The Seoul Central District Court granted EXO members Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin—collectively known as CBX—a provisional injunction to suspend their exclusive contracts with agency INB100 immediately on September 15, 2026.
Photo:GOXUAN/Instagram
According to several news reports, the court recognized that INB100 broke its relationship of trust with the artists when it failed to pay them the settlements they were owed. Additionally, the ruling noted that keeping the contracts active could limit CBX’s ability to pursue their own activities and freely continue working independently.
As a result, Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin are now temporarily free to work independently and make third-party agreements without needing to consult or seek approval from INB100.
Previously, Civil Agreement Division 50 of the Seoul Central District Court convened for an initial hearing regarding CBX’s petition to temporarily halt their contracts, citing unpaid revenue settlements and unfulfilled contract fees on September 7, 2026.
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However, local news outlets revealed that the initial session wrapped up in under 10 minutes as representatives from INB100 failed to show up or submit defense documents, maintaining a non-responsive stance since the initial filing.
CBX first issued a notice of intent to terminate their exclusive contracts between March and April 2026. When INB100 repeatedly failed to address their accounting concerns, the artists brought the matter to court. In addition to the injunction, the trio filed a main lawsuit seeking to have their exclusive contracts declared completely null and void.
A complicated history of agency disputes
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This is not the first time CBX has taken legal action over contract transparency. In June 2023, Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin also filed to terminate their contracts with EXO’s parent company, SM Entertainment, citing non-transparent financial records.
Both parties eventually reached a negotiated settlement: CBX agreed to continue group activities under SM Entertainment, while INB100, a label founded by Baekhyun in 2023, would manage their individual and subunit activities independently.
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Tensions between CBX and SM Entertainment flared up again in June 2024 when INB100 publicly accused EXO’s parent company of demanding an unreasonable 10% full-revenue royalty cut while failing to deliver on promised 5.5% distribution fee rates. SM Entertainment retaliated by filing a contract-enforcement lawsuit against the subunit.
The underlying vulnerability of INB100 traces back to May 2024, when Baekhyun agreed to let One Hundred Label—a parent entity co-founded by corporate executive Cha Ga-won—absorb INB100 as a subsidiary. That structural merger eventually led to the current financial crisis.
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Corporate arrest and severe repercussions for Baekhyun
On August 3, 2026, authorities formally detained Chairman Cha on fraud charges involving a 30 billion won (₱1.25 billion) corporate venture.
Prosecutors allege that the co-founder of One Hundred Label contracted with entertainment-tech company Knowmerce (Nomus Co., Ltd.) to license the intellectual property of artists under her parent label, collecting 24.2 billion won (₱1.01 billion) in advance payments without executing the agreed business plans.
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One Hundred Label’s operational collapse has left Baekhyun facing severe financial fallout.
Reports from Korean investigative outlets indicate that Baekhyun transferred ownership of INB100 to Cha without collecting his 35 billion won (₱1.46 billion) contract fee upfront. Instead, he entered an agreement to receive a luxury unit in Eterno phase three in Yongsan, Seoul, which was still under development.
Following Cha’s arrest and the court-ordered freeze on One Hundred Label’s financial accounts, construction on the Yongsan property was halted, leaving Baekhyun with an uncollectible contract fee.
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Baekhyun also faces the immediate threat of losing his current residence—an ultra-luxury villa unit in Lanuvo Hannam, owned by Cha. Before living in the villa, Baekhyun reportedly paid Cha a personal deposit of 16 billion won (₱668 million) to secure the residence.
But due to Cha’s arrest and ongoing tax delinquency investigations, the National Tax Service and local courts issued provisional seizures on her assets.
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If the Hannam residence is auctioned off to liquidate Cha’s corporate liabilities, Baekhyun risks losing both his home and his 16 billion won deposit, while remaining legally obligated to service the massive personal bank loans he took out to finance the deposit.
ALSO READ: Hold On, EXO-Ls: A New Subunit Might Be Dropping by the End of 2026
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