Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
The case of Lee Seung Gi seemingly being defrauded by his company Hook Entertainment continues to rage on.
After Hook’s brief previous statement, they followed up with another in which they again generally apologize, then specifically do so to Lee Seung Gi and for CEO Kwon Jin Young, not denying that it was her making threats and being abusive to staff.
They then stated that they’re still organizing their finances, but claim that both parties settled things in 2021.
At the point in time where our exclusive contract with Lee Seung Gi ended in 2021 and we were signing a renewal, both parties checked the records of payouts, and we completed the financial payout responsibilities between us during that time. This was confirmed with Lee Seung Gi, and a written agreement was also made.
They also specifically deny that they had not issued any payments to Lee Seung Gi for his music, though that could mean they paid him just a dollar for all we know.
Despite this, as Lee Seung Gi brought up an issue, HOOK Entertainment, together with professionals, is currently reviewing the payouts carefully to Lee Seung Gi, which total a substantial amount. In addition, recently, a media outlet announced the contractual clauses between our company and Lee Seung Gi, including the profit split, etc. They wrongly published that we have not issued payments, even once, for digital music streams to Lee Seung Gi.
The response to Hook’s claims came relatively quick, as Lee Seung Gi’s legal rep called them “false”, explaining they never settled on payment for music in 2021, going on to describe further discussion as “meaningless”.
Lee Seung Gi never received a statement of accounts for his music profits. There is no way of telling at all what kind of payment Hook Entertainment made to Lee Seung Gi for his music or through what method.
What is certain is that Hook Entertainment purposefully hid from Lee Seung Gi the truth that profits from music were being generated and that profit settlements based on accurate breakdowns and evidence did not occur.
If Hook Entertainment paid Lee Seung Gi for his music, they can provide clear evidence of payment through thorough verification of deposit and withdrawal statements. The calculations are also simple. If there are settlement details of the base payment for music as Hook Entertainment claims, they can exclude it from the unpaid payment.
Despite this not being a difficult problem in the slightest, we once again express regret that [Hook Entertainment] has not revealed the sales and settlement statements for his music profits and that they consistently gaslighted him until now by telling him, “You are a minus singer (meaning negative profit margin).”
At the time Lee Seung Gi renewed his exclusive contract with Hook Entertainment around 2021, they revealed that they had cleared up all the bond-debt relationships between the parties, but this is not true in the slightest as well. We want to clearly inform that the relevant written agreement is not a settlement agreement between Lee Seung Gi and Hook Entertainment for his music profits.
Hook basically was caught in a half-truth, as there was an agreement in 2021, but it was actually over a ~$3.5 million investment in Hook that Lee Seung Gi made in 2011. However, his rep says none of the promises that came with said money being put into the company were kept.
The 2021 agreement between Lee Seung Gi and Hook Entertainment was regarding Lee Seung Gi’s real estate investment of 4.7 billion won in Hook Entertainment. Around 2011, Hook Entertainment received an investment of 4.7 billion won from Lee Seung Gi for the reason of purchasing a building. CEO Kwon Jin Young did not keep any promises regarding the investment. When Lee Seung Gi expressed his intent to terminate his management contract with Hook Entertainment, Hook Entertainment revealed that they would treat the existing investment as a loan, and in that process, they wrote an agreement while removing Lee Seung Gi’s rights as an investor.
We actually want to ask Hook Entertainment how Lee Seung Gi, who did not even know the truth about music profits being generated, can settle the music profits and make an agreement on that. If Hook Entertainment requested Lee Seung Gi sign an agreement in 2021 with the settlement of the music profits in mind, that is obviously a case of fraud.
Oof, there’s a the f-word.
This new angle is being brought up now because a report emerged a couple days ago that Lee Seung Gi had given CEO Kwon Jin Young a total of ~$3.5 million in interest-free loans and went on to say that around that time period she had bought a luxury apartment. Both Hook and Kwon Jin Young released terse denials of the residence being connected to the loan, but didn’t deny the loan part happening.
All this just feels like Hook desperately scrambling, trying to salvage whatever reputation they can with the public at this point.
