Fans of OMEGA X (오메가엑스) have been rallying in the “#ProtectOMEGAX” movement on social media, particularly Twitter, this week. This came after rumours surrounding the boy group’s alleged mistreatment by their company, Spire Entertainment, broke out online recently.
The rumours started after a fan posted a video, stating that the boy group had been verbally and physically abused by their company’s CEO, known by the surname Kang, following their concert tour in Los Angeles. The video was uploaded by Twitter user @hwi_418.
to all kpop fans who don’t know what’s going on, please look into the hashtag #PROTECTOMEGAX. Omega x are being verbally and physically abused, this must stop, so please rt to spread awareness. nobody deserves to be treated this way. https://t.co/ed91kn27rL
— BEST THING THAT HAPPENED IN KPOP (@kpophappenings_) October 23, 2022
“Guys, I was waiting for the Uber that I called outside, and I saw the company CEO hitting the members. I really didn’t know what to do since my hands were shaking so much. They were being hit right in front of me, but I couldn’t do anything,” @hwi_418 tweeted. In the audio recording, the individual (claimed to be CEO Kang) could be heard screaming at some of the OMEGA X members. Despite the company’s attempt to shrug off the allegations, the footage of the incident was later uploaded on SBS News’ official YouTube channel.
Following a post-performance dinner at a hotel, Kang told the boy group members, “Why do you think XXs (curse words) like you deserve to be loved by people? XXs who don’t know what it means to be loved is loved. I know how XXing calculated you are.” In particular, she reportedly yelled at Jaehan, who was sitting down with symptoms of panic. She said, “Get up. If you get sick like this every day, quit being an idol.”
In the video, the female CEO also forced the idol to stand up. “I know how many times I stumbled. I was so sick I could’ve died. Even though I was so sick I could’ve died, I worked all night,” she told him. Fellow member Taedong then tried to move Jaehan in front of the hotel lift. Kang then shouted, “You all did this to me. When I was having such a hard time, did you take care of me?”
Taedong then told CEO Kang that Jaehan had collapsed. As he protested, she said, “I’m already down (collapsed).” She then pulled Jaehan’s collar and knocked him to the floor. During the alleged assault, Jaehan was also seen sobbing until he got up from the floor and entered the lift. Following that, SBS reached out to the CEO for a statement. In response, she quickly denied the abuse allegations.
“I never yelled at the members, nor did I assault them,” CEO Kang insisted. She went on to explain, “I sat down in front of the hotel lift, and he (Jaehan) also sat down. I was really upset, so I said, ‘Have you ever protected me? Did you protect me when I was having a hard time?'”
Watch the video here:
For those who aren’t really familiar with OMEGA X, the group consists of 11 members of inactive or disbanded K-pop groups including Seven O’Clock, ENOI, 1TEAM, Snuper, and Limitless.
