EXO is Exes
Where the hell do we go from here?
I know I’ve been a fan in the game too long when disappointment and sadness feel akin to indigestion. A quick belch and a sigh of relief and I’m done with it. Not this time, however. I need would love to have immediate updates on everyone’s wellbeing and next steps, because if you’ve heard any news surrounding EXO and/or CBX, then you know that things have gotten worse this week.
I implied that the group was being set up for failure in a recent podcast appearance over on It’s a K-pop Thing, but daaaaaaamn I didn’t need it to be like this… not at all. (Please listen to the episode, “EXO’s Comeback… It’s Complicated” on your favorite podcast platform or click this link and show journalists and longtime K-pop stans, Alexis Hodoyán-Gastélum and Theresa Avila some love!)
Y’all, SM Entertainment has reportedly moved to freeze the assets of (former?) members Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin due to the legal dispute over contract terms and revenue sharing. It’s now escalated to seizing their homes. Their — are you reading this shit?! — their homes, my guy.. there’s no coming back from that.
Additionally this month, CBX’s label INB100, a subsidiary of Onehundred, has allegedly been unable to pay its employees and talent which includes their former labelmate Taemin. Does leaving SM Entertainment means you’re almost always catch a strays!? The levels of anger, frustration, and humiliation must be unbearable.
When odds stack too favorably in the deficit, some relinquish coping opportunities and opt for… more permanent solutions. I am worried, genuinely. This isn’t an instance of no news being good news. Where does the group and it’s current member roster got from here? How did the label think that incorporating Lay into this comeback rectify anything? And generally speaking, why can’t we get a conclusive departing experience from other groups as classy and SISTAR’s was?
One could say that fans eventually reach a point where they join in on the discourse about South Korean entertainment companies rarely, or never, doing right by those they employ, but SM has a distinction in this space that can’t be ignored.
We’ll see what happens, together. Are you holding on to hope, processing sadness, or feeling neutral? I’ll leave you with what once was. Those with light sensitivity or epilepsy, please be careful.
All I'll say is, anyone who's been around SM long enough knows... We've been here before. This is NOT new. The sense of entitlement and then retaliation has ALWAYS been exorbitant and brutal from SME. My love/hate relationship gets closer and closer to hate as the years go on. It wasn't as (in SOME cases) bad under LSM. This NEW jawn in charge...? SM has always been the perfect microcosm of the entire landscape socially and politically in SK. There's no convincing me of otherwise. It sucks, and as international fans, especially, there's little to nothing we can do about it. It will continue to happen until the sentiment changes surrounding artists/musicians/"idols" in the industry.
I am conflicted. I am grieving. I am making room for Xiumin to move in.