Fifty Fifty's 'Barbie Dreams' music video canceled amid dispute

Fifty Fifty's latest release ″Barbie Dreams,″ a soundtrack for the upcoming film ″Barbie″ [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Girl group Fifty Fifty dropped "Barbie Dreams," a song for the soundtrack of the upcoming film "Barbie," on Friday.

But the music video, which was said to be released together, is nowhere to be found.

Fans suspect the delay must be due to the girl group's legal battle with its agency Attrakt.

But the agency told the Korea JoongAng Daily on Friday that the music video has been canceled and not delayed.

"We were unable to shoot the planned music video for 'Barbie Dreams,'" Attrakt said. "We were unable to fix a date for the shooting due to the member [Aran] having to go through surgery."

"Now, due to the current circumstances, we just couldn't shoot the music video," it added.

The agency said in May that its member Aran had to undergo surgery after feeling discomfort while practicing her choreography.

It did not reveal what kind of surgery she had. Attrakt added in June that Aran is taking a break to recover for "at least a month to two months of rest," as advised by the doctors.

Other members of the group were also given a temporary break.

Attrakt, The Givers, the girl's production company, and the four members are in a legal battle. Attrakt said in June that outside parties had approached the group's members and talked them into breaking their existing contracts 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.

All four members of the girl group — Aran, Keena, Sio and Saena — filed an injunction to suspend their contracts with Atrtrakt, citing that the company forced them to work through worsening health conditions in addition to unclear payment issues.

The injunction was filed on June 19 to the Seoul Central District Court, and the first hearing on it began Wednesday.

The four members and Attrakt CEO, Oscar Jun, did not attend the hearing.

Fifty Fifty's attorney said during the hearing on Wednesday that the "agency lacked capability," accusing Jun of malpractice and concluded that "members had lost the trust with Attrakt."

Attrakt's attorney reportedly said the agency provided the members with all financial and contract data they requested and that the miscommunication between the agency and the group's members resulted from an "outside party" tampering with the relationship between the two parties.

Should the court side with the members, they will be free to sign with different agencies until a higher court says otherwise.

"Barbie," slated for U.S. release on July 21, is a live-action film based on Mattel's popular fashion doll franchise, Barbie. The film stars actors Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken.

The official soundtrack for the movie, titled "Barbie: The Album," will feature renowned artists, including singer-songwriter Dua Lipa, rapper Nicki Minaj, hip-hop singer Lizzo, rapper Ice Spice and others. The full album will also drop on July 21.

To find out more about Fifty Fifty, visit Celeb Confirmed!

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