Stardom submits Excel docs as evidence, Block B's lawyers respond

A couple of days ago, Stardom updated their official website with several points of "evidence" in response to the claims that Block B and the fans have made against them.

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1. Claim: The members were forced to act in such a manner during their Thailand interview due to external pressure put on them by the company.

Stardom: To claim that we as a company -
who produced the group and fought with them to recover them from the damage done to their image - actually forced and ordered the boys to act disrespectfully as K-Pop representatives being interviewed by several international media outlets is disparaging to the amount of work the boys have put in to reflect and recover.

Despite the many restrictions placed on the group and the petitions to retire them from the industry, we protected and stood by Block B and did our absolute best to return them to the stage. It regrets us deeply to think that such unfair accusations are being made against Stardom.

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2. Claim: Since their debut, Block B has promoted in a variety of different areas so it is impossible to claim that they were not paid for an entire year of promotions.

Stardom: Stardom Entertainment has paid Block B every cent they were owed. For the one year and seven months they promoted since their debut, their actual promotions only amount to barely a year due to the eight months they were on hiatus from their Thailand controversy.

Despite barely a year of promotions, we paid them a total of $275,414 USD (excluding personal allowances, gifts, and other payments).

As rookies, we promoted them through public broadcasts so that they may receive as much attention from the public as possible. They were only paid several hundreds per performance, which was barely enough to not only meet our expenses, but to pay what it cost to drive them there fully outfitted and styled to perform.

To help your understanding of the situation, at the time, it cost us $70,000 to $100,000 USD to maintain Block B, and with the income that the team was bringing in, it was impossible to think of preparing for and producing their next album.

It's an unwritten law in the industry that the company is required to invest in their rookies for the first 1-2 years in their debut while they gain a foothold in the industry.

Despite the negative numbers Block B was putting the company in, the company not only continued to invest in the group before and after their promotions, but also readily agreed to their hiatus following their Thailand controversy and took on the loss in income entirely upon ourselves.

They were paid according to contract excluding the expenses that were required for each performance.

< Block B's June 2011 Schedule + Pay >

MBC Radio
MTV Match Up
BS11 Japan Interview
MTV Match up
School Festival (Zico)
MTV The Show

Total = $338.45 USD

< Block B's June 2011 Expenses >
PR manager, manager, dorm related costs, car leases, hair/make up, stylist, choreography lessons

Total = $78,528.57 USD

< Investments made into Block B's albums >

- Do U Wanna B? $340,768.70 USD
- New Kids on the Block $283,413.49 USD
- Welcome to the Block $356,599.68 USD
- Welcome to the Block (Repack) $117,662.80 USD
- Blockbuster $532,590.30 USD

Total = $1,631,024.97 USD

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3. Claim: What is the difference between public broadcast performances and events? (TN: by public broadcast performances, this is not in reference to TV appearances but channel-run side events)

Stardom: There seems to be a lot of people claiming that it is impossible for Block B to not have made an income when they performed at various events throughout their promotion cycles. We would like to reveal that the 'event' schedules they performed at were not actually events but 'public broadcast' performances. The difference between the two is whether or not the broadcast channel has cameras present recording the event.

Even if the event is run by the broadcast channel itself and has cameras recording it, it may be broadcast under a name like 'OO Festival' but it is actually just categorized as a broadcast event. For rookies like Block B, they are paid only several hundreds of dollars per performance.

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4. Claim: Block B paid for their promotional expenses out of their own pocket?

We have receipts and evidence of spending $10,164 USD on hair and make up, $38,156.20 USD on the production of outfits, and $5,000 USD on their stylists, as well as $21,631.32 USD that the managers were able to spend on food and other related expenses.

These are all costs excluding the use of studio and recording fees, as Stardom has in-house choreography and vocal trainers as a part of the staff as well as separate choreography rehearsal studios and choreography studios. We also have our own recording studio within the company as well as an extra recording studio in Dogok-dong for free use.

On top of that, we have also spent $29,480 USD on their stage investments to ensure that the group is given the best stage presentation at every event and broadcast performance. We also brought in top engineers both domestic and international to create the best sound quality possible.

Whenever another artist requested to collaborate with the group, we always made sure to leave the decision up to the group before making a final decision.

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5. Claim: Regarding Block B's parents being cheated out of their money

Stardom: The person in question has resigned from the company and has passed on his responsibility of Block B and his actions on to the company.

At the time, we did not want Block B to become victims in the media should it get out that their parents were cheated out of their money so their parents agreed to postpone taking the matter to court. The person in question has promised to do all he can to support the parents following his indictment and to not evade his responsibility in the matter.

We will be updating on matters relating to their parents and the matter as soon as we get updates.

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6. Claim: The group was forced to recycle the same outfits they wore in their 'Nillili Mambo' music video for their stage performances.

Stardom: Block B has an official stylist named F. Choi who produced a total of seven different outfits for each member for their 'Nillili Mambo' promotions.

This claim is an insult to not only Stardom but to the hard work put in by their stylist team.

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7. Claim: The group attended overseas schedules without any managers.

Stardom: We have always provided Block B with the management team needed and required to promote as artists. At minimum, they always had 16 staff members, and at maximum, 22, which included managers, stylists, and hair and make up teams.

< Block B Showcase in Japan >

#1-7: Block B
#8: Director
#9-10: A&R Managers
#11: Fan Manager
#12: A&R PR Manager
#13-14: Stylist
#15: Make up
#16: Hair
#17-22: Backdancers

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8. Claim: The company took all of the money made from registration fees in the group's fanclub creation.

Stardom: The registration fees that were paid for the fanclub were all used to produce the fanclub items that we shipped out in December of 2012. The inauguration for the first official BBC group was originally scheduled to be held on April of 2013 at Kyunghee University.

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9. Claim: Stardom is using former employees deceiving Block B as a distraction and an excuse.

Stardom: This is actually an unfortunate occurrence that happens frequently in the entertainment industry. There will inevitably be people who infringe upon the rights of contracts and deceive not only the media but the company and its staff, as well as junior artists, into believing lies.

We promise to work with the Singers' Assocation, Entertainment Producers' Assocation, and the Digital Music Producers' Association to cut the roots of a decades long evil act that is plaguing the industry once and for all.

[ allkpop article here ]

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10. Conclusion

We at Stardom firmly believe that Block B are being used as puppets to a bigger case of deceit that has been planned by a mastermind for the past several months.

We believe that the Block B members will not be able to recognize any of the information we have listed above, as there has not been one instance where they were delivered the proper information.

They have been brainwashed by people who are using them for ill intentions with distorted and manipulative information. The truth will come out some day, but if that day is too late, the victims will not be the mastermind but the children themselves.

We are filled with disgust to see adults use such dark intentions towards children who have not yet matured and learned the ways of society. As such, we are handling the matter the best we can.

The end result of this lawsuit will only be a matter of money to the mastermind, but to the children, it is a lawsuit that has not only their dreams and futures on the lines, but their ability to join society once again as fully functioning adults.

We genuinely pray that the children will be able to come back out into a brighter world as soon as possible after realizing just what criminals they are actually working with.

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Article: Block B's agency reveals full evidence of production and expenses "We are victims to their lies"

Source: Newsen via Nate

1. [+136, -19] If what the agency is claiming is true, then I don't see why they should be hated..

2. [+97, -20] I'm seriously lost as to who the problem is now....

3. [+39, -9] If the agency is right, then all of the stupid fangirls who were running their mouths as if they knew anything should be sued for defamation ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

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The following is Block B's lawyers' response to Stardom's claims:

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1. Regarding the claim of a mastermind

Stardom's press statement and homepage post writes as if the members of Block B never intended to terminate their contracts until a mastermind appeared and manipulated them into doing so.

Stardom may not want to admit to this, but this is a matter that the Block B members have deliberated for months on end before coming to the final conclusion through their own free will to terminate their contracts. If Stardom has the time to obsess over the theory of there being a mastermind, then why is it that they are not considering the reasons for Block B and their parents for wanting to terminate their contracts?

Additionally, we believe that Stardom no longer has any intention of managing Block B as a label anymore considering the fact that they will be going through with a lawsuit against the mastermind and calling in Block B to stand as witnesses to the charge.

Block B came to us in December of 2012 after reaching a mutual decision as a group. They asked for their contracts to be terminated, and we complied by sending the proper documents as required by law. Block B and their parents had no problems with the documents in question but Stardom is the only party to continually be lodging complaints against it.

Stardom claims that the documents were fabricated because P.O. was a minor at the time they were sent and treated the documents as illegal pieces of paper. What they fail to realize is that because he was a minor, P.O.'s parents signed on his behalf. Both P.O. and his parents still stand by those papers today, as well as the rest of the members. Stardom claiming that the papers were fabricated do not uphold in the court of law.

2. Regarding the parents' money

Stardom claims that the parents of Block B agreed to postponing taking the matter to court, but the parents never once agreed to such a clause. The parents requested to be paid back several times to Cho Jong Hoon (Cho PD) but he not only failed to make the proper payments, but refused outright to meet with them.

3. Regarding the proper payment of Block B

Stardom claims that they paid Block B on time and that they have submitted all evidence of doing so.

Stardom, however, has already admitted to failing to pay them for their OST participation, MD product income, Japanese fansite income, and events. There are several other areas of income like royalties that Stardom has not balanced or paid out. When they were called out on their lie in the court, they submitted a history of expenses that they wrote up themselves and said that there was nothing else left once the expenses were paid.

The expense report submitted by Stardom was found to also include Cho Jong Hoon's personal promotions and the expenses of the company's other artists. The evidence that they claim to have was never submitted and the documents that they did submit were not enough to believe their case.

We are highly curious as to how they feel that the evidence they put up on their official homepage can stand as legal documents of evidence.

We would like to conclude by asking Stardom to refrain from misleading the media and the public with statements outside of the court and wait until the court makes a final decision. We once again apologize to their fans for concerning them with the matter. The Block B members promise to return the love you are giving them by returning with a matured image.

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Article: 'Agency battle' Block B's reps "Mastermind theory is unfounded"

Source: Star News via Nate

1. [+206, -35] The evidence that Stardom showed doesn't prove anything because they only provided one month of income on June of 2011, which was when they had just debuted. Any singer just months into their debut would have more expenses than income. Additionally, the amount Stardom claims to have invested in Block B's albums only shows the total amount and not the breakdown of where that money went so it's hard to believe the numbers to be real. Since a final decision isn't out yet, I suppose we still have to wait.

2. [+167, -33] Before you hate, read both of Block B and Stardom's statements.

3. [+175, -42] I think that it will be difficult for Block B to even release articles to the media because they don't have a company. Stardom may be a small company but they are a company nonetheless and have the power to do media play. Whether or not there was a mastermind behind this whole ordeal, the fact of the matter remains that Block B wasn't paid for their work. We already know that although Stardom claims that Block B was on hiatus during their Thailand controversy, they still performed at off-camera events. They were still paid for those performances so it's unbelievable to me to hear that that somehow doesn't count towards an income. Either way, find strength Block B.

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