K-Pop's Messiest Label War Just Got a Livestream. MC Mong Named Names.
Two nights. Two TikTok broadcasts. Dozens of allegations. By Tuesday morning in Seoul, the Korean entertainment industry had a new crisis on its hands - and a new template for how to fight one publicly.
On May 18, rapper and producer MC Mong went live on TikTok to deny allegations that he had engaged in illegal gambling and prostitution using company funds at One Hundred Label, the agency he co-founded in 2023 with businesswoman Cha Ga-won. He didn't stop there. Over the course of the broadcast - and a follow-up stream the following evening - he named actors Kim Min-jong and Hwang Shin-hye, K-pop groups The Boyz and EXO's Baekhyun, and accused Cha Ga-won's uncle, Cha Jun-young, of running an illegal gambling network and attempting to force him out of the company he built.
Kim Min-jong's camp denied everything and announced legal action. Baekhyun has not publicly responded. The Boyz, for their part, had already been fighting One Hundred in court: nine of the group's eleven members filed an embezzlement lawsuit against Cha Ga-won over unpaid settlement funds, and last month won a court injunction suspending the validity of their exclusive contracts. One Hundred said it would file an objection.
MC Mong's account of the company's collapse is specific. He claims Cha Ga-won holds over 50 percent of shares, he holds roughly 20 percent, and that Cha's uncle tried to combine ownership stakes to push Cha herself out - a proposal MC Mong says he rejected. He described a physical confrontation at his home: Cha's uncle arriving, threatening him, pouring coffee on him, and demanding he sign away his shares. He also disclosed the financial scale of the label's artist investments: 16.5 billion won (approximately $12 million) paid to recruit The Boyz - 1.5 billion per member - and a reported 10 billion won in production costs for Baekhyun's first album under the label.
Those figures, unverified externally, hit differently against the backdrop of The Boyz's lawsuit alleging they never received their settlement payments.
The Korea Herald noted immediately that the broadcasts recalled former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin's April 2024 press conference, in which she accused HYBE of attempting to undermine NewJeans and copy the group's concept. The comparison holds structurally: both involved entertainment executives going public with explosive claims against business partners, both named artists and groups, and both expanded into follow-up appearances the next day. The key difference, as music critic Lim Hee-yun observed, is the platform. Min held a formal press conference. MC Mong broadcast directly through his personal social media channel, reaching his audience without editorial mediation. "We've already seen figures like Yoo Seung-jun appeal directly to the public through YouTube," Lim noted. TikTok is the next iteration.
The public response, however, has diverged sharply from the Min Hee-jin moment. Min positioned herself as a creative defending artistic autonomy against corporate overreach - a framing that resonated with younger audiences and generated genuine sympathy. MC Mong carries more complicated baggage: a years-long military service exemption controversy, allegations that have circulated since before One Hundred existed, and a pattern of public crisis management that this week's livestreams only partially addressed.
One Hundred Label issued a statement calling MC Mong's claims false and alleging that the messaging records he cited had been fabricated during an attempt by Cha Jun-young to seize management control. Both sides say they are pursuing legal action.
A follow-up broadcast from MBC's investigative program PD Notebook, which MC Mong mentioned by name and accused of colluding with his opponents, has not yet aired. When it does, the legal picture will sharpen - or expand.
