On the morning of May 24th, Lee Seung-gi attended the second hearing of the debt non-existence confirmation lawsuit filed by Hook Entertainment (Hook) against him at the Seoul Central District Court and read his petition aloud.
Lee Seung-gi began by saying, “I was with Hook Entertainment from my teens to my thirties. If they had been sincere and transparent about the existence and settlement of music royalties, I don’t think this would have happened.“
He continued, “I want to talk about how an artist with experience and recognition could have been unaware of such basic rights for 20 years. While preparing to become an artist, I also endured verbal and physical abuse from CEO Kwon Jin-young. She said things that shattered my self-esteem, like, ‘I could raise anyone off the street better than you.'”
He added, “This happened repeatedly for years. My parents felt like criminals for entrusting me to her. CEO Kwon even made my parents cancel insurance policies and pensions midway, causing financial losses.”
Furthermore, he stated, “When I first learned about the existence of music royalties around 2021 and asked to see the settlement statements, she responded with a regretful expression, saying, ‘How can I give you money when you are a minus singer? I didn’t tell you to protect your pride.’ Even when I requested the settlement statements to continue my music activities after establishing a personal corporation, she claimed they didn’t exist, which led us here.“
Lee Seung-gi and Hook Entertainment have been in conflict over settlement payments since 2022. Lee Seung-gi claims that he did not receive any music-related revenue for 18 years after his debut, while Hook Entertainment refutes this, saying the claim of “zero settlement” is untrue. Subsequently, Hook Entertainment paid Lee Seung-gi 5.4 billion won. Meanwhile, Lee Seung-gi asserts that Hook Entertainment should pay more in advertising settlements.
