Fifty Fifty to debut with new members in June or July this year

Fifty Fifty will return in "either June or July" with Keena and newly-added members, Attrakt said on Monday after being cleared of charges of violating the contract with its former members last year.

From left, girl group Fifty Fifty's former members Sio, Saena and Aran and current member Keena pose for photos at a press conference held in April 2023. [YONHAP]

It's a whole new start for girl group Fifty Fifty and its agency Attrakt.

Fifty Fifty will return in "either June or July" with Keena and newly-added members, Attrakt said on Monday after being cleared of charges of violating the contract with the group last year. The Seoul Gangnam Police Station decided to not prosecute Attrakt CEO Oscar Chun for the report filed against him by Fifty Fifty’s former members, the company announced on Monday.

Attrakt received the results of the investigation seven months after three former members, Aran, Sio and Saena, filed a breach of trust claim against Chun to the Seoul Gangnam Police Station on Aug. 17 last year.

All four original Fifty Fifty members, including Keena, filed an injunction to request to nullify their exclusive contracts with their agency Attrakt on June 19. The injunction was rejected by a local court on Aug. 28. The members immediately appealed the decision and once again had their case dismissed by a Seoul court.

Keena dropped her case and returned to the agency on Oct. 16, while the remaining three members had their contracts terminated on Oct. 19.

The three members, Attrakt and the group’s production company The Givers have since been embroiled in a public legal battle.

Attrakt’s Chun has been claiming that The Givers' CEO Ahn Sung-il did not adequately provide data relevant to Fifty Fifty's earnings. Chun claimed that Ahn did this to diminish the agency's control over the group in order to encourage them to sign with another agency without his knowing.

“In line with company policy, [Attrakt] will hold the tampering stakeholder accountable, as they have deceived the group members — who were not knowledgeable in the accounting principles of corporate funds — and even encouraged them to file charges,” the agency said in a press release.

Attrakt has been recruiting new members to join Keena and said auditions were underway in January to rebuild Fifty Fifty into a four- or five-member girl group.

It has been a year since “Cupid” was released as a track in Fifty Fifty’s first single album “The Beginning: Cupid” on Feb. 24, 2023.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]