Signing with a major K-Pop agency can be a dream come true for aspiring idols, but sometimes things don’t go according to plan.
Hirate Yurina is a Japanese singer and actress who debuted a member of Keyakizaka46 in 2016. She left the group in January 2020 and debuted as a soloist on December 25, 2020, with the digital single, “Dance no Riyuu”.
In December 2022, HYBE Japan (now YX LABELS) created a new sub-label called NAECO, and Yurina was publicly announced as its first artist. While under NAECO, Yurina released only three songs, “Zetsubou no Megami (Goddess of Despair),” “bleeding love,” and “ALL I WANT,” which were all released in 2024.
During this same period of time, another HYBE Japan (YX LABELS) artist, &TEAM, released two studio albums, two mini albums, two single albums, six OSTs, and four digital singles.
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In 2024, Yurina was chosen as the global model for the RPG game Hoshi ni Nare Veda no Kishi-tachi (Become a Star: Knights of the Veda) that was released by HYBE IM, HYBE’s game business division. She sang the main theme, “Zetsubou no Megami (Goddess of Despair)”. On April 1, 2024, Yurina promoted the game on her official X (Twitter) account. After that, she didn’t post again for four months.
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HYBE IMの新作RPG「星になれ ヴェーダの騎士たち」のTVCM撮影ビハインドフォトを公開しました。🔗https://t.co/lQESbj570V#Yurina_Hirate#星になれ #ヴェーダの騎士たち#ホシナレ
— 平手友梨奈 (@Im_YurinaHirate) April 1, 2024
On August 8, 2024, NAECO announced that Yurina’s exclusive contract had been terminated, and her official Weverse and related HYBE platforms had been closed. According to a report by Weekly Women PRIME, the agency parted ways with Yurina due to alleged unprofessionalism, which included tardiness and cancellations during the filming of a series.
At the time, some fans who felt that HYBE had squandered Yurina’s talent celebrated her termination.
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On August 28, twenty days after her contract termination was announced, Yurina returned to X and uploaded this post. Some netizens believed that the image was a declaration of freedom that signaled a new start after leaving HYBE.
— 平手友梨奈 (@Im_YurinaHirate) August 28, 2024
She had also uploaded this photo from the shoot on August 20, 2024, on Instagram.
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On September 1, 2024, it was announced that Yurina had joined the talent agency Cloud Nine. Since joining her new agency, Yurina has released two singles, “Eeny Meeny Miny Moe” and “I’m human.”
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Now, more than a year after Yurina’s contract termination, some fans are showing support by sharing her story and criticizing her former label for her “wasting” time that could have been spent elsewhere.
Yurina Hirate is a famous former Japanese idol of Keyakizaka46 and she is now a solo singer and actress, hybe signed her in 2022 and wasted her career life for a year and a half, barely supported her career but asked her to promote hybe’s GAME business. She did nothing wrong but… https://t.co/VFMUVIDQkD pic.twitter.com/PUm9DGxTHA
— Liberty _eupho (@Liberty_eupho) December 13, 2025
iconic af for posting this after fled free from hybe's basement, all hybe does is ruining their artists i stand my point
forever hate naeco/hybe for wasting 1.5 year in techi's career, her discography couldve been so much bigger if it wasnt bc of that yellow company 💀 https://t.co/8iBBXWleAk pic.twitter.com/1QyrdhVjF9— eden (@hirateeden) December 16, 2025
I remember the news about signing her. Created a label for her, too, but did nothing with it, until it was unofficially dissolved about a year or so ago. It was just weird to sign someone to do nothing with…
— E ❤️ RitsuMafu's Dynamic (@ProfKukuiLVR) December 13, 2025
