Fifty Fifty's agency files damages suit against three former members

Former members Sio, from left, Saena and Aran of Fifty Fifty [NEWS1]

Fifty Fifty's agency Attrakt filed a 13-billion-won ($10 million) damages suit against the girl group's three former members — Aran, Sio and Saena, and those the company alleges are involved in the breach of contract between the members and the agency, it said Tuesday.

The agency said it also "filed a civil suit against the group's production company The Givers, its CEO Ahn Sung-il, board member Baek Jin-sil and the parents of the three members."

Attrakt said it might seek additional compensation later in the legal process. The agency said the three former members caused damages worth tens of billions won.

Fifty Fifty debuted in 2022 under Attrakt, a newly opened agency at the time. "Cupid," the group's latest EP released on Feb. 24, has garnered global popularity, landing on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for 14 weeks in a row — a record for a K-pop girl group.

Its activities took a pause when the group's members filed an injuction to end their contracts with the agency on June 19. Keena dropped her case against the agency and returned on Oct. 16. She received her first payment in November.

The other three members — Aran, Sio and Saena — had their contracts terminated by Attrakt on Oct. 19. Keena attended major events such as the 2023 Billboard Music Awards alone as Fifty Fifty.

"[We consider] this lawsuit as going beyond a simple damage recovery and will be an important opportunity to establish a fair trade order in the entertainment field," the agency legal representative Park Jae-heon of Lee & Ko said in a press release.

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

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]