The abuse includes the CEO forcing the group to get drunk, threatening to kill them, and many other accounts of both verbal and physical assault.
Members of OMEGA X have spoken up about the abuse they allegedly endured under agency SPIRE Entertainment and its detrimental impact on their mental health.
The K-pop boyband held a press conference yesterday (November 16) alongside their legal counsel where their 11 members personally aired allegations of abuse and sexual harassment against the agency’s ex-CEO Kang Seong-hee, who is accused of “threatening, assaulting and exploiting” members of the group in the past year since their debut.
OMEGA X’s attorneys shared plans to press charges against Kang and revealed that they have applied to nullify the group’s existing exclusive contract with SPIRE.
Claims regarding Kang first surfaced last month after the conclusion of OMEGA X’s ‘Connect: Don’t Give Up’ US tour. Korean outlet SBS News published video clips that reportedly depict Kang verbally abusing and manhandling members outside the concert venue and in their hotel lobby in Los Angeles. The band launched a new, independent Instagram account shortly after the clips went viral, where they claimed they were subject to “unwarranted treatment” from SPIRE.
Kang previously denied the allegations to SBS. SPIRE later issued a formal apology and simultaneously announced the resignation of “the CEO responsible for this matter”. The company has yet to respond on the latest allegations aired by OMEGA X and their attorneys during the press conference. NME has reached out to SPIRE Entertainment for comment.
In the press conference, OMEGA X’s members spoke on how their mental health deteriorated due to the alleged abuse, per a report from Korea JoongAng Daily, and stated they believe other K-pop hopefuls and idols are facing similar treatment behind the scenes.
“I really tried to endure it,” member Hangyeom told press of the alleged abuse and mistreatment. “Since this was my second debut, I didn’t want to make fans hear the word ‘disband’. So I just picked up the phone whenever Kang, drunk, would call me all the time; during our schedules and even late at night after work.” (All members of OMEGA X were in different, now-disbanded boy groups prior to their re-debut together.)
The video shows the CEO yelling at the group’s leader Jaehan who is not feeling well and close to passing out.
After that, the group’s social media accounts went silent.
Problems between the group and company grew after the company canceled the members’ flights back to South Korea, forcing them to pay for the flights with the help of friends and family.
Once back in Korea, the company issued a statement saying:
"Hello, this is Spire Entertainment.
"First of all, we deeply apologize to all OMEGA X members, families, fans, and everyone whose feelings were hurt by an unfortunate event that has happened recently.
"Spire Entertainment takes full responsibility and announces that the CEO who's responsible for this matter has resigned. We'd also like to apologize for not responding well and disappointing many fans with inadequate response to the situation.
"We will take in all your advice and comments to do our best to prevent this kind of thing from happening again and focus on providing a better environment for the members so that they can focus only on the artists' activities. Please continue supporting OMEGA X, and we promise to try our best to be back with better news."
Fans remained skeptical of the statement about the CEO resigning due to the fact that her husband is also the chairman of the company.
One Nov. 11, Korean news outlet SBS News released details stating the CEO forced the members to perform after testing positive for COVID-19, telling the members, "Steel yourselves mentally and go on stage."
This was followed by allegations of sexual abuse against the company’s CEO.
The members, who had not been able to communicate with fans using their official accounts, made their own Instagram on Nov. 6 which has gained over 100,000 followers.
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