4th Generation K-Pop Group Announce Legal Action Against Their Company Through Bubble

Recently, eight members of the K-Pop boy group NINE.i shared news of a legal dispute with fans.

NINE.I debuted as a ten-member group in 2022 under FirstOne Entertainment with the release of their first album, New World.

The group made one comeback before it was announced that three members, Seowon, Jiho, and Winnie, would go on hiatus to participate in Boys Planet. Winnie would return to a hiatus due to a shoulder injury, ending with his departure from the group in January 2024.

On March 14, all members except Eden shared a message through Bubble, announcing their legal dispute with the company, stating that their current promotion activities would be unaffected and apologizing to fans for the news.

Hello, everyone, we have a sudden announcement for i.ENIN.

Eight members of the group (Jewon, Minjun, Vahn, Vari, Seowon, Taehun, Joohyoung, Jiho) are currently involved in a legal dispute with FirstOne Entertainment.

First, we apologize for sharing this difficult news with i.ENIN, who always given us so much love.

However, we know that NINE.i exist because of i.ENIN, and that the happy memories received from i.ENIN have been a great source of strength for us. We will not forget this gratitude and will do our best for both i.ENIN and NINE.i in our future activities, as long as our conditions allow. We also want to assure you that the relationship between the NINE.i members is the same as always.

In addition to this, all NINE.i members intend to continue our current promotions in Japan without any changes.

After deep discussions, our member Eden-hyung has found it difficult to join this dispute. However, we will do our best with Eden-hyung to see you, our i.ENIN.

We are worried that our words might hurt i.ENIN, but we hope you can trust our solid hearts and wait a little longer for us. We apologize for bringing you such difficult news at the start of the tour.

— NINE.i members

In December 2023, fans of NINE.I began an email campaign criticizing the company on several issues, including members’ injury-related hiatuses, non-stop activities in Japan, and a lack of Korean promotions.

What is happening with NINE.i

since I know that a lot of people who follow this account like Seowon's group NINE.i or at least have a soft spot for him, please read the following tweets and help us send emails to their entertainment! (template in the replies)#NINEi #나인아이 pic.twitter.com/uXuSvc9te6

— woongki manager (@woongkifairy) December 3, 2023

FirstOne Entertainment has yet to release a statement.