Conflicts between actress Kim Min Jung and her former agency Bright Entertainment regarding exclusive contracts and appearance fees have been resolved.
On December 19th, Bright Entertainment’s legal representative said, “Although disputes such as lawsuits are ongoing between our company and actress Kim Min Jung in relation to the validity of her exclusive contract and payment of appearance fees, we confirmed that there was miscommunication and no violation to the contract was committed. Therefore, we would like to inform you that we have reached an amicable agreement for the sake of each other’s developing future.”
Previously in March 2019, Kim Min Jung signed a two-year exclusive contract with WIP (now Bright Entertainment). The contract was concluded in March of 2021, but Kim Min Jung accused the agency of “not fulfilling their duties as a management company”, and that she did not properly receive her appearance fees.
In response, WIP refuted, saying, “We have been faithfully complying with our exclusive contractual obligations.”
The dispute between Kim Min Jung and her agency eventually reached the Korea Entertainment Management Association. In March of last year, the Ethics Committee for Reward, Punishment, and Adjustment of the Federation of Entrepreneurship Associations unanimously ruled that the agency “is not at fault” after 14 ethics reviews.
Then, after examining the statements of opinion and submitted materials from both sides, the committee explained, “There are grounds to believe that the dispute occurred because Kim Min Jung’s side did not primarily cooperate with the settlement distribution.”
About this, the agency said, “We respect fair and objective judgment and based on this, we will do our best to restore an amicable relationship of trust with Kim Min Jung”, and “We will do our best to achieve the joint interests of celebrities and agencies.”
However, Kim Min Jung’s side argued that the committee disclosed the ruling results to the media first without notifying Kim Min Jung, who was a party to the dispute, of the outcome, which in itself is not in accordance with procedural legitimacy. Therefore, they refuted the one-sided announcement made in favor of WIP.
Kim Min Jung’s side also added, “We plan to file a lawsuit with the court immediately to receive a fair judgment regarding the unpaid appearance fee and the validity of the exclusive contract.”
However, it was later revealed that the conflict between Kim Min Jung and the agency was resolved with an amicable agreement between the two sides. According to an announcement made by Bright (former WIP) on December 19th, “neither side was at fault in relation to the above dispute.”
“The company and actor Kim Min Jung agreed to confirm that there is no longer a mutual exclusive contract without a separate settlement procedure for additional appearance fees or unsettled expenses to be paid to each other,” said the agency.
They also added, “The ongoing lawsuit and the provisional seizure that each party applied for will also be terminated and lifted.”
Meanwhile, Kim Min Jung appeared in the tvN drama “The Devil Judge”, which ended in August 2021, and is co-hosting the TV program “Beauty and Booty Season 7”, which started airing in March 2022.
Source: Daum
