Jeon Hong Joon, CEO of ATTRAKT and producer of the girl group FIFTY FIFTY, has lost a defamation lawsuit against SBS’s investigative show Unanswered Questions. The Seoul Southern District Court ruled that the program’s 2023 broadcast about the group’s contract dispute did not contain false or defamatory statements.
Jeon had sought about USD 220,000 in damages, but the court dismissed the case and ordered ATTRAKT to pay all legal costs. The court said the broadcast was based on facts or reasonable interpretations.
The episode, titled Billboard and Girl Groups – Who Clipped Their Wings?, aired in August 2023 and looked into the sudden breakdown between FIFTY FIFTY and ATTRAKT. Despite the group’s global hit Cupid charting on Billboard Hot 100 for over 21 weeks, the show raised concerns about financial transparency and internal treatment at ATTRAKT.
The program featured interviews with former staff and the members’ parents, who spoke of harsh conditions and emotional stress. It also showed claims that food brought by parents was thrown away and that leadership was missing in performance evaluations.
ATTRAKT denied these allegations, but the court found evidence supporting the claims, including missing music revenue in internal documents that the agency later admitted. The court also confirmed the accuracy of the food disposal claims based on family testimonies.
The court noted that the production team asked Jeon for interviews more than ten times, but he refused each request. It said that “lack of full fairness or balance in a broadcast alone does not constitute defamation.”
In March 2024, the Korea Communications Standards Commission issued a warning to Unanswered Questions after receiving over 1,100 viewer complaints about the episode, but no legal sanctions followed.
Since the dispute, only one member, Keena, has returned to ATTRAKT. The other original members have signed with different agencies. ATTRAKT has reformed FIFTY FIFTY as a new five-member group.
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