Fifty Fifty cancels KCON LA performance amid disputes with agency

Girl group Fifty Fifty [YONHAP]

Girl group Fifty Fifty will not be appearing in KCON LA 2023 following the ongoing brawl among the members, the agency and the producer.

"We are sorry to inform you that Fifty Fifty will not be able to be on the stage due to internal circumstances of the agency, as released early through the media outlets." the girl group's agency Attrakt said in a statement.

The statement was written in Korean and English and released on the group's official fan cafe.

It was announced in early June that the girl group will join KCON's Los Angeles festival in August for the first time.

"We hope to resolve the issue smoothly and have Fifty Fifty back on the stage soon," the agency added, with an apology to the fans and the festival organizers.

Attrakt and the girl group's outside production company The Givers are currently in a battle while the girl group has been taking a break from its group activities since May.

Attrakt said last June that outside parties had approached the members of the girl group and talked them into breaking its existing contract to sign new contracts with a different company.

While the agency pointed fingers at the group's distributor Warner Music Korea and The Givers for trying to "steal" the members away from Attrak, both companies denied such allegations.

Attrakt also argued that The Givers' CEO Ahn Sung-il wrongly took the copyright for the girl group's biggest hit "Cupid" by paying the original songwriters only $9,000. The Givers said on Wednesday that everything was done legally, and it is willing to prove so in court.

"It is the right of the album producer to pay the $9,000 for the song and have its neighboring rights. The Givers has no claims against [the song's] neighboring rights," The Givers said in a statement.

The first court hearing on an injunction to suspend the girl group members' exclusive contracts with Attrakt will take place Wednesday.

The four members of the girl group — Keena, Saena, Sio and Aran — announced last Wednesday that they have filed for an injunction on the exclusive contracts with Attrakt in early June, citing that the company forced them to work through worsening health conditions in addition to "unclear payment" issues.

To find out more about Fitfy Fifty, check out Celeb Confirmed!

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]