As the year comes to an end, Lee Seung Gi will restart his career with a new label. The singer/actor has signed to his own agency, Human Made, after leaving Hook Entertainment following their legal dispute.
Hook claimed it had paid Lee Seung Gi everything it owed him, but the latter had already decided to move to another agency. Now, he's part of the one-man agency he successfully established last summer.
Human Made released an official statement, via AllKpop, to announce the 35-year-old's move. It said the artist had decided to continue his promotion under the company, and it took the honor to reveal the good news to his fans.
The hitmaker is off to a new start, and the company promised never to hold back any support he needed to journey the new road ahead of him. It also revealed that it made a "meaningful donation" to the Children's Hospital at Seoul University for the "good health and bright future of the children."
For starters, Lee Seung Gi vowed to donate all his unpaid earnings from Hook. Also, staying true to its slogan, "For Human, By Human," Human Made and the idol would continuously strive for "good, honest, and sincere promotions."
The move came after the K-pop star had a legal dispute with his longtime agency. In May, he decided to part ways with Hook after 17 years to build his own company, and Human Made was born.
After a month, Human Made collaborated with Hook, with Lee Seung Gi signing a management contract with his former label. In November, reports emerged that he sent a certification of contents to Hook, asking for transparent disclosure of his unpaid earnings.
Dispatch then reported that Lee Seung Gi had never received any digital music earnings from the company, which Hook initially denied. His legal reps then released another statement to refuse Hook's claims.
Later, Hook's CEO apologized and announced she took full responsibility for what happened. On December 1, Lee Seung Gi terminated his contract with Hook, and on December 16, the label announced it had already paid its former talent all of his unpaid earnings.
Recently, he sued Hook, its CEO, and its directors for embezzlement and fraud. In a lengthy statement by his legal reps, they said that their client learned through a recent report that Hook’s former and current directors had deceived him and didn’t pay a part of his advertisement model earnings.
They also claimed Lee Seung Gi had never had an agreement with Hook about music fees and payment, and there was a huge discrepancy between the amount given to him and the sum it needed to pay him. Without prior notice, the company just transferred 4.81 billion won, or about $3.8 million, to him as its overdue payment for his music and advertisement profits. It then filed confirmation of the non-existence of a debt lawsuit against him.
