The glamorous life of a Kpop superstar is a dream chased by many people, however, we
all know that dreams sometimes don’t come true.
Many had to give up on their dreams and go back to their normal lifestyle.
Here are Kpop groups that are believed to have been bitterly forced to fall apart on
their way to success.
1.
GFriend
In May 2021, GFriend’s disbandment at the peak of their career came as a shock to many
Kpop fans.
Until now, the reason behind their breakup remains a secret.
Although there seem to be many rumors surrounding the real cause, it is difficult to confirm
which one is the truth unless GFriend members themselves tell the public the story behind
this incident.
On the latest episode of “Scan VIVIZ”, SinB spoke candidly about GFriend’s disbandment
and confessed that she had no idea their 2020 release “MAGO'' would mark their final round
of promotions together.
She recalled that the members were announced the disbandment only 1 month earlier than
their fans and they did not know how to tell this news to their supporters.
She also shared that this was why on GFriend’s V Live broadcast from about one month prior
to the news, the members would cry in the middle of the livestream while reading fans’
comments.
That was a very tough period for Gfriend members who went from zero to hero together.
SinB told the interviewer that she never imagined she would cry that much during just one year
and felt like she cried enough tears for her entire lifetime.
This confession of her at that time fueled the suspicion about the disbandment of GFriend.
That suspicion grows even more when Sowon appeared on Big Issue released in April 2022
and expressed her regrets for not being able to continue her road with GFriend.
Her words seemed to be filled with sadness and disappointment: “Accepting this truth
is difficult for all of us.
Eventually, after a year, we have adjusted to the current situation.
Actually, I think I’m the one who had the toughest time getting used to this whole thing.”
Obviously, SinB and Sowon both confirmed that GFRIEND‘s disbandment was a sudden incident
and the group only knew about it not long before the media did.
Although not directly mentioning the reason behind, anyone can implicitly understand that
the management company has decided to disband GFRIEND suddenly and hastily.
This decision of Source Music drove netizens up the wall as everyone believed GFriend had
brought the company huge profits with their hard work and clearly did not deserve this
kind of mistreatment.
2.
B.A.P
Back in 2012, B.A.P used to be one of the most promising Kpop stars.
They were even considered a rival of the legendary EXO and the worldwide superstar BTS.
Their debut anthem 'WARRIOR' was regarded as one of the most impactful debuts in K-pop
history and became the blueprint for the bad boy concept.
Their popularity soon expanded and they even held 23 concerts in the United States, Asia,
Europe and Australia.
However, their success was quite short-lived, as they decided to take a break right at the
peak of their career and eventually disbanded in 2019.
The majority of Kpop fans and B.A.P’s supporters agreed that their company - T.S Entertainment
was the major culprit behind this as in November 2014, B.A.P reportedly filed a lawsuit against
their company due to mistreatment and unfair profit distribution.
Although TS Entertainment denied the claims, the accusations were proved to be true as
several other artists also filed lawsuits afterward, eventually leading to the agency’s
closure in 2021.
The lawsuit went on for many years, taking away B.A.P’s opportunity to continue their
success.
While their competitors EXO and BTS had already had many breakthroughs in their career, B.A.P
still had an ongoing case with their agency.
In the meantime, the appearance of numerous other monster rookies such as iKON, MONSTA
X, SEVENTEEN made it a lot harder for B.A.P to regain their initial fame.
Their music career as a group was shaken even more when leader Yongguk and maknae Zelo left
for good in 2018 after their contracts with TS Entertainment expired.
The remaining members Himchan, Daehyun, Youngjae, and Jongup continued as a four-member group
yet also parted ways in 2019 – ultimately announcing B.A.P disbandment.
Despite that, netizens still hope that each member will soon achieve the success taken
away by their company’s mishandling.
3.
Triple H
Composed of Hyuna, Pentagon’s Dawn and Hui, Triple H debuted under Cube Entertainment
in 2017, but was only active for a year.
They released two songs “365 Fresh” and “Retro future” in 2017 and 2018 respectively,
both of which became hit songs and ranked high on music charts.
While fans were looking forward to their comeback, the dating scandal of HyunA and Dawn broke
out, depriving Triple H of their opportunity to come back on the stage as a whole group.
Though Hyuna and Dawn are now a happy couple, having recently announced their engagement,
the two dating was what actually led to Triple H’s disbandment.
Not long after that, Cube Entertainment also confirmed the dating rumors of Hui and (G)I-DLE’s
Soojin, and revealed that this duo had already broken up.
Obviously, this love scandal has also taken its toll on the reputation of Triple H’s
members.
For the first time in Kpop’s history, 4 artists under the same company announced their
dating news to the media.
Triple H immediately hit the headlines and became a heatedly debated topic in cyberspace.
Some expressed their anger toward the 3 members for ruining such a potential group while others
claimed that it was totally normal for idols to be in love and that dating should not be
considered a scandal, since Kpop idols are just normal people.
Consequently, Cube Entertainment terminated HyunA's and Dawn’s contracts and canceled
all Triple H’s activities, including fan meetings and performances.
After leaving Cube Entertainment, HyunA and Dawn continued their music career as solo
artists whilst Hui came back to his group PENTAGON.
4.
Pristin
After just two years of promotion, Pristin announced their disbandment on May 24th, 2019.
The group soon hit the headlines of many Korean news sites, as Kpop fans expressed their regrets
to these young and talented girls.
Pristin made their first splash on the K-Pop scene with the release of their first EP,
Hi!
Pristin, in March 2017.
The success of the project allowed the group to release their second EP, Schxxl Out just
a few months later in August.
Since then, the group had not released any new music.
It was assumed that Prissin was on hiatus while Kyla took care of her health problems.
In the meantime, a sub-group called Pristin V debuted, including Nayoung, Roa, Eunwoo,
Rena and Kyulkyung.
The girls released one album in May 2018 but did not attain many note-worthy achievements.
Just a year later, Pledis Entertainment announced the disbandment of Pristin V, which infuriated
their supporters.
Thousands of fans took to social media to share their disappointment and even anger
at Pledis for giving up on the group.
In an Instagram post, Kyla opened up on the situation, noting she was as devastated by
the news as fans were.
However, she urged people not to lash out in response to Pledis' decision.
The post is now deleted from her account.
5.
Secret
Regrettably disbanding in 2018, Secret definitely left their marks on the Kpop map with many
catchy hits.
Debuted under TS Entertainment in 2009 with four members, Secret is formerly known as
‘basement idols’ due to the poor living condition in their early days which soon improved
after they hit big with their dual singles “Magic”, “Love Is Move,” “Shy Boy,”
“Starlight Moonlight,”“Yoo Hoo”, etc.
After gaining success, Secret started to go downhill and eventually disbanded after the
departure of leader Hyosung and main vocalist Jieun in March 2018.
Prior to the group’s disbandment, the youngest member Sunhwa had already left in 2016 as
she decided to not extend her contract with TS Entertainment.
It is known that two members Jieun and Hyosung at that time were suing TS Entertainment about
payment issues.
Hyosung's lawyer said, "TS Entertainment has yet to pay Hyosung.
In addition, TS arbitrarily transferred her to a third party without her consent, which
has resulted in the hindrance of her solo activities."
However, TS Entertainment claimed that, "It is true that we are in legal proceedings against
Hyosung and Jieun, but not to the extent that SECRET has to be disbanded”.
Netizens believed that the company was trying to deny their guilt and hinted that it is
the girls who were blowing things out of proportion.
It is known that TS Entertainment is one of the most scandalous companies due to them
being involved in big controversies with several artists like Sleepy or TRCNG with allegations
such as labor exploitation, making contracts with harsh conditions, artist abuse, etc.
So, it seems obvious that the mistreatment of T.S Entertainment had forced the group
to fall apart.
It is well-perceived that the aforementioned artists all had to suffer from severe distress
after being forced to give up on their dreams.
Now that they have embarked on their new journeys, let’s wish them the best luck to continue
their lifelong dream in this harsh industry.