FIFTY FIFTY’s Agency Wins Big In Court Against “The Givers” And Ahn Seung Il

ATTRAKT, the agency of the girl group FIFTY FIFTY, has partially won its damages lawsuit against The Givers and its CEO, Ahn Seung Il.

On January 15, KST, the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Agreement Division 33 ruled that Ahn and his associate director, Baek, had violated their duties as an outsourcing production company hired by ATTRAKT by attempting to deceive the label and committing professional malpractice. Though ATTRAKT had sued the defendants for ₩2.00 billion KRW (about $1.37 million USD), the court ordered The Givers and CEO Ahn to jointly pay ₩500 million KRW (about $341,000 USD).

The conflict between ATTRAKT and the three current Ablum members began two years ago. After the massive success of “Cupid” under FIFTY FIFTY, the members shocked the industry by filing for an injunction to suspend their exclusive contracts with ATTRAKT. The agency pushed back, claiming “outside forces had lured the artists into violating their contracts,” and accused outsourcing company The Givers’ CEO Ahn, who produced “Cupid,” of secretly attempting to take over FIFTY FIFTY. Soon after, the court dismissed the members’ injunction request, and Keena became the only member to return to ATTRAKT. She went on to reveal that it was CEO Ahn who suggested the injunction and even instructed the members to leave their dorms secretly. Based on this testimony and other key evidence, ATTRAKT filed its damages claim on December 18 of that year.

ATTRAKT’s partial win has brought attention back to the ongoing legal dispute between the label and the former three members, who are now active as a trio named ABLUME. While the agency sued them for ₩13.0 billion KRW (about $8.89 million USD), last year, the three members filed a counter suit, seeking no less than ₩300 million KRW (about $205,000 USD) in settlement fees.

Former FIFTY FIFTY Members File Lawsuit Demanding 300 Million Won From ATTRAKT’s CEO