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[topic] Lawsuit - November 2 to present

Nov 30, 2009 17:06

This post will cover the period from SM Entertainment's November 2 press conferences to present.

Updated 2009.12.21!



November 2, 2009 - SM forbids TVXQ to continue activities, wants compensation

Sources:
Who Said What?
  • JJY says: n/a
  • SM says: JJY can do their individual activities, but TVXQ as a group cannot have any activities; we will ask for compensation for money TVXQ could have been earning during this period of inactivity
Reliability of Source(s)
  • AKP's excerpt version sucks, but does catch the general gist of the article. Chosun is a respected news source.
  • It's unclear how this proclamation affects activities in Japan, since there are other parties (namely Avex) involved. Events playing out later in the month indicate SM is willing to allow new Japan activities to be scheduled for TVXQ (or rather, "Tohoshinki").


November 2, 2009 - SM releases signed(?) statement from Yunho & Changmin
SM released a written statement containing Changmin and Yunho's signatures that basically says "we support SM". The debate about this statement will probably never end.

Sources:
Who Said What?
  • JJY says: n/a
  • SM says: here, lookie what we've got
  • Yunho & Changmin say (according to the statement): We fully trust and support SM; this whole lawsuit is just about the CreBeau situation
Reliability of Source(s)
  • This was reported all over the place and was presented in a press conference, so the news itself is legit.
  • No one knows whether this statement is authentic; the possibilities are endless: the statement may be fake; they may have been forced to sign it; they may have simply been pressured to sign it; they may have freely signed it but it may not represent how they actually feel; they may have freely signed it and it may represent what they feel; etc etc
  • Changmin and Yunho have made absolutely no statements one way or another with their own mouths; they're likely in a very difficult situation.
  • This particular mod finds it unlikely we'll ever know the truth about this statement, and that it was very ugly of SM to do this. :|

November 2, 2009 - SM calls JJY's lawsuit a fraud

Sources:
Who Said What?
  • JJY says:
  • SM says:
    • TVXQ agreed to everything regarding their contract
    • We invested $4 million in TVXQ, even though our financial situation was not good
    • JJY lied and said they were going on vacation to China on January 6, 2009; they were actually going to secretly meet with CreBeau
    • In April, TVXQ members said how much they trust SM
    • In May, a Japanese fan told Avex of a contest she'd heard with a Chinese cosmetics company in which the winner would meet TVXQ; we felt this was a problem; JJY refused to let us review their CreBeau agreements
    • TVXQ had to turn down a major cosmetics endorsement because JJY refused due to their CreBeau involvement
    • The entire lawsuit has nothing to do with human rights or slavery, it's just about their CreBeau mess
Reliability of Source(s)
  • SM definitely said these things.
  • It's up to you whether you want to believe what SM said or not. A lot of it is probably sort-of true, sort-of untrue, depending on your point of view, since a lot of what they address is "motivation" and "feelings" and other non-concrete things

November 2, 2009 - SM releases statements from Yunho & Changmin's fathers condemning JJY

Sources:
Who Said What?
  • JJY says: n/a
  • SM says: n/a
  • Mr. Jung says:
    • JJY have screwed over Yunho & Changmin - who's going to fix that?
    • JJY's parents were unreasonable about the whole CreBeau thing; Mr. Shim & I thought it was shady from the beginning
    • Mr. Shim & I were left out of the loop when the lawsuit was filed
  • Mr. Shim says:
    • The lawsuit is about the CreBeau situation only; JJY are making false claims stating otherwise
    • JJY's parents tried to drag me into a CreBeau get-rich-quick scheme using TVXQ's name
    • Changmin & I reviewed each SM contract and its revisions, and we had no problems with it
Reliability of Source(s)
  • This was all over the news, so again, this item is being accurately reported.
  • Unless SM has some kind of blackmail material, this mod finds it unlikely they would have falsified statements from Mr. Jung and Mr. Shim. That would be going a bit far.
  • This was clearly an effort to negate the inevitable doubt about the authenticity of the Changmin-Yunho statement above. SM's not stupid; they knew people would think that statement was forged.
  • This statement makes it very difficult for Yunho and Changmin to call the earlier statement bogus, even if it is, because they'd be contradicting their fathers publicly.
  • It's not unusual for parents to be this involved in their adult childrens' business, especially children who were underage when their careers with SM began.
  • The fathers' statements may or may not reflect Yunho and Changmin's sentiments; we simply don't know and probably never will.
  • This is so WTF and ugly it hurts.

November 2, 2009 - SM gives JJY a November 12 deadline ultimatum
SM said they have a spring 2010 Korean comeback planned for TVXQ, and it will require six months to prepare. They say JJY must let them know by November 12 if they want to be part of it or not.

Sources:
Who Said What?
  • JJY says:
  • SM says: We've got comeback plans for TVXQ in spring 2010; we need JJY to say if they want to be part of it by November 12
Reliability of Source(s)
  • This was widely reported; SM definitely said this.
  • SM did not say publicly what JJY agreeing to be part of the comeback entailed - would they have to drop the lawsuit? what?
  • SM does not specify why it would be somehow impossible to have a comeback if they got started after November 12
  • It is unknown if SM really did already have plans for a 2010 comeback, and if true, it's unknown if JJY knew about it
  • It's unknown how SM communicated this ultimatum to JJY and what exactly was said to them; what we've seen is the public version of it


November 2-3, 2009 - Two articles claim responses from JJY; JJY deny(?) making any statements
This is a little foggy. Seoul Sports published two articles with the contents of a phone interview(s) with JJY/their representative. They made some pretty strong statements in those interviews. At least one other source, Nate, picked up one of the articles too (basically just a copy of the Sports Seoul article). Later, CBS No Cut News published a statement from JJY's rep that they'd given no phone interviews. ONE of the Sports Seoul (and corresponding Nate) articles was removed from the internet; the other was not and remains online to this day (11/29). I find that really bizarre.

Sources:
Who Said What?
  • JJY says (allegedly):
    • Article #1 - We have pulled out of CreBeau to avoid any more conflicts/controversies; we had no idea SM was going to blame the lawsuit on the cosmetics issue and only learned of it when we watched the press conference on TV today (11/2)
    • Article #2 - Yunho & Changmin had no choice but to sign the statement SM released earlier; we lost contact with them after the lawsuit began
    • Article #3 - We gave no phone interviews
Reliability of Source(s)
  • It's unclear what happened with the now-deleted article (Article #1). Sports Seoul could have made it up (seems unlikely); they could have been duped into thinking they were talking to JJY's actual rep; JJY could have made those statements and then regretted them, asked Sports Seoul to delete the article, and then issued a denial through Oh My News. We will probably never know. (After all, it is alleged they said Yunho & Changmin were forced to sign their statement...that's a really strong claim, probably with legal liability attached. NOT a smart thing to say.)
  • The non-deleted Sports Seoul article (Article #2) also claims to have received a statement from JJY, but for some reason was not deleted. That makes no sense to me. This mod, at least, takes everything in the "interview" with a grain of salt and tends to disbelieve its content.
  • AFAIK, none of the statements from CreBeau since November 2 have mentioned JJY pulling out of the company
  • JJY had, as of November 2, obviously had contact with Yunho & Changmin since the lawsuit began. The quality of this contact is debatable and up for interpretation by each individual, but going so far as to say they "lost track" of each other is a stretch.
  • The article denying an interview ever took place was written based on, what else?, a phone interview with No Cut News (Article #3). This mod never saw the denial story picked by other news agencies, so take things as you will. Wouldn't be shocked if all three articles were a load of crap. :) But they made the news and hit fandom, so they're news-worthy anywa.

November 4+, 2009 - Legal experts weigh in on things

Sources:
Who Said What?
  • JJY says: n/a
  • SM says: We want gov't to set standards for exclusive contracts; we'll follow those contracts
  • Legal dudes say:
    • SM is insincere, as they themselves won't follow Fair Trade Commission guidelines
    • If SM has has had to change TVXQ's contract multiple times, the original contract must have really sucked
    • SM has a responsibility in the development of Korean culture and need to act accordingly
    • By closing off exits from the contract, setting clauses to make a life contract, and manipulating profits, SM has put TVXQ under a slave contract by definition; they need to stop
Reliability of Source(s)
  • These statements are all matters of interpretation and opinions of the legal consultants. We can guess they base their statements on accurate legal frameworks.

November 12, 2009 - SM's imposed deadline on JJY comes and goes
November 12 came and went without JJY formally responding to SM's ultimatum, at least not publicly. If they did anything privately, there's been no evidence of it.

Sources:
Who Said What?
  • JJY says:
    • We're planning our own activities and will not respond to SM's ultimatum
    • After 3 months, SM has yet to comply with the court's orders
    • As long as there is a liaison between us and SM, we can do what we please
    • We will start our income lawsuit with SM in 2 months' time
  • SM says: As of 6pm today (Nov 12), we received no answer from JJY; we don't know where things will go from here
Reliability of Source(s)
  • The article from Sports Seoul (picked up by Nate) is interesting because it was published on November 10. This source is the one that printed a November 2 interview with JJY which was later retracted. Yet here they (seemingly) get the exclusive scoop that JJY won't respond to SM's ultimatum. And as we all know, what this story claimed is exactly what came to pass. Food for thought. LOL
  • These events came to pass; JJY did not (publicly, anyway) respond to SM's ultimatum
  • What happens with the income lawsuit remains to be seen


November 13, 2009 - SM Entertainment cancels concert in Shenzhen, China

November 13, 2009 - JJY reaffirm willingness to work with SM if SM respects the court's decisions

Sources:
Who Said What?
  • JJY says: We will work with SM if they follow the court's orders and if they pay us what we're owed since February 2009
  • SM says: n/a
Reliability of Source(s)
  • This article is mostly about the Shenzhen concert cancellation and claims a statement was made by JJY's lawyer following SM's actions. It's probably accurate.

November 14, 2009 - SM says there can be no 2010 comeback for TVXQ
SM made the rather inexplicable statement that because of JJY's non-response to its arbitrary November 12 ultimatum deadline it's now "difficult" or impossible for TVXQ to have their 2010 comeback. The logic baffles this mod.

Sources:
Who Said What?
  • JJY says: n/a
  • SM says: TVXQ cannot make their early 2010 comeback because JJY refused to be members of TVXQ - so sorry!
  • Avex says: Hey, no problems here - we're still actively planning activities for Tohoshinki
Reliability of Source(s)
  • SPN Daily says it's taking their information from the Japanese media... who would have, on their end, been taking it from the Korean media. What the hell.


November 21, 2009 - JJY attend the M.net Asian Music Awards ceremony, accept group award on behalf of TVXQ

November 27, 2009 - Rumors about JJY's "Smile Again" fanmeet in Seoul begin (link to come)

November 13, 2009 - JJY reaffirm willingness to work with SM if SM respects the court's decisions

Sources:
Who Said What?
  • JJY says: We will work with SM if they follow the court's orders and if they pay us what we're owed since February 2009
  • SM says: n/a
Reliability of Source(s)
  • This article is mostly about the Shenzhen concert cancellation and claims a statement was made by JJY's lawyer following SM's actions. It's probably accurate.

December 2, 2009 - JJY's lawyer reviews case, explains "provisional disposition"
Interesting article - just read it!

Sources:
Who Said What?
  • JJY says: n/a
  • SM says: n/a
Reliability of Source(s)
  • This information on strategy can be considered accurate, I'd say.
  • However, the lawyer makes some statements about Yunho & Changmin's possible reasons for not joining the lawsuit. This is speculation on his part, and may or may not be accurate. It may also just be PR talk on his part.


December 21, 2009 - Hangeng files lawsuit against SM
*see Hangeng thread for more info*

lawsuit

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