Blackpink Lisa 'swindled' with 1B Won, Blinks hold YG liable

MANILA, Philippines — Ahead of the much-awaited June comeback of K-pop girl group Blackpink, the band's label YG Entertainment confirmed an exclusive report by a Korean news outlet that a former manager employed by the company swindled member Lisa with 1 billion South Korean Won or approximately P41.2 million.

“We found out through an internal investigation that Lisa was a victim of fraud by her former manager ‘A’. According to Lisa’s wishes of an amicable settlement, as he was a former manager she trusted, ‘A’ has agreed to reimburse some of the money he stole, and the rest of the money will be paid back through a repayment plan, and he has left the company,” YG said in a statement released by Korean media.

The company has since apologized to the group’s fans and assured them that they will take the necessary measures to prevent a similar incident from taking place in the future.

“We apologize for causing concern to fans who love Lisa. We are very embarrassed by ‘A’s’ behavior of taking advantage of his trust with the artist, and we feel responsible for the management and supervision [of our staff]. We are working on measures to prevent such an unfortunate event from happening again.”

However, fed up Blinks are not buying it, saying that YG is just playing with fire as evidenced by the latest scandal.

Taking to social media, Blackpink’s fanbase pointed out that it’s Lisa and her fellow members  — Jennie, Jisoo and Rosé — that the company should apologize to for consistent neglect, including the repeated delay of the group’s comeback and solo projects.

This is all YG said about the issue.. Plus, why are you apologizing to us? Apologize to Lisa and treat her the way she deserves. Who can she trust if she can’t even trust those you put around her? Focus on Lisa and take care of her. Put her first and make sure she’s fine, not us. pic.twitter.com/KXRmHl9mPY

— ??? ?? ???????? (@jendeukiebabo) June 2, 2020

you can't convinced me otherwise now that blackpink esp. lisa were really mistreated in that company. the way that company doesn't give them what they deserve after all the success & years of working hard and the way they're taking advantage of them. FUCK YG ENTERTAINMENT

— ` (@swallalisaa) June 2, 2020

This is just ONE incident that happened to Lisa.. I'm TERRIFIED thinking about what else they may be doing to Blackpink that we don't know about. They warned us. pic.twitter.com/cfUndFgj8f

— ???? ???? (@cyanblink) June 2, 2020

when we say blackpink are being mistreated in yg we're not even talking about only as artists anymore but human beings

— ¹??? (@jennieslyrics) June 2, 2020

According to a former YG employee, idol managers earn 25k-40k a year. To pay back what he stole, he'd have to fork over his entire salary for the next 20-40 years. He's never going to pay it all back ???? Lisa probably knows but settled. She’s seriously too nice for her own good ????

— ??? ?? ???????? (@jendeukiebabo) June 2, 2020

Related: #BLACKPINKLEAVEYG trends on Twitter, asking band to exit 'big 3' K-pop company

Yesterday, YG said that Blackpink's first comeback after “Kill This Love” in April 2019 will push through this month along with an official album release in September.

Since “As If It’s Your Last” in 2017, group promotions had been capped to once a year, with the gap between the current comeback (if it indeed pushes through within June) and “Kill This Love” the longest so far at one year and two months.

Adding to YG's list of yet-to-be-fulfilled promises are the solo activities of Rosé, Lisa and Jisoo.

“YG will not stop the support and effort to help BLACKPINK create better music and to help them grow as admirable artists. That is because it’s the first and most important thing we should consider to repay your love and support towards BLACKPINK,” read their Monday statement.