Starting from a Bar to Sign Internet Celebrities-Chapter 174 - 148: It’s All Over! Why Is He Showing His Hand?
The influencers the company signed at the very beginning, who now have millions of fans, had long been dissatisfied with their contracts; they were just too tricked and intimidated to act.
’Now Chen Jincheng knows about this, and he’s even exposed it. Someone in the company must have leaked it. And with him saying it so publicly, the company’s other artists are probably about to get restless.’
’Luckily, we also made them sign a supplementary compensation contract. Even if the contract term issue gets out and those influencers cause a scene, they still have to pay the money from that supplementary contract to leave.’
’A sum in the millions... Even the first few influencers we signed can’t afford that. Worst case, we just make them sign a new contract.’
This made him even more furious with Chen Jincheng. It was all his fault for exposing the matter.
Hu Zhicong’s face was grim. "We have to find out who told Chen Jincheng about this. Also, if any of our artists start acting up, threaten them with the compensation contract immediately. Then, prepare a new five-year contract and have them sign it."
"Understood, boss!" the assistant nodded immediately.
But just then, Chen Jincheng continued on his stream, "Of course, CYH is clever. They know this kind of practice could blow up in their faces, so they make their artists sign another type of contract—a compensation contract. When it’s time to sign, they’ll feed you a line about how the company is investing in you, spending resources to make you famous, and they’re afraid you’ll just take off once you are, so you *have* to sign a ’guarantee’ contract!"
"These newcomers, desperate to become influencers and blinded by the glitz and glamour, just sign it. Later, when they want to terminate their contract, they realize it’s another huge trap. They’ve barely earned any money, but now they owe hundreds of thousands in damages. Some of the more popular ones work their asses off for years to make a million, only to find out they owe three to five million if they want to leave!"
"Faced with that, of course the artists get intimidated all over again. But the truth is, these kinds of compensation clauses aren’t legally enforceable. There have been similar cases in the entertainment industry before. If CYH’s artists were to sue the company, it would be a surefire win. The court might even order CYH to compensate them for the earnings they were squeezed out of."
"There are plenty of lawyer-influencers on Tiao Yin now. In fact, all those CYH artists need to do is consult one of them to find this all out."
"..." Hu Zhicong.
"..." The assistant.
When the two heard this, their minds went blank, a buzzing sound filling their ears.
It felt as if he knew exactly what they were thinking.
They knew they were in deep trouble. They didn’t even have time to deal with the people they’d gathered in the group chat to go after Chen Jincheng.
He had even mentioned that there were plenty of lawyer-influencers on Tiao Yin, and that all it took was asking one.
And what kind of place was Tiao Yin? It was a platform where everyone flocked to wherever there was a hot topic.
If those lawyer-influencers found out about this, they wouldn’t even need to be asked. For the sake of exposure, they would probably jump in and start making videos about it on their own initiative.
And indeed, that was precisely Chen Jincheng’s goal.
In a situation like this, he naturally had to get the lawyers involved. That would lend his claims real credibility.
The reason CYH had imploded in the original timeline was not just because of a few prior legal cases, but because a female influencer started dating a lawyer, and he was the one who blew the lid off the whole thing.
Some might wonder: had none of the previous influencers noticed this problem and managed to terminate their contracts with CYH?
This had to be said: even influencers are just regular people. They might have become famous for their talent, their looks, or their figures... not because their IQ was any higher than average.
There was also the fear of loss. Even though they were being exploited, they were still earning *something*. After being manipulated and intimidated by CYH, they became afraid that if they caused a scene, they would lose everything and earn nothing at all.
But once they knew victory was assured, everything would change.
Chen Jincheng knew his exposé would soon be spread by countless clip channels. The lawyers would get involved, and then CYH’s artists would surely revolt. Nobody likes being scammed and having their hard-earned money siphoned away.
Once public opinion exploded, the investors would inevitably want to pull their funding.
CYH was finished.
Having said his piece, Chen Jincheng ended the livestream. He smiled and said, "Alright, now it’s time for the real show to begin."
He then added to Sister Hong, "See if you can get in touch with some of CYH’s influencers. We might have a chance to poach a few and help us level up to a 2-star Guild faster."
In his past life, after CYH imploded, many Company MCNs had descended like crocodiles carving up a carcass, each surrounding it to take a vicious bite.
And back then, Wuyou Media, which had only recently entered the industry, had benefited the most.
Several of Wuyou’s future starlets were poached from CYH.
"Mhm!" Sister Hong nodded.
The food on the table had actually gone cold long ago. But since the boss was livestreaming, Sister Hong hadn’t called an end to the dinner.
Now, Sister Hong went directly to pay the bill.
Just as he’d planned, news about CYH spread like wildfire following Chen Jincheng’s exposé.
And, just as predicted, the lawyer-influencers jumped into the fray. People in the legal profession rarely get to ride the wave of a popular trend; how could they possibly pass up a topic this hot?
Almost every one of them posted a video stating that if contracts like CYH’s were real, they were indeed not legally enforceable. Furthermore, they all offered to help CYH’s artists take the company to court. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞
At this point, Hu Zhicong truly wished he could buy a pill for regret.
If he’d known this would happen, he never would have dared to provoke Chen Jincheng.
Reports were already trickling in: the company’s artists were contacting those lawyer-influencers.
His phone rang. When he saw the two words "President Li" on the screen, his expression froze. The caller was the primary financial backer of CYH.
He scrambled to answer, only to be met with President Li’s furious voice. "Hu Zhicong, are you a fucking moron? I invested in you to make money, not for you to pull this kind of shit! I’m officially notifying you: I’m pulling my funding. And because you failed to meet the terms of our agreement, you’re going to compensate us for our losses."
