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Court rules in favor of boy band The Boyz to suspend exclusive contract with agency

Published: 24 Apr. 2026, 09:16 Updated: 24 Apr. 2026, 20:09

KIM JI-YE
[email protected]

Boy band The Boyz [ONE HUNDRED LABEL]

A court ruled in favor of nine members of the boy band The Boyz in their bid to suspend their exclusive contracts with their agency One Hundred Label.

“The court granted today the injunction filed by the members, seeking to suspend the validity of their exclusive contracts,” said attorney Kim Mun-hui of the law firm Yulchon, representing the members, in a press release. “The court has confirmed that the exclusive contract between the artist and One Hundred Label has been lawfully terminated and is no longer in effect.”

Nine out of 10 members — Sangyeon, Jacob, Younghoon, Hyunjae, Juyeon, Kevin, Q, Sunwoo and Eric — had been in dispute with the agency, as they claimed that they had not received any settlement payments since last July.

One Hundred Label argued that the members’ “contract fees were advances to be recouped from future earnings,” and that it had paid a substantial amount in upfront contract fees.

The court did not accept the agency’s claim, according to Kim.

“The court made it clear that the payment of the exclusive signing and the distribution of settlement payments from generated revenue are set out as separate provisions under the contract, and that there is no agreement allowing the already paid contract fee to replace settlement payments owed to the artist,” the attorney said.

Kim added that the court found the breakdown of trust between the two parties had reached an irreparable level, citing the agency’s failure to meet key obligations, including paying settlements, providing accounting data to verify those payments and fulfilling duties related to management support and artist protection.

The members still plan to carry out previously scheduled activities, including their “Inter-Zection” concerts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Boy band The Boyz [ONE HUNDRED LABEL]

The agency is also in a dispute with the tech company Knowmerce, which holds the exclusive rights to livestream The Boyz’s concerts. The company made full refunds to online ticket purchasers last week, explaining the agency had unilaterally notified it of its refusal to proceed with the project and instead opened ticket sales with another company.

The Boyz debuted in 2017 under Cre.Ker Entertainment, which merged with Play M Entertainment to form IST Entertainment under Kakao Entertainment. The group left IST Entertainment in late 2024 to join One Hundred Label, an agency formed by rapper MC Mong and entrepreneur Cha Ga-won.

Boy band EXO’s Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin also terminated their exclusive contracts with One Hundred Label’s subsidiary, INB100, on April 10.

BY KIM JI-YE [[email protected]]