No:ze files a lawsuit against her agency for Unpaid Wages

No:ze, who was a contestant on Mnet's popular dance competition show 'Street Woman Fighter,' has filed a lawsuit against her agency.

According to a March 9 legal report, No:ze filed a lawsuit in December 2022 against her agency, Starting House, at the Seoul Central District Court. In addition, she applied for a provisional disposition to suspend the effect of the exclusive contract with the agency until the conclusion of this lawsuit.

No:ze's representative told Yonhap News, "No:ze hasn't received payment from the agency for several months since April of last year."

The representative claimed, “No:ze requested payment several times, but the management only delayed it, and in August of last year, they explicitly refused to pay, saying, they will recalculate and deposit money after discussing her activities.”

The agency paid No:ze after she notified them about a contract termination. The agency replied that the contract termination was invalid, saying, "There was a legitimate reason for not paying No:ze on time."

On March 8, at the hearing of the 50th Civil Settlement of the Seoul Central District Court, the company's representative said, "The profit distribution ratio was not confirmed in the first half of last year. When the profit distribution ratio was about to be settled, the social media controversy broke out and we were busy trying to fix that issue."

The agency continued, “Due to the controversy, we were in a situation where contracts could be terminated and we would have to pay large sums of penalties. After this issue was resolved, we completed sending over her payment. It was difficult to see the urgent need for No:ze to resume activities and the biggest reason the contracts fell through and went wrong was due to No:ze."

No:ze's side is continuing the lawsuit, claiming that the agency arbitrarily calculated the amount and that the mutual trust has already been destroyed.

Meanwhile, No:ze gained popularity after appearing as the leader of Crew WayB in the Mnet dance competition program 'Street Woman Fighter,' which aired last year.

However, in July of last year, No:ze was embroiled in a controversy after being accused of taking payment for advertising but not delivering on her promise to post the content on social media, or deleting posts of products from small and medium-sized companies, just a few days after she had been paid for the advertising.

At the time, No:ze apologized by saying, “My immature attitude caused trouble to the people involved and disappointed the fans who cherish and love me. I know that no words can undo my past mistakes, so I will do my best to show you a better version of myself through deep self-reflection.”