KG Announces Departure From VCHA, Sues JYP Entertainment Alleging Mistreatment And Abuse + Alleges One Member Attempted Suicide
KG, a member of JYP Entertainment’s U.S.-based multicultural girl group VCHA, announced her departure from the group and her contract termination with JYP in shocking statement to her personal SNS account.
VCHA’s KG statement announcing legal action against JYP
On December 8, KG posted a detailed statement on her social media to announce she has initiated legal action to terminate her contract due to mistreatment and abuse by certain staff members at the company.
In the statement, she also alleges that a member attempted suicide due to the poor working conditions.
In her detailed statement, KG emphasized the intense workload, severe restrictions on personal freedom, significant debt to the company, and minimal compensation as reasons for her decision.
Despite the challenges, she expressed gratitude for some of the positive experiences, including interactions with JYP founder J.Y. Park, other staff, and her fans.
Read her full statement below!
JYP’s response to VCHA’s KG
In response, JYP Entertainment acknowledged the situation, saying, “We have not yet received the full details and are currently investigating. Discussions through representatives have occurred, but there were differing opinions. We will proceed according to the necessary procedures.”
The court documents of VCHA’s KG’s lawsuit against JYP
Warning: content warning below, description of self-harm and eating disorders
Since KG filed this lawsuit in the U.S., the court documents can be viewed publicly. The contents of what the lawsuit alleges has since shocked fans.
In her lawsuit, KG alleges that JYP used loopholes to avoid paying the members properly under California’s law using their status as trainees. She alleges that they weren’t given the contracts to study them properly before signing them.
KG alleges she was paid around 500$ a week. Despite this, the company had purchased a 2.5 million dollar home where the girls were forced to stay. She says this meant their debt went up significantly and it created around half a million dollars in debt that she had to pay back to the agency.
In terms of diet, she reveals the staff either gave them very small amounts of food or discouraged them from eating altogether. The agency allegedly placed CCTV and despite the girls being told there weren’t any in their living quarters, it turns out there were and the CCTV was used to monitor the girls and what they ate.
KG also alleges these severe circumstances caused a lot of stress and mental issues to the members, she alleges one member began to self-harm and another fell into an eating disorder and attempted suicide.
When the member was found, KG alleges they were instructed to lie about the member’s whereabouts and why she is not making any appearances.
VCHA was formed through the A2K (America to Korea) audition project, a collaboration between JYP and Republic Records. The six-member group debuted in January but has been on hiatus since March due to member Kaylee’s health issues.
Fans had been severely worried about the group’s well-being as nothing much has been heard from the group for some time now prompting fans to ask for a clarification. The group had been scheduled to perform at Lollapalooza 2024 but ended up pulling out last minute leading to speculations among fans.
Source: (A)
