On January 14, 2025, it was announced that Red Velvet’s Joy has renewed her contract with SM Entertainment.
Explaining this decision, Joy said, “I had deep conversations with those who have been with me for 10 years based on trust and belief, and I felt that I wanted to move forward together in a good direction in the future,” adding “I will do my best to show my fans various sides of myself through positive synergy with SM.”
Meanwhile, SM stated, “We are happy that we can continue this beautiful journey with Joy, following Seulgi and Irene. We will work hard to fully demonstrate her limitless abilities not only as a Red Velvet group member, but also as a solo artist, Joy, and as actress Park Soo-young.”
Joy’s decision to renew her contract has surprised many, there were also news that she was exploring new management opportunities, according to a StarNews article published back on September 21.
At the time, a representative from SM Entertainment told Xports News, “We are in discussions with Joy about her contract renewal.”
Additionally, Joy previously voiced her frustration about SM’s poor management. In particular, when Red Velvet made a comeback with their album “COSMIC”, the release of their title song’s music video was delayed for editing, causing fans to worry.
Regarding this issue, Joy directly expressed her discomfort. Responding to a fan asking for her reaction to the music video on a fan communication platform, Joy said, “Well … They didn’t listen to our opinion and we were just waiting. In the end, we ended up watching the MV without any edits.”
Even before the release of “COSMIC”, Joy has been hinting at her disagreement with SM’s management, such as criticizing SM for not promoting Red Velvet’s new song. Before SM announced Red Velvet’s comeback schedule, Joy confessed her frustration, saying “I wonder how long they will keep it a secret. I don’t know if they already forgot about it or they are going to announce it next week”.
As Joy continuously showed disapproval of SM’s promotion, fans suspect that she has lost trust in SM.
On the other hand, Red Velvet members Seulgi and Irene renewed their contracts with SM, with Seulgi signing in August 2023 and Irene in February 2024.
