Mijoo's new agency is still a hot topic of conversation after he decided to leave his previous company. Apparently, he had doubts about entering his current agency.
In 2021, Yoo Jae Seok surprised many industry watchers by signing with Antenna, a small agency founded by Yoo Hee Yeol. Before Yoo Jae Seok joined the company, Antenna only accommodated musicians.
However, with Yoo Jae Seok joining, he became the first non-musician to join their agency. A few months later, his partner Mijoo ex Lovelyz also signed a contract with Antenna following his departure from his old agency Woollim Entertainment.
On the latest episode of "How Do You Play?", the cast visited Antenna founder and CEO Yoo Hee Yeol at the agency's new office. During their conversation, Yoo Jae Seok revealed that he actually had the idea to join Antenna.
"Yoo Jae Suk called me and asked me what I thought about us working together at Antenna? I was thinking if he has gone crazy? I really thought so. I was wondering if he was joking?" Yoo Hee Yeol said.
The Antenna CEO explained that because the agency is so small, he never even considered the possibility of Yoo Jae Seok wanting to join. "I never even joked about that possibility. But then he suddenly asked me what I thought about the two of us working together. So I thought he was teasing me. I was wondering, is he really teasing me like this? But then our conversation became more concrete, and Yoo Jae Seok said something really cool to me. As we were talking, I suddenly felt the conversation turn serious, and then he said to me, 'You work with me. I will choose this agency because I trust you. No others for it'," said Yoo Hee Yeol revealing his conversation with Yoo Jae Seok.
However, Yoo Hee Yeol went on to reveal with a laugh that Yoo Jae Seok was a little disappointed or annoyed and said should he buy this agency. HaHa then raised the false rumor that Yoo Jae Seok had chosen not to receive the signing bonus when signing his exclusive contract with Antenna.
"That's right, I need to talk about this. I plan to do that. To be honest, when I signed with Antenna, they were short on money and they weren't really in a position to give me a lot of signing bonuses," said Yoo Jae Seok.
"So I said don't make it complicated. Let's forget about signing bonuses and let's start working together without bonuses," continued Yoo Jae Seok, which Yoo Hee Yeol actually opposed.
Yoo Jae Seok has a certain influence as a celebrity. There are many junior entertainers who are affected by his decisions. If we compare him to a baseball player, he will be the best cleaning hitter in the country. But if he joins the team without a signing bonus, his juniors will have to follow suit. the president when he joined their own team. I didn't want to make it like that," said Yoo Hee Yeol later.
Then, Yoo Jae Suk explained how Mijoo ended up joining him on Antenna. Mijoo told us that her contract with her former agency was about to expire, so she looked for a new agency. So one day, I asked Yoo Hee Yeol what he thought about Mijoo? And I could tell from his voice that he didn't really know who Mijoo was. " said Yoo Jae Seok.
After Yoo Hee Yeol urged Mijoo that it wasn't true, Yoo Jae Seok added that while Yoo Hee Yeol was initially reluctant to add another non-musician to their list, he immediately changed his mind. "He said he would think about it again, and three weeks passed. Then he suddenly called me and told me to bring Mijoo in," said Yoo Jae Seok.
Yoo Hee Yeol then revealed that the reason he was unsure about Mijoo was because he had not really seen the program he was participating in. After searching everything he followed, and Yoo Hee Yeol understood why Yoo Jae Seok recommended him.
Yoo Jae Seok then surprised Mijoo by revealing that HaHa was also interested in signing her at his own agency. Even though an embarrassed HaHa begged him not to tell his story, Yoo Jae Seok shared that on the exact same day Yoo Hee Yeol decided to sign Mijoo, HaHa had called him to talk. (wk/taki)
