Hook Entertainment has finally paid Lee Seung Gi the money the company owed the singer for not paying his digital music profits since he started working under the label. The management gave him a whopping 5.4 billion KRW or $4.1 million to reportedly settle their legal dispute.
Hook released a statement to reveal the move and once again issued an apology. Alternatively, Lee Seung Gi is yet to address the report as of this writing.
In the statement obtained by AllKppo, the company gave its sincerest apology to the singer-actor, who it believed must be "enduring the toughest times" now. It also revealed the entertainer's request to have a transparent record of his music distribution earnings accrued during his exclusive contract with them and to be paid based on the documents.
The firm then revealed it had already delivered all the requested files and concluded a settlement with the 35-year-old star. However, it later said that the payment he was asking for was far from the amount the agency owed him, so they just opted to settle on a legal agreement.
So to stop the legal dispute, Hook paid Lee Seung Gi a base earning of 1.3 billion KRW or $1 million, unpaid earnings of 2.9 billion KRW or $2.2 million, and an interest of 1.2 billion or $915,000. In total, he received 5.4 billion or $4.1 million.
In addition, the company filed a legal request for the court to clarify that it would no longer be subjected to any liabilities after the payment. It then promised to do its best to settle its remaining legal dispute with Lee Seung Gi and ensure its artists would be paid all their due earnings from now on.
For starters, last month, the "Because You're My Woman" hitmaker sent a "certification of contents" to Hook, his longtime agency, for transparent disclosure of his earnings. Dispatched then broke the news to the media, claiming he had never received any digital music profits from the company.
The agency initially denied the claim and revealed it had gone over all the needed financial details with Lee Seung Gi and paid him everything when he renewed his exclusive contract last year. Later, the artist's legal rep released a statement to refute Hook's claims, which led its CEO to apologize and announce she took "full responsibility for the dispute." With the recent repayment, many hope all is now well between Lee Seung Gi and Hook.
