The members of boyband OMEGA X have released a group statement on an independent Instagram account alleging “pressure” and “unwarranted treatment” by their agency SPIRE Entertainment.

In October, fans of the boyband and news outlets began uploading video clips that allegedly depicted SPIRE Entertainment CEO Kang Seong-hee’s verbal abuse and physical mistreatment of OMEGA X members towards the end of their ‘Connect: Don’t Give Up’ US tour.

Kang denied all allegations of mistreatment to the media, and the agency released an official statement claiming that Kang and the group had been discussing the hard work that had gone into the tour, and “wound up airing their grievances against one another.” SPIRE Entertainment also said that “the members and the agency have currently resolved all their misunderstandings”.

Members of the boyband themselves did not address the alleged mistreatment at the time. Notably, OMEGA X have not posted publicly on any of their official social media accounts since the allegations first arose in late October.

On November 6, the group set up a new Instagram account that appears to be independent from the agency and personally managed by OMEGA X members. Its first post featured a photo of all 11 members of the act putting their hands together, accompanied by a message to fans claiming OMEGA X members were under “pressure” from the agency that affected the extent to which they could speak on social media. The statement also spoke of “painful times” and alleged “unwarranted treatment” from SPIRE that “made us want to cry”.

“We created this small space for communication because we wanted to thank the fans who love us and the people who are cheering us on, and we also wanted to directly inform you of the current situation with our own mouths,” said the group, per Soompi.

“Under pressure from SPIRE Entertainment, we – the members of [OMEGA X]– previously signed an agreement that ‘if we upload posts to social media without consulting the company, we will have to take both civil and criminal legal responsibility’,” they added.

While OMEGA X did not explicitly refer to any specific incident or individual, they spoke about having to “endure painful times”, adding: “When our suffering recently became known to the world, we were worried that everything we’ve accomplished up until now would evaporate and go up in smoke.”

“There were days when we received such unwarranted treatment from our agency that it made us want to cry,” OMEGA X claimed. “Our only source of strength that made it possible for us to endure it all was remembering the cheers of our fans.”

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While OMEGA X have yet to speak about their future with SPIRE Entertainment, they expressed their intention to remain as a team. “We will stand before our fans once again with good music and performances,” they said.

SPIRE Entertainment has yet to respond to the creation of the independent Instagram account or the contents of its posts.

OMEGA X member Taedong has since become the first member to make an individual post on the new account, writing a message to fans in commemoration of his birthday today (November 7).