HYBE Labels has responded to rumors that former IZ*ONE member Kim Chaewon has signed an exclusive contract with them.

“We can’t confirm the contents of an artist’s contract,” the agency that gave the world BTS and other successful K-Pop acts said in a statement. Meanwhile, Woollim Entertainment, the agency Chaewon represented in Produce 48, seconded HYBE’s words.

However, YTN Star News reported that Chaewon really is going to be in the upcoming HYBE Labels x Source Music girl group, which will have two to three other IZ*ONE members in its lineup. Another girl who also took part in the survival show that formed the aforementioned project group will be joining them.

According to Herald Pop and SpoTV News, Chaewon left Woollim to join HYBE Labels, and that both agencies signed a confidentiality agreement in June.

“Instructions were given to officials to tell the press they can’t confirm anything,” the media outlet said in a report of their own.

Keeping its mouth shut when it comes to things like this is HYBE’s style. In January 2020, when various outlets reported that the agency (which was still known as BigHit Entertainment back then) was getting ready to become a publicly traded entity, the only thing its representatives said was, “Nothing has been decided currently regarding this matter.”

They said the same thing when Big Hit Entertainment was rumored to be in talks to acquire Pledis Entertainment, which turned out to be true. So it wouldn’t be surprising if these rumors about Chaewon and the new girl group turn out to be true.