According to media outlets, Choi Byung Min, the head of GayoungŌĆÖs former agency, said, ŌĆ£Even when the group failed to break the break-even point, we still duly paid them despite the companyŌĆÖs difficult situation.ŌĆØ He also stressed, ŌĆ£If they continue to broadcast without fully checking the facts, we will take legal actions.ŌĆØ Back on Oct. 8, former Stellar member Gayoung appeared on MBNŌĆÖs Miss Back and talked about her painful idol days. Saying that she was forced to wear revealing outfits, she exposed the maltreatment she received from the company. Other cast started to cry when Gayoung said, ŌĆ£I left the team after 7 years, and during those seven years, I earned 10 million won (about 8,745 USD).ŌĆØ But yet, contrary to her claims, Choi Byung Min states that his company paid her correct amounts, which is clearly more than 10 million won, and that the reason Stellar had to go under was Gayoung and MinheeŌĆÖs faults. According to him, Stellar signed a model contract with a cosmetics company in 2017. However, when Gayoung and Minhee posted photos of other products on their social media, the company filed a compensation suit, claiming that Stellar violated the contract of not advertising and promoting competitorsŌĆÖ products during the contract period. StellarŌĆÖs label eventually lost the lawsuit and was ruled to pay twice as much as the modelŌĆÖs fee to the cosmetics company. Because of this, the agency faced severe financial difficulties and eventually closed down. Source (1, 2)
