Fifty Fifty reveals phone conversation with Warner Music Korea over poaching controversy

Fifty Fifty's agency released a phone conversation recording on Monday between the agency and Warner Music Korea as evidence of Warner Music Korea offering the girl group's producer 20 billion won ($15,220,000) to buy out Fifty Fifty ...

Girl group Fifty Fifty [ATTRAKT]

Fifty Fifty's agency released a phone conversation recording on Monday between the agency and Warner Music Korea as evidence of Warner Music Korea offering the girl group's producer 20 billion won ($15.2 million) to buy out Fifty Fifty.

"We've offered Ahn Sung-il 20 billion won for a buyout," an executive director at Warner Music Korea, only identified as Yoon, said in the recorded conversation shared by Attrakt, Fifty Fifty's agency.

"I've never heard about it," Oscar Jun, Attrakt's CEO, also known as Jeon Hong-jun, replied in the conversation, asking, "What do you mean by a buyout?"

"We wanted to take over the kids," Yoon answered, to which Jeon said he had not been notified of such an offer.

The agency has previously said Ahn Sung-il, CEO of The Givers, the production company behind Fifty Fifty, colluded with a third party to steal the group's members.

Attrakt alleged that The Givers, Fifty Fifty's producing company and Warner Music Korea, its distributor, attempted to poach the members.

Warner Music Korea denied the allegation last Monday, saying that "claims made by Attrakt are groundless."

Producer of the girl group also rebutted on Thursday, saying that his company had been "diligently following the terms of the contract" and did not try to steal the members.

Attrakt also accused Ahn of business obstruction, fraud, malpractice in the workplace and more, saying that the producer also unfairly took the copyright ownership of "Cupid," the hit track that brought Fifty Fifty to fame.

Ahn and The Givers denied the claims since.

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.

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

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