The K-pop scene was rocked by a new development in the controversy involving singer MC Mong and his alleged attempt to recruit members of the popular K-pop group EXO. Despite MC Mong‘s initial claim that he simply offered support to his younger colleagues, a recently surfaced recording tells a different story.
why is mc mong always causing trouble for us. can he leave exo alone.
— katelovescakes (@oohsekatee) July 18, 2023
On July 18, media outlet Ten Asia obtained a recording of MC Mong talking about Baekhyun and Kai during a meeting with unidentified entertainment industry officials. In the recording, which reports say was made in January 2022, MC Mong says he’s working on getting them.
A year and five months later, Baekhyun, Chen, and Xiumin of EXO and the sub-unit EXO-CBX filed a petition to terminate their exclusive contracts with their longtime agency SM Entertainment. In a statement, the trio said their main grievances were SM Entertainment’s alleged “refusal to provide settlement reports” and alleged “unjust long-term contracts and attempts to extend them further.”
So MC Mong was actually trying to poach EXO members AND he does work for BPM 👀
— never agrees to wear the rabbit hat (@pls_snow) July 18, 2023
In response to these allegations, SM Entertainment claimed that external forces were approaching their artists with false information and unreasonable offers to encourage contract breaches. Later, they accused fellow agency Big Planet Made (home to artists like Soyou and VIVIZ) of being behind everything. It was then that MC Mong’s name was mentioned in connection with the controversy for the first time.
Big Planet Made denied SM Entertainment’s accusation in their own statement, saying, “We’ve never met with the artists mentioned in the report, and we have never discussed or exchanged opinions on any exclusive contracts.”
Ultimately, Baekhyun, Chen, and Xiumin patched things up with SM Entertainment. In a statement, all four parties announced that they agreed on new terms. In other words, the trio’s contracts were amended to ensure they and the company would be on the same page moving forward. EXO has since released its seventh full-length album EXIST last July 10, led by the title track “Cream Soda.”
Read: EXO-CBX Members Reach Agreement With SM ENTERTAINMENT
EXIST beat EXO’s previous first-week sales record of 902,210 copies in one day. That record had been set by the group’s 2021 special album, DON’T FIGHT THE FEELING. Six days later, on July 16, Hanteo Chart reported that EXIST had sold 1,562,649 copies in one week, nearly doubling their previous record. Just when it looked like things would return to normal, TenAsia dropped a bomb on the K-pop scene by revealing they had irrefutable proof of MC Mong’s plan to get Baekhyun and Kai to leave SM Entertainment.
An SM representative told TenAsia they don’t know what MC Mong’s real intentions are. Regardless, this controversy underscored the industry’s need for fair practices and transparency. As the story unfolds, fans and insiders alike will be watching closely to see how this latest revelation will impact the careers of those involved and the industry as a whole. -K-pop News Writer
Featured Image: Before TenAsia’s explosive revelation, EXO’s Baekhyun took a selfie backstage at a music show. Source: Twitter/Baekhyun’s personal Twitter account.
