Seo Ye Ji's Agency Releases Statement On Compensation For Damages In Advertisement Lawsuit

Nov 16, 2023

Seo Ye Ji’s agency has issued a statement following the court’s decision on the lawsuit filed by a brand against Seo Ye Ji and her agency.

Previously in 2021, Seo Ye Ji faced controversies related to her past relationship with Kim Jung Hyun, allegations of school violence, and more. This led Yuhan Care, a brand that had signed a contract with Seo Ye Ji as the model for their nutritional supplements and paid her agency 450 million won (approximately $347,670) in model fees in mid-2020, to seek contract termination. They filed a lawsuit against Seo Ye Ji and her agency, alleging breach of contract (due to the contract’s explicit clauses stating that the ad models should not engage in acts that harm their reputation as public figures), and demanded penalty and compensation—totaling 1.275 billion won (approximately $983,030).

According to legal circles on November 16, the Seoul Central District Court Civil Conciliation Division 25 ruled that Seo Ye Ji is not liable for penalties and damages related to the alleged contract violation against the brand. However, the court acknowledged the responsibility for returning half of the fees due to contract termination, as the contract clause stated, “If the advertisement is canceled after the model fee has been paid, 50% of the model fee shall be refunded.” As a result, the court has ordered the agency to pay 225 million won (approximately $173,840) to Yuhan Care.

In the aftermath of these developments, her agency GOLDMEDALIST issued the following official statement:

Hello, this is GOLDMEDALIST.

We would like to provide an official statement concerning the damages lawsuit related to Seo Ye Ji’s advertising activities.

On November 10, GOLDMEDALIST and Seo Ye Ji confirmed that the accusations brought against her in the lawsuit filed by Yuhan Care regarding school violence, etc. were unproven. However, it’s important to note that, owing to the loss of trust from the advertisers resulting from the raised allegations, we were required to partially refund the model fees in accordance with the contract.

Correspondingly, we would like to emphasize that the suspicions against Seo Ye Ji are not true, and considering the legal resolution of the matter, we ask for your understanding in refraining from baseless accusations and indiscriminate criticism against her.

Thank you.

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