In February of this year, The 4 member Korean rock band The Rose was reported to have sent a certification of contents to terminate their contract with J & Star Company citing allegations including overworking the members, unreasonable schedule and most importantly, not being paid for 3 years. Besides, there was also a lot of pressure regarding releasing unfinished songs. The agency, at that time, refuted these claims and said that they would take legal action.
In March, the band filed a lawsuit against the company in order to expedite the process of contract termination. The Rose did not demand the money that they were owed but simply an amicable termination of contract so they could go ahead with their musical careers. Nothing much was heard from them since then except for when Dojoon, a member of the band enlisted in the Military on 6/7.
The members had slowly started posting on their personal Instagram accounts and even made new SNS accounts for the band, under the name of @TheRoseSound, which was not linked to the company whatsoever. It was on this account that the band released news about a new single. On August 24, 2020, The Rose released a song called "Black Rose" as a gift for the fans' unwavering love and support.
Fans started speculating that the lawsuit might have gone through and their contract was safely terminated. However, with the recent announcement from the agency on August 31st, suffice to say that the fight in still on. The Court has denied the band's request for termination of contract. All requests were rejected by the Court including injunctions filed against the company for breakdown of trust and violation of the exclusive contract. The company has also added that in that regard, they are current mediating through the Korea Commercial Arbitration Agency in order to solve the situation as amicably as possible.
Through this ordeal, fans stand strong with the members of the band. #WeStandWithTheRose is trending worldwide on Twitter in order to express their support for the boys. We hope this difficult situation passed quickly and in favour of The Rose.
