20140916_seoulbeats_gonghyojin_leejinwook1Hello, and welcome back to another edition of SB Week in Review! Here’s all the news you might have missed:

Serious News

  • Actor Lee Min-ki was revealed to have been charged with sexual assault last February. Though the charges were dropped, and he was deemed innocent, the revelation cost him his role in upcoming drama Tomorrow With You.
  • Unfortunately, the sexual assault news doesn’t end there. Actor Lee Jin-wook has also been accused of sexual assault. While acknowledging that a sexual encounter took place, his agency denied the charges of assault. They’ve also filed a counter suit against the accuser. Meanwhile, a travel ban was placed on the actor for the duration of the investigation.
  • Kim Hyun Joong and Miss Choi continue to battle it out in court. This week a member of his fan club was pulled into the mix after her testimony came under question of perjury. It never ends.
  • Former Trax member, Noh Min-woo lost his legal battle with SM Entertainment. After leaving the Trax, Noh was still contracted with SM for an additional seventeen years. He claimed that, during that time, the company made little effort to promote him and obstructed his activities.
  • Speaking of SM contract battles, former Exo members Luhan and Kris finally reached a settlement with SM Entertainment regarding their petitions for contract termination. The two artists will remain legally “under contract” with SM until 2022. That doesn’t mean Exo12 will be back anytime soon, it simply means the two artists will have to share their earnings in China with the company until their contracts expire. What are your thoughts on this solution?

Debuts & Comebacks

  • 20160721_seoulbeats_stellar_cryingFT Island held nothing back in “Take Me Now.”
  • Show Me the Money‘s Microdot released “Wave” featuring Vixx‘s Ravi and Lil’ Boi.
  • Hello Venus is the latest girl group to hit the beach for their summer comeback. Check out the MV for “Paradise.”
  • Keeping with the summer theme, Stellar got a little wild (and violent) in “Crying.” Are revenge girl group MV’s the trend this summer?
  • Super Junior‘s Zhoumi tried to score some digits in his second solo release with “What’s Your Number?“
  • Former Exo member, Tao battled himself in his latest MV for “Black White.”
  • Beatwin returned with “Your Girl.”
  • Heize and Dean teamed up once again for “And July.”
  • Gavy NJ‘s latest MV stars Madtown‘s Jota.
  • Jay Park is keeping the releases coming this summer. This week he unveiled “All I Wanna Do” featuring  Lilly Mae Mac.
  • Miss A‘s Fei debuted as a soloist this week. There’s really no question in my mind why her single is titled “Fantasy,” but perhaps wet dream would have been more accurate.
  • Our SM Station track of the week is f(x)‘s “All Mine,” directed by Amber! I guess this release confirms that we really shouldn’t expect a group comeback this year.

Teasers & Announcements

  • Former Kara member, Han Seung-yeon plans to release her first solo track “I am Her” on July 25.
  • Star King will come to an end after a successful nine year run.
  • Hyuna will make her first comeback following 4 Minute‘s surprise disbandment last month. We can expect her track on August 1, and we can also expect a solo reality series to document her return.
  • 20151125_seoulbeats_bts_sugaBTS‘s Suga will drop his first mix tape in August.
  • Are you ready for the 9 Muses subunit on August 4?
  • Show Me the Money (and No Mercy) rapper Gun will debut next week with a digital single. Last year’s winner, Basik, is also expected to return in August.
  • Loen Entertainment plans to debut five Produce 101 contestants (Han Hyeri, Lee Soo Hyun, Kim So Hee, Yoon Chae Kyung, and Lee Hae In) in a short-term project girl group, I.B.I.
  • Tablo‘s label HIGHGRND will put out the digital single “Beside Me” on July 26. The track features Code Kunst, Yang Dong-geun, Suran and BewhY (SMTM 5 winner).

Other News

  • After School‘s Lizzy visited the contested territory of Dokdo this week for a friendly publicity stunt, complete with some patriotic Instagram posts. As expected, Japanese fans did not react positively.
  • Oh My Girl came under fire this week for their cultural appropriation during a fan meeting for “Windy Day.” With the Middle Eastern-inspired instrumentals in their latest track, fans labeled the group “Curry-dols.” Running with the new nickname, Oh My Girl then performed a cover of Norazo‘s “Curry” — a track loaded with offensive stereotypes — for their fans.
  • Seungri released an apology for sleeping with his feet up on a train in China.
  • NCT‘s Taeyong also gave a tearful apology for his behavior back in middle school. This isn’t the first time he’s apologized for the incident, either.
  • A Produce 101 director raised some eyebrows when he likened the survival show to “healthy porn for male viewers.” While what he’s saying is not exactly a new thought or trend in media, the casualness with which he referred to the commodification of young female bodies for “uncle” fans’ pleasure is more than a little disturbing. Being “fair” to both genders, he also clarified that his reasoning behind Boys 24 was to provide “porn for women,” too. Mnet quickly came out with an apology for the “inappropriate choice of words.”

 

(Naver: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15], Nate: [1] [2] [3], Yonhap, Insight, BizEnter, Star. Images via Star Empire, Entertainment, The Entertainment  Pascal, Big Hit Entertainment, 1st Look.)