MUSIC

K-Pop Group PRISTIN Disbands Under Poor Management by Pledis Entertainment

Fans are very upset over the way they feel Pledis Entertainment handled the group.

Pristin

Photo by Yonhap/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

It's a heartbreaking day for fans of the K-Pop girl group PRISTIN, who have officially disbanded only two years after their debut.

The group, managed by Pledis Entertainment, released their first album, Hi! Pristin' in March 2017. Their final album, Schxxl Out dropped in August 2017. Since then, the band's future prospects have been murky. One of the group's 10 members, Kyla, went on hiatus in October 2017. A number of the other members have also opened personal Instagram accounts, which many K-Pop fans view as being indicative of a group's imminent demise.

Now, after two years without any major promotions, Pledis Entertainment has officially confirmed that seven members (Nayoung, Roa, Yuha, Eunwoo, Rena, Xiyeon, and Kyla) have terminated their exclusive contracts. The other three members (Kyulkyung, Yehana, and Sungyeon) will continue under the label in pursuit of solo careers.

Tensions are high amongst fans, with many blaming Pledis Entertainment over what they deem to be poor handling of the group.

Kyla released a statement of her own, apologizing for the group's disbanding and thanking fans for supporting her.


Pledis Entertainment released an official statement, too: "The company and the members had in-depth discussions for a long time and deliberated before coming to a mutual agreement. It has been decided that with the exclusion of members Kyulkyung, Yehana, Sungyeon; seven members (Nayoung, Roa, Yuha, Eunwoo, Rena, Xiyeon, and Kyla) will have their exclusive contracts terminated as of May 24, 2019...We would like to first apologize to fans, who have always been supportive, for delivering this unfortunate news."

Not that fans particularly care what Pledis has to say, especially considering the fact that the girls spent nearly ten years training for their short-lived debut.

We look forward to seeing what all the former members of PRISTIN do next, and we wish them all the best in their future endeavors. Pledis Entertainment, on the other hand, needs to take a long, hard look at how they treat the groups they manage.