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On January 14, SM Entertainment announced the artist lineup for its 30th anniversary album, set for release next month. Among the still active acts launched by the label since 1995, only the boy group SHINee will not participate.
This immediately raised suspicions that the problem was due to BPM gatekeeping Taemin from doing his schedules with his group.
Accusations were made against the CEO of Griffin, Onew's new label when he posted an Instagram Story, hinting at intercompany issues that limit SHINee's supposed full group activity, despite their desire for Onew to be with them.
In a now-deleted post, the CEO implied that he wasn't referring to SM, prompting fans to speculate that he was targeting BPM Entertainment.
From one of Griffin CEO’s deleted instagram story, he made it clear he is not talking about SM pic.twitter.com/eM1C0IolpV
— 테일러🫐🕯️ (@xoalstay) January 14, 2025
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Following this, Shawols (SHINee's fans) began calling out the company on the online forum theqoo, accusing them of canceling Taemin's schedules with his fellow members.
As the issue escalated, Taemin faced backlash as well, with some netizens accusing him of neglecting SHINee's activities to prioritize his solo career.
On January 15, BPM Entertainment released its official position to refute the allegations against both the label and its artist.
안녕하세요. 빅플래닛메이드입니다. pic.twitter.com/yLYQUoj2xZ
— 태민 (TAEMIN) (@TAEMIN_BPM) January 15, 2025
"We have always supported and cheered on SHINee's activities, which Taemin has great affection for. At the same time, we are not sparing any effort in providing full support so that the artist can receive fair treatment and continue to promote their activities.
We will continue to actively support Taemin so that he can continue to shine as a solo artist and as a member of SHINee, and we will do our best to protect the artist so that Taemin can grow into a greater artist."
BPM also warned malicious commenters that they would take legal action against them.
Meanwhile, some Shawols also defended Griffin's CEO and Onew, who were also sniped by Taemin's fans for harming him and adding fire to the issue with his cryptic messages.
Onew's fans went on to clarify that the post on theqoo twisted his CEO's words and released the label's full chats to justify that he never blamed either BPM or Taemin.
As Griffin CEO was worried about us editing what he said, I translated all of his comments. This was a live chat room for Onew’s new release, and the Griffin CEO joined and chatted with Onew’s fans.
— 테일러🫐🕯️ (@xoalstay) January 14, 2025
It’s up to you whether you choose to believe the members or the Griffin CEO https://t.co/47Jw6iU1KB pic.twitter.com/2R0QfmcJ1F
Full part of Jang CEO chatㅡ so you guys don't make a fuss over partly edited chat
— far🍀 (@parixxe_) January 14, 2025
Pls go through it carefully as it's a long message and it might content some inaccuracies as I'm not a native speaker and open to discussion for the error
Everyone is a winner!!
Raise your head… https://t.co/OAsigOmdhH
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