tampering claim baseless. However, Baekhyun soon realized that managing both his artist activities and company work was too much for him to handle alone. In order to pursue his dreams as an artist and producer, he has now entrusted the management of his company to a reliable expert.

The artists’ representatives stressed the importance of SM not distorting the true details of the case and revealing the necessary information regarding settlement agreements, which is a fundamental right of the artists. Before making any accusations of tampering, SM should consider whether the parties have reached the stage of signing contracts, finalizing expenses, and disclosing settlements in accordance with a standard contract. If SM continues to refuse to disclose the settlement basis data, an injunction will be filed with the court to request it.