K-Pop Corner: Fans slam HyunA, E’Dawn firing
Cube Entertainment’s move came after news broke of the singers’ relationship
The K-Pop industry and its fans are still recovering from one of the biggest and most shocking stories of the year.
Cube Entertainment had abruptly announcement that it was ousting soloist HyunA and Pentagon’s E’Dawn after the pair’s revelation of their two-year relationship. Hours later, the South Korean label backtracked on their decision to remove the two artists from its management last Thursday.
“We’re discussing the issue, but it’s not confirmed,” said Shin Dae-nam, Cube Entertainment CEO, in a statement, Yonhap News Agency reports.
In an official statement made by the agency, the decision was made in response to irreparably breaking the agency’s trust and loyalty as they admitted to their relationship in an interview without notifying or getting permission from Cube Entertainment.
The label has concluded that “the trust is broken and cannot be saved” and decided to kick out HyunA and E’Dawn.
Following the news of their departure, Cube Entertainment’s stock price dropped 6.57 per cent from the previous trading day and sparked major fan outrage and backlash on social media.
“They shouldn’t kicked HyunA and E’Dawn out of the company because after they just revealed their relationship. What’s wrong with that? It’s not like they did something wrong that cause the media to know? And E’Dawn has Pentagon as well as HyunA has her career,” argued a fan on Twitter.
“No E’Dawn No Pentagon!” tweeted another user on Cube Entertainment’s Twitter page.
Cube’s CEO stated that they will have a board meeting next week to discuss the issue.
“The opinions of the artists are also important, so it needs be handled carefully,” he added.
Since HyunA, 26, and E’Dawn, 24, revealed their romance during promotions of recent album Triple H, they’ve met with criticism from fans in Korea and have been keeping a low profile. They’ve even halted activities and various schedules. E’Dawn has not been actively participating in Pentagon’s recent promotions of the boy band’s new mini album, Thumbs Up!.