No Agreement Reached Between Kris And SM Entertainment During Mediation

The legal battle between former EXO member Kris and Korean record label SM Entertainment will continue past the initial mediation.

On July 8, legal representatives of both SM Entertainment and Kris (Wu Yifan) met for mediation. However, at the end of the meeting, both groups still were promoting its own side's desires.

Kris withdrew from one of SM Entertainment's most popular idol groups, EXO, in the middle of May. The mediation was the last attempt to settle things outside of courts, but it appears that SM Entertainment and Kris have entirely different settlements in mind.

The idol did not appear at the mediation in person.

Now that the mediation has failed, Kris and SM Entertainment will go to court to settle the contract withdrawal.

This will be SM Entertainment's third high-profile contract dispute in recent years, and it's second with a Chinese member of a major idol group, citing unfairness as a reason for withdrawing from the company. In 2009, three members of TVXQ withdrew and sued SM Entertainment on the basis of slave contracts and lack of pay. In 2010, Super Junior member Han Geng (then known as Hankyung) also filed a suit against SM due to unfair contract terms.

Contract lawsuits tend to be extensive and take a long time, making it almost impossible for idols to have activities during that time. However, Kris has already set up some activities. Based on the fact that Kris is already starting on his solo career, he must have the means and backing that would enable him to breach his exclusivity contract with SM.

Because Kris already seemed to be moving on from SM, many people hoped that the mediation would reach a settlement, but that is not the case.

Since leaving EXO, Kris has transitioned from being a K-Pop idol to trying his hand out at acting in China. He will be appearing in the upcoming film Somewhere Only We Know, directed by Xi Jinglei.The two were recently involved in a dating scandal, although both Xu Jinglei and Kris' representation has denied the claims.

It is unknown when SM Entertainment and Kris will meet in court.

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