According to a report by Herald Economy on May 25, Jeon Hong Joon, CEO of ATTRAKT and the producer behind FIFTY FIFTY, has lost a civil defamation case filed against producers of the SBS investigative program 'Unanswered Questions'. The court ruled that the program’s 2023 broadcast, which examined the group’s contract dispute with its agency, did not contain any false or defamatory information.
The Seoul Southern District Court dismissed Jeon’s lawsuit seeking approximately USD 220,000 in damages, concluding that the content was either fact-based or founded on reasonable interpretation. The court also ordered ATTRAKT to pay the full legal costs.
The episode in question, titled 'Billboard and Girl Groups – Who Clipped Their Wings?', aired in August 2023 and focused on the abrupt breakdown of relations between FIFTY FIFTY and ATTRAKT, despite the girl group’s unprecedented global success. Their hit single 'Cupid' had charted on the Billboard Hot 100 for over 21 weeks.
The broadcast raised concerns over financial transparency at ATTRAKT, and featured interviews with former staff and the members’ parents alleging harsh internal practices and emotional stress. It also included claims that food brought by parents was thrown away and that leadership was absent from performance evaluations.
While ATTRAKT denied the allegations and labeled them as false, the court found otherwise. It confirmed that music revenue was missing from internal settlement documents—a fact the agency later admitted—and stated that the program relied on analyses from tax professionals, business professors, and official government data.
The court also rejected the agency’s claim that the segment about food disposal was false, citing consistent statements from family members. It emphasized that the production team made more than ten interview requests to Jeon, all of which were declined.
“A lack of full fairness or balance in a broadcast alone does not constitute defamation,” the court stated in its ruling.
In March 2024, the Korea Communications Standards Commission issued a warning to 'Unanswered Questions' after receiving over 1,100 viewer complaints, though the broadcast was not legally sanctioned.
Since the dispute, only Keena has returned to ATTRAKT, while the other three original members signed with different agencies. The agency has since restructured FIFTY FIFTY into a new five-member group.
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