ASTRO’s Cha Eunwoo Revealed To Have Previously Terminated His Contract With Fantagio, Agency Responds

It has been belatedly revealed that ASTRO member and actor Cha Eunwoo had previously terminated his exclusive contract with his agency Fantagio.

On November 1st, Sports Kyunghyang reported that Cha Eunwoo had previously agreed to terminate his exclusive contract due to Fantagio’s management disputes and a management vacuum, which made proper management difficult.

According to the report, after trust was restored, Fantagio signed a business consignment contract in July 2019 with a corporation established by Cha Eunwoo’s mother to support his entertainment activities.

The contract between Fantagio and Cha Eunwoo’s mother’s corporation is still in effect, and Cha Eunwoo is reportedly the only artist within Fantagio who has an income-sharing structure through a business consignment contract with a family-established corporation.

In response, Fantagio officially told Xportsnews, “We have no additional official statement regarding this matter.”

Meanwhile, earlier this year, Cha Eunwoo became the center of controversy amid allegations of tax evasion. Fantagio was fined approximately ₩8.20 billion KRW (about $6.15 million USD) in a tax investigation concerning the contract with Cha Eunwoo’s mother’s corporation.

There were initially reports that Cha Eunwoo himself was notified of an income tax surcharge in the ₩20.0 billion KRW (about $15.0 million USD) range, but he subsequently paid the actual surcharge of ₩13.0 billion KRW (about $9.75 million USD). Following this, Cha Eunwoo’s side filed an appeal with the Tax Tribunal, disputing the National Tax Service’s tax assessment.