I knew about this from what people have told me. A few girls approached me to ask for help on how to quit agency work or asked for advice when going indy because they saw my comments here. I don't think it's the case for all agencies and I don't want to be accused of making clients feel bad for going to them...
In the case of xo, from what I've heard, the owner drugged many girls, threatened to out them etc. This isn't in the article but I believe people who told me because there are other men in the industry who have had this behavior towards employees. It's definitely not everyone and everywhere tho.