Author 丨 Xiaoming
On October 14, 2019, On the second floor of her home, Cui Shirley chose to hang herself to end her life.
On November 24, 2019, Gu Hola committed suicide at home, and not long ago, she also cried and mourned Cui Shirley during the live broadcast.
On December 3, 2019, Che Renhe was found dead at home, and the day before his death, he also urged fans on social media to pay attention to keep warm.
In the space of 50 days, 3 celebrities have chosen to commit suicide in their own homes.
And they all share a common trait: depression.
What kind of environment can make so many Korean celebrities suffer from depression? What exactly did they go through that made them choose to give up their lives in their good old years?
All of this is inseparable from the hand behind them: The Korean entertainment company.
As early as 2017, the market value of the Korean Wave industry that affected the world has reached a staggering $4.7 billion.
Internationally, South Korea's idol industry is definitely one of the best.
They can do it one after another to create batches of idol stars.
They can sing and dance, everyone is very professional, and throughout the decades, Korean idol stars can be said to have never broken the file.
In South Korea, in theory, every ordinary passerby can become a big star in the eyes of the world, and it is such a tempting opportunity to realize dreams, attracting countless young people who do not understand the world.
More and more people choose to become trainees and win a chance to debut and become famous.
But they don't know that what they are about to face is a road of no return.
01
A 7-year deed of sale
The company spends money and resources to cultivate an artist, and it is understandable to ask for a contract.
Not only in South Korea, but all over the world.
But only in South Korea, the artist's contract is naked like a deed of sale.
McHenry, a former member of the South Korean boy band JJCC, posted online about the dark side of Korean entertainment companies after exiting the group.
It is said that south Korea's effort contracts have a long contract period, the most common of which is 7-15 years.
During this period, it was basically a desperate work for the company.
In South Korea, if you want to become an artist, you must first join an entertainment company to become a trainee, and after several years of training and selection, the best group of talents in it can officially debut as idols.
Moreover, once they choose to become trainees, they have to sign this contract, but this 7-15 years is only calculated after their successful debut.
As for why it is a deed of sale, because the terms are simply outrageous.
1. Can't own your own phone
Not only the trainee training period before their debut, but even everyone after their successful debut is forbidden to have their own mobile phone.
Can't connect with the outside world, can't connect with friends.
Only when they are on occasional vacations can they have a brief moment to have a mobile phone.
2. Can't decide what to do on your own
To put it bluntly, it is that what time to get up, what time to eat, and what time to sleep every day must be strictly controlled by the company.
Can't have a little time of your own.
Meetings with friends, visiting parents, etc. are all out of reach and can only be done when you are on vacation.
And these controls, whether it is a trainee or an idol after debut, are the same.
And these are only a small part of it, and in the distribution of income, it is the collapse to the extreme.
02
Earnings of two or eight points is the norm
Unlike the domestic entertainment industry, every artist in the Korean entertainment industry is not as rich as people think.
In South Korea, most of each artist's income is proportional to the company.
Among them, it is normal for artists to take 10% of the company to take 90%, and artists with good luck can get 20% of the proportion.
Artists who can get 30% or even 40% are few, and one out of ten thousand.
However, in South Korea, most of the artists from this kind of company debut in the form of combinations.
A group can say as few as five people, and more can even have a dozen people.
And this 10% is to be divided equally between each person's head.
As a result, everyone may not have as much money as white-collar workers sitting in offices.
And in South Korea, the income of artists is also very small.
Taking "Running Man" as an example, the money obtained by domestic artists running a period is enough for those in South Korea to run for a year.
Being able to buy a small apartment in Seoul is already a very happy thing for them.
Not only that, after the debut of the artist, their income also has to repay the training, meals and other expenses during the trainee period.
Those artists who are not popular even make ends meet.
In South Korea, most of the artists can get only a few incomes every year, and there are few artists who can make money and are particularly popular.
03
Take the life to work
A few days ago, Gao Yixiang died during the recording of the program due to overwork, and people were denouncing a certain station, saying that they were inhumane and simply joking about the lives of artists.
Regarding this phenomenon, Wu Zongxian said in an interview:
It was all done by Koreans.
Envy people's achievements and works, brainless learning, but do not know the darkness behind it.
In South Korea, however, every artist goes through a more intense work than that.
With 24 hours a day, 007 working hours, those entertainment companies to maximize the value of the artists during the contract period of 7-15 years.
Physical health, psychological pressure or whatever, is not what they need to consider, they only think about how to make artists earn more money, how to squeeze every drop of blood of artists.
In the case of McHenry, for example, he wakes up at 6 o'clock every morning and then goes for a two-hour walk before starting to practice dancing.
During this period, if there are any performances or variety shows and other work arrangements, they must be completed.
If it ends early, you will go back after 11:00 a.m. to continue practicing your dance until 1:00 a.m.
And this is not the occasional busy work, but a daily routine.
Sleeping only five hours a day, intense work and practice, and the sudden fainting of an artist on stage is nothing new.
It is such a high-intensity work and training, but it can not get the corresponding return.
In this regard, many artists are miserable.
This is also why so many Chinese artists have been in South Korea for a few years after their debut, preferring to bear huge liquidated damages and return to China to develop.
04
Forced to undergo a facelift
I'm sure many people have heard a joke:
In South Korea, the best coming-of-age gift a father can give to his daughter is to go to the best plastic surgery hospital for a facelift.
Koreans like plastic surgery is a cliché, but there are many artists who have to undergo plastic surgery under the pressure of the company.
Shin Dong-hee, the "prodigy" in the once-famous boy band Super Junior, once said in an interview:
One day the company came to me and said my eyes were uncomfortable and asked me to go for a facelift.
So he had to go to the hospital for a facelift.
South Korean singer Huang Zhilie, who has participated in domestic variety shows, has also experienced such a situation.
Before he made his debut, his agent approached him and said the company felt he should be groomed.
So he had to get a facelift.
There are many more such artists, too numerous to count.
Almost every artist who debuts has had a certain plastic surgery experience.
I don't have a problem with plastic surgery, but this kind of forced plastic surgery is really disgraceful.
05
Eating meat has become a luxury
Man is iron rice is steel, and eating and drinking enough is the basic need as a human being.
But in South Korean entertainment companies, none of this is realistic.
You can eat and drink, but they will have someone come over once a week for a weight check, and as long as they gain even a pound, they must immediately go on a hunger strike and slim back.
Under severe work pressure, this unhealthy and irregular eating habit has caused many people to suffer from diseases.
People with anorexia and bulimia abound.
Members of the famous boy band EXO recently participated in a variety show, and they revealed the original accommodation and eating environment.
They described that during the period when they first debuted, there was no mobile phone, no contact with the outside world, and the only things they could eat every day were seaweed wrapped rice.
A team of more than a dozen people, everyone is the same, the key is that the ingredients in the seaweed bun every day are random.
There are only two servings of meat every day, and whether you can eat it depends on luck and fate.
They went on like these days for two or three years.
06
Everything is up to the company
Every moment, countless young people join entertainment companies with dreams of music.
Because in South Korea, it is difficult for a person to become famous, and the only way out is to be a trainee.
However, entertainment companies will not easily let you chase your dreams, in their eyes, everything is inferior, only the money is high.
Some girls with rock dreams join the company, but the popularity is tepid, in this case, the company will immediately cut off their rock dreams, let them put on tank tops and shorts, and transform into a sexy route.
For example, the AOA girl group used to be a few girls with rock and roll dreams.
However, because the popularity is not high, under the influence of the company, several people put on shorts and took the sexy route.
The contract was there, and there was nothing they could do.
The consequence of this is that the first fans who like them will spare no effort to insult them.
Online violence is the last straw that overwhelms them.
"Obviously I have worked very hard, obviously I have done my best, why do you still scold us?"
Everyone thinks that in order to catch fire, they will not hesitate to switch from ordinary artists to selling meat.
But I don't know, all this is controlled by the big hand behind it.
07
Unspoken rules
The unspoken rules of the Korean entertainment industry are already well known.
Among the male artists, the most famous is Li Shengli from the BigBang group.
In order to receive customers, he provided drugs in his own shop, pimped customers, and paid bribes to the police.
Male artists can do such illegal things in order to please customers, but what about female artists?
I believe that everyone must have their own answer in their hearts.
Some people must say that they can't do anything for the sake of fire?
In fact, if these female artists do not agree, the consequences are not simply not to get the company's training.
In other words, they have no choice, and they can't help but agree.
Does anyone remember Zhang Ziyan?
She committed suicide at home on March 7, 2009, at the age of 29.
On the evening of March 6, 2011, South Korea's SBS news program published Zhang Ziyan's suicide note for the first time, revealing that she had been forced to provide more than 100 sexual services to 31 people, including planning companies, financial institutions and broadcasters.
In her suicide note, Zhang Ziyan said that even if she died, she would take revenge on the demons, and the demons she referred to in her letter believed to be agents who forced her to provide sexual services.
Accompanying miss sleeping only received 2-3 people a day, Zhang Ziyan had to deal with an average of 5 men a day, served up to 72 hours continuously, was forced to sign a 5p sexual consent form, forced to take drugs and drugs, and it was difficult to walk afterwards, even on the day of her mother's death, she could not run.
She didn't have a choice, and behind these big companies, it was a presence she couldn't afford to mess with.
The South Korean journalists who were retaliated against are the best examples.
According to a 2010 report by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, the Survey of the Actual Human Rights Situation of Female Artists, six out of 10 actresses said they had been asked to trade sex with people of social status.
About half (48.4%) of female artists who were asked to provide sexual services suffered losses in terms of role assignments or starring advertisements after refusal.
It can be said that the Korean entertainment industry has not created stars, but the playthings of those capitalists.
In South Korea, one out of every 800 people who sign up will be able to become a trainee, and nearly half of these trainees will be eliminated.
Even if you make your debut, there are 100 groups in South Korea every year, how many can be remembered?
Those who have not been remembered, their fate, I believe that everyone has their own answer in their hearts.
On February 25, 2005, actor Lee Eun-joo committed suicide at home.
On January 21, 2007, singer U-Nee committed suicide at home.
On February 10, 2007, actor Zheng Duobin committed suicide at home.
On October 2, 2008, actor Choi Jin-jin committed suicide at home.
On March 7, 2009, actress Zhang Ziyan hanged herself at home.
On November 12, 2010, actor Park Hye-sang committed suicide at home.
On April 18, 2011, model Kim Yoo-ri committed suicide at home.
On May 23, 2011, host Song Zhishan committed suicide by jumping off a building.
On August 25, 2011, actor Han Caiyuan committed suicide at home.
On December 12, 2013, singer Kim Ji-hoon committed suicide in a hotel.
On December 18, 2017, singer Kim Jong-hyun committed suicide in his office building.
On October 14, 2019, singer Cui Shirley committed suicide at home.
On November 24, 2019, singer Gu Hola committed suicide at home.
On December 3, 2019, actor Che Renhe committed suicide at home.
And that's far from all...
Most of these artists could not withstand the pressure, resulting in suicide after suffering from depression, and some could no longer bear the darkness of the Korean entertainment industry and chose to end their lives.
Countless young men and women are attracted by the glamorous appearance of the artists and deceived by the promotional documentaries flowing out of entertainment companies.
They think that they are on the stage of great attention, a future full of light and hope like in the propaganda film, but they do not know that the light is far away, and the step forward is the abyss.
This is the Korean entertainment industry, this is the Korean entertainment company, this is the darkness behind the brilliance.
And in these darknesses, there is no light.
Resources:
1. CCTV13: "CCTV Unveils the Suicide Curse of the Korean Entertainment Industry"
2. Southern Metropolis Daily: "Unveiling the Five Rules of the Korean Entertainment Circle: Sleeping with Universal Company Pimping"