The Ojo Gang members who had exposed unfair actions by leader Ibuki and the manager are seeing tensions deepen as they were even blocked from logging into the official account.
On the afternoon of the 9th, the six members of Osaka Ojo Gang, the winning team of Mnet's World of Street Woman Fighter (hereafter "WSWF3"), posted a statement on Ojo Gang's official social media account about their conflict with leader Ibuki and the manager.
Ru, Hana, Kyoka, Junna, Minami, Uwa and the six Ojo Gang members said, "We were preparing the tour to keep our promise to fans to 'stand on stage.' However, from the manager we could not get any explanation about the tour contract or schedule. Later, through contact from Route59, we first learned that negotiations between the manager and the tour side were not proceeding properly," they began.
Earlier, on the 6th and 7th, the Seoul performance of Mnet's World of Street Woman Fighter (hereafter "WSWF3") national tour 'THE REAL STAGE' was held at Jamsil Indoor Gymnasium. But Ibuki alone did not attend that performance, and the members cried and apologized to fans. Meanwhile, on the 8th the concert producer Route59 announced on the ticketing page that Ibuki would also not attend the Busan performance scheduled for the 13th.
That night Ibuki posted a statement on her account saying, "During the concert organizer's proposal process I was asked to sign a contract in a situation where I did not even have the right to speak as an artist, and actions were taken that could cause discord with the members, so I was discussing future concerts through a Korean lawyer. However, the concert side unilaterally released information without formal consultation saying 'I will not participate in the Busan concert,'" accusing the producer of abusing power.
In response, the producer issued an official statement rebutting, "During the (concert) contract negotiation process communication with Ojo Gang's manager was not smooth, and there were multiple disruptions to schedules and contract progress," and "during negotiations Ojo Gang's manager demanded separate nontransparent conditions not shared with the members and strongly requested that appearance fees not be specified in the contract between the concert production team and the members."
After that, Ibuki said she would participate in the performance on the condition that the manager-related controversy be kept private, that internal problems be resolved, and that she apologize to the members, but right before the performance she suddenly informed via a lawyer that she would not follow through with the previous agreement and would not attend for health reasons. The producer said, "We continued to try to get Ibuki to perform but could not get an answer, and before it was too late we announced her nonattendance for the Busan concert around 5 p.m. on Sept. 8," adding, "Ibuki's condition for participating in the concert would nullify the previous agreement and involve re-contracting with the manager. That condition is unacceptable to the other six members."
The producer added in a further statement, "Ojo Gang members also did not receive work details or schedules from the manager until right before the performance and lost trust, suffering mentally," and "the six members had to hear about Ibuki's absence through a lawyer rather than a colleague," describing the divide between Ibuki and the Ojo Gang members.
Moreover, online there were speculative posts spreading that Ibuki was in a romantic relationship with the manager and that the two had demanded a side contract to divert members' concert fees, and when the producer refused they ended up in the current situation. In this context the six Ojo Gang members posted a statement themselves to explain the current situation.
The six members said, "Ojo Gang is a seven-member team formed around leader Ibuki for WSWF (WSWF3). Although the members had been active individually, when deciding the team manager Ibuki's personal manager and someone who had been with her for a long time became Ojo Gang's manager," and "during broadcast appearances we all worked together aiming for 'victory' and did our best. But behind the scenes numerous problems occurred, such as appearance fees not being paid by the manager or amounts being handled opaquely. Even after payment deadlines passed salaries were not paid, and no proper amounts were presented nor were members' inquiries answered," they alleged.
They continued, "During and after the broadcast there were many work offers for Ojo Gang and for members individually, but most of them were concentrated with the manager, and we were not informed in advance about what jobs had come in. Various Ojo Gang jobs and individual members' work were canceled under the manager's control," and "when we learned this the six of us had long online discussions with Ibuki and the manager. There Ibuki apologized to the six and said 'I will dismiss the manager.' We believed that and rebuilt trust, deciding all Ojo Gang members would participate in the concert. But that promise was not kept," they emphasized.
However, that statement was suddenly deleted not long after it was posted, raising questions. The six members later explained through their personal accounts, "Kyoka, Minaki, Uwa, Junna, Hana and Ru are unable to log into the Ojo Gang account." It appears the manager intentionally deleted the six members' statement and blocked access by changing the password. As Ibuki's nonattendance issue expanded into a conflict over settlements among members, attention is focused on whether Ibuki will post an additional message and offer an explanation herself.
[Photo] SNS
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