Ku Hye Sun's Contract With HB Entertainment Has Been Terminated + Actress's Legal Rep Releases Statement
Ku Hye Sun's legal representative spoke out through an official statement regarding HB Entertainment's claims about the actress's termination of her contract with them.
The full statement reads:
"As a representative of actor and director Ku Hye Sun, our law firm is releasing an official statement regarding her recent change of agency and the arbitral award.
The reason we are releasing this official statement is that Ku Hye Sun's departure from her agency HB Entertainment has been reported because of the change to her profile photo and agency. In addition, her former agency released an official statement, however there were parts of this that were false and we are aiming to correct them.
Firstly, we inform you of the acceptance of Ku Hye Sun's request for arbitration to confirm that her exclusive contract with her former agency was invalid, and we inform you that we received the arbitral award from the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board on April 22, 2020 and that Ku Hye Sun won the case.
Next, her former agency stated that her exclusive contract has been terminated subject to her paying fixed damages, however this is not true. Namely, after Ku Hye Sun filed a request for arbitration to confirm that her exclusive contract was invalid and during the arbitration process, towards the end of the process her former agency requested compensation for damages of the sizeable amount of 330 million won [approximately $272,000]. However, the majority of that was dismissed and the verdict was reached that she should pay 35 million won [approximately $29,000].
As the amount was reduced after taking into consideration her former agency's mistake, it could be seen as her agency losing the case to a degree of close to 90 percent, in comparison to the amount they'd sought.
Also, Ku Hye Sun could not at all understand or accept the reason that the 35 million won amount mentioned above was accepted, and so we were preparing a request for an additional arbitral award in accordance with arbitration law, and in addition, we were preparing a request for arbitration for the payment of damages due to her former agency's breach of her exclusive contract, which was a separate issue from the invalidity of her exclusive contract. Their statement and the report came out during this time, which we think of as very unfortunate.
Once again, we inform you that in regard to Ku Hye Sun's exclusive contract with her former agency, Ku Hye Sun's request for arbitration was accepted and therefore it has come to an end, and this is not subject to Ku Hye Sun paying damages.
We also inform you that the request for an additional arbitral award and the separate request for arbitration will be received and carried out in early May."
On April 29, 2020, HB Entertainment released a statement, stating that the company's contract with Ku Hye Sun has been terminated.
The agency said, "HB Entertainment was not able to mention the dispute with our agency's actor when the arbitration was ongoing, and we are informing you of this fact after the arbitral award, which is as effective as a final ruling, has been shared. Social media posts and malicious comments that are based on false information about this case are subject to criminal punishment."
On April 21, 2020, according to the arbitral award, the claims made by the actress, reasons imputable to the company and for contract termination, were not accepted and approved.
Due to this, HB Entertainment has decided to end their working relationship with Ku Hye Sun as a talent under their agency as, according to them, she has done a breach of contract, and the loss of trust to her has greatly affected the relationship. So, the company submitted an application to obtain compensation for damages.
In June 2019, Ku Hye Sun signed a contract with her husband Ahn Jae Hyun's agency HB Entertainment. However, they announced their divorce plans in August in the same year. Following this, the actress desired to end her contract with their company.
HB Entertainment asked for a deep understanding from everyone since they are keeping details about the arbitration under wraps because the process was made privately.
Ku Hye Sun and Ahn Jae-Hyun registered their marriage at the Gangnam district office on May 20, 2016, and officially tied the knot on May 21, 2016. They decided that instead of holding a grand wedding party, they would donate the money to the pediatric ward of Severance Hospital.
Three years later, reports circulated that Ahn Jae-Hyun requested a divorce from Ku Hye Sun. Then, on August 18, 2019, the actress posted on Instagram an image of text messages between her and her husband Ahn Jae-Hyun discussing divorce. She posted another image stating in the caption that she wanted to save their marriage, but Ahn Jae-Hyun refused. The posts were soon deleted.
On September 9, 2019, Ahn Jae-Hyun submitted an application to the Seoul Family Court for divorce against his wife, and it was delivered to Ku Hye Sun on September 18, 2019.
