Hook Entertainment denies accusations it withheld money from Lee Seung-gi
Hook Entertainment denied Friday accusations by singer Lee Seung-gi that he has not received any payment for his songs since his debut in 2004.
“We regret to tell you that there is unconfirmed information spread by the media in the process of sorting out Lee’s payment records, which were requested by Lee’s legal representatives,” the agency said in a statement.
The agency said that back in 2021, when the two parties were renewing their contract, they had “checked the settlement details” and even “wrote an agreement to confirm it.”
“Yet, Lee has called the matter into question again, which is why Hook Entertainment is closely reviewing the payment settlement details.”
The agency made it clear that the accusation that it had never paid Lee for digital streams or downloads of his songs as well as force him into an unfair contract were “not true.”
Singer Lee Sun-hee, an executive at Hook Entertainment, has also been embroiled in the allegations, although the agency deny that she had anything to do with managing Lee Seung-gi.
“Lee Sun-hee has been registered as an executive for Hook Entertainment out of respect, because she is an artist that has been with us since the beginning,” the agency said. “However, since 2006 until 2021, CEO Kwon Jin-young had acquired 100 percent of the company’s stock and Lee Sun-hee was not involved in any of the company management.”
On Monday, Hook Entertainment came under fire after voice recordings and chat screenshots surfaced online, claiming that the agency had never financially compensated Lee Seung-gi for his songs and continuously gaslighted him during his 18-year career.
BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]