KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — K-pop group Omega X has lawyered up and is taking legal action against their former manager for alleged abuse and assault on the members.
Last month, a fan claimed on Twittter that she witnessed Omega X manager Kang Seong Hee assaulting the group after their concert in Los Angeles. Kang is also the CEO of Spire Entertainment.
As the incident started gaining attention, Spire Entertainment issued an apology and announced that Kang has resigned from her position.
However, more allegations have risen since then, portal Soompi reported.
Following that, the 11 members of Omega X held a press conference at the Seoul Bar Association in Seocho on Wednesday (November 16) where they were represented by legal representative Noh Jong Eon.
Noh revealed that the team is working on a lawsuit to terminate Omega X’s contract with Spire Entertainment. They are also planning to file a criminal complaint on the charges of assault, intimidation, indecent act by compulsion and attempted threat.
“We have plenty of evidence including photos, videos and voice recordings,” Noh said.
He also claimed that the members were threatened by the agency following the Los Angeles assault incident.
Noh said the group has received a certification of contents from the agency, asking them to pay approximately US$230,000 (RM1.04 million) to US$300,000 (RM1.3 million) per person.
The law team is also planning to get compensation from the agency’s chairman, Hwang Seong Woo for aiding and abetting Kang.
In the press conference, group leader Jaehan gave his account about what happened between them and Kang.
“After practice was over, Kang called me and forced me to drink. Sexual harassment was also involved. She touched my face and hand. After drinking, she called me.
“She lashed out by saying that if we are going to continue to be idols, we have to crawl. She also said she would commit suicide, so the members received therapy.
“We only wanted to be respected as people who love music,” Jaehan said.
According to Jaehan, the reason the group endured the abuse was because it was their last opportunity as a K-pop group.
“For all of us, it was our second attempt, and we did not want to waste time. We thought we had to endure for the fans who waited for us. As the oldest member and leader, I was so scared that our dreams would collapse while looking at our exhausted members.
“We held back and endured, but we have reached the point that we cannot endure any longer,” he said.
The members claim to suffer from anxiety following the mental and emotional abuse carried out by Kang and Hwang.
According to group member Hangyeom, the repeated drunken calls had made him anxious which resulted in him having anxiety from everyday life noises including vibrations, alarm sounds and bass sound in music.
The group was also reported to have been forced to attend all the drinking gatherings. Kang allegedly threatened not to give them an album if they refuse to attend.
Omega X is a project group that debuted last year, made up of former K-pop idols.
They also recently launched their own Instagram account which is not controlled by Spire Entertainment.