It is no longer a suspicion! Lee Seung Gi’s trust in his agency, Hook Entertainment, has indeed broken. The issue between Lee Seung Gi and his Hook Entertainment agency is now revealed, and it’s incredibly severe, knowing that the singer-actor has received NO payment for all his songs and music for the last 18 years. Check out the following complete investigation from Dispatch.
Dispatch Revealed the Severe Issue Between Lee Seung Gi and His Agency, Hook Entertainment
Despite being one of the largest entertainment companies in South Korea, Lee Seung Gi agency, Hook Entertainment, has proven to be highly problematic.
Previously, the agency has undergone a police investigation under suspicions of various issues related to Park Min Young’s ex-boyfriend, Kang Jong Hyun. However, it turned out the police’s search and seizure were related to an internal management issue, and it was severe enough that Lee Seung Gi finally demanded a complete transparent record of his fees.
On November 21, Dispatch finally revealed the true reason behind Lee Seung Gi’s demands. Apparently, for the last 18 years Lee Seung Gi worked with Hook Entertainment as singer-actor, he has received ZERO (0) payment for all his works related to music and songs.
While Lee Seung Gi may be one of the top-tier Korean actors, as a singer, he is just a poor music slave for Hook Entertainment.
Lee Seung Gi Has Received ZERO Payment from Hook Entertainment Agency for His Songs and Music for 18 Years
Korean hallyu star Lee Seung Gi has been famous for his dual professions as an actor and singer. While he has starred in numerous hit dramas and movies, his music and songs have also received praise and great responses since his first music debut in 2004.
His first album, “The Dream of A Moth,” was released 18 years ago. It earned him the title Nation’s Son-In-Law and Nation’s Little Brother. Since then, Lee Seung Gi has never received payments for his singing work.
While there might be no issue with his fees for acting and variety show appearances, as a singer, Lee Seung Gi has been working under a slave contract. His agency, Hook Entertainment, has gaslighted Lee Seung Gi for 18 years into believing that he’s not that good of a singer.
Today, Dispatch finally revealed details of the horrible mistreatments Lee Seung Gi received from Hook Entertainment agency.
Dispatch also stated that Hook Entertainment agency has unfairly benefited from Lee Seung Gi career in music and songs for the last 18 years. The company even went as length as deleting and destroying documents of revenue from his early years of career. That is why it is almost impossible even when Lee Seung Gi had asked for a complete transparent report due to the missing data.
It All Begins with a “Fated” Message
The issue all began with a message on January 29, 2022. At the time, Lee Seung Gi received a message saying that his song, “The Ordinary Man” made 33.6 million KRW (app. 25,000 USD) in revenue.
Seeing this report, Lee Seung Gi was secretly proud of the result because he believed that he was finally making money from his music. Finally, Lee Seung Gi was happy that he was not a “minus singer” (losing money on music releases).
However, this report brought him to a realization after he expressed his happiness to his senior in the music industry. He told his friend that he finally made 33.6 million KRW (app. 25,000 USD) from digital sales. But unexpectedly, his friend was shocked to know the amount of money Lee Seung Gi had received.
“What are you talking about? How much money do you think I get from your music?
You make a lot of money, Man! Didn’t you receive any payout yet?”
Lee Seung Gi’s music hyung.
And when Lee Seung Gi stated that the company always stated that he was a minus singer, his friend inquired further about the terms and conditions of his contract.
“What are the terms of your contract with Hook? Why didn’t you get a penny?”
Lee Seung Gi’s music hyung.
Lee Seung Gi’s Slave Contract
The realization caused Lee Seung Gi to revisit his contract with Hook Entertainment agency.
In 2004, Lee Seung Gi first signed with the agency with 40% ratio of payment, while Hook Entertainment claimed the remaining 60%. Then, in 2009 the ratio changed, flipped to 6:4, and finally adjusted to 7:3 in 2017. It means by 2017, Lee Seung Gi had received 70% portion of the payment while the remaining 30% went to his agency.
Usually, top-tier artists like Lee Seung Gi would receive fees in 8:2 proportions. However, since Hook Entertainment claimed they would cover all the remaining costs and production fees, they adjusted the ratio to 7:3.
Little did Lee Seung Gi know that this 1 portion of the ratio and “production costs” would worsen the slave contract Hook Entertainment put him under. The company calculated all these costs in a way so Lee Seung Gi could not receive a penny from his revenue. This ridiculously large amount of costs would include agent fees and various expenses that should originally belong to the company. However, they cut it from Lee Seung Gi’s fees instead.
Dispatch Revealed Lee Seung Gi Should Have Received Billions of Fees as a Singer
Furthermore, during the last 18 years of working as a singer, Lee Seung Gi has sold hundreds of thousands of copies of his songs and music. In 2004, 2006, and 2007, Lee Seung Gi sold approximately 100,000 copies of his first three albums. His songs also thrived in the download market due to the massive of users using Lee Seung Gi music and songs as ringtones and Cyworld music.
But what did he get? Nothing. Zero. Zilch.
Further in the report, Dispatch revealed the settlement request document in which Lee Seung Gi demanded transparency for his songs and music revenue.
During the last 18 years (2004-2022), Lee Seung Gi has released 27 albums with 137 songs in total. Considering that many of his songs have been incredibly famous, Lee Seung Gi was supposed to receive billions of revenues from his music and songs alone. That is especially because his 2004 song, “You Are My Girl” has been a huge hit.
In fact, veteran singer-producer, PSY, stated that he had received a huge amount of royalties as the song producer. And if he accepted that much royalties, as the singer, Lee Seung Gi should too.
“The song that has been one of my best works is Lee Seung Gi’s “Because You’re My Girl”. Even today, the young generations are still singing it.”
PSY.
A HUGE Amount of Money Lost!
On top of everything, Hook Entertainment recorded a total revenue of 9.6 billion KRW (7.1 million USD) from Lee Seung Gi music and songs. Unfortunately, this record extends only from October 2009 to September 2022 due to the lost documents the agency allegedly destroyed.
Considering the above 6:4 ratio, Lee Seung Gi was supposed to earn 5.76 billion KRW (around 4.4 million USD) during the above period alone. However, if added to the missing document, the estimated amount Lee Seung Gi should have received was over 10 billion KRW (around 7.4 million USD).
Still, until today, Lee Seung Gi earned 0 KRW from his existing hit songs.
For example, the total cost calculation of his 6th album stated that Hook Entertainment had spent 172 million KRW for the production cost. However, this album made profits of about 1.054 billion KRW in total for the whole distribution.
Therefore, if we deduct all the production costs, there will still be about 882 million KRW in profits remaining. So with 6:4 ratio at the time, Lee Seung Gi should have earned 529.2 million KRW (390 million USD).
Unfortunately, all of the money went to Hook Entertainment instead.
Agency Hook Entertainment Gaslighted Lee Seung Gi into Believing He is a “Minus Singer”
All this time, Lee Seung Gi didn’t realize this mistreatment from his agency because Hook Entertainment had made him believe he was a “minus singer”. It means that all his songs were never that famous, and all the profits never really covered the production costs so they were losing money on his music.
Besides, a close friend also revealed that when Lee Seung Gi tried to find out about his rights and asked several executives from the agency, their answers made him doubt himself more.
“Seung Gi, I don’t really want to say this to my artist, but how am I supposed to settle the payment if you’re a minus singer?”
A Company Executive at a dinner party with Lee Seung Gi and his mother in June 2021.
“Do you know how much it costs to promote an album? I had to gift media director X and bought presents for another director…”
an explanation from Hook Entertainment Director being embarrassed by the surprise question in August 2022.
“You’re so noisy! We had asked Mr. Park from accounting to prepare the settlement data, but the crazy fool didn’t want to work so he didn’t do it!”
Hook Entertainment’s response in November 2022 when Lee Seung Gi asked for content certification.
It’s Time to Stand Up!
Finally, the 18 years of mistreatment and gaslighting is over. Lee Seung Gi decided to stand up for himself from the abusive company who kept telling him he was never good enough of a singer.
“Seung Gi! Your fans don’t buy albums. They don’t have money. They just have a lot of things they want.”
“Manager Kim, Lee Seung Gi is done for. Just take the right path and save your money.”
Lee Seung Gi was not able to ask for a settlement due to the above-reported statements from Hook Entertainment officers. But on November 17, everything changed. He stood up and replied to a message from a Hook Entertainment director.
“Tomorrow is the most important shoot for my movie. But I’m worried because it’s going to be cold. Good luck for tomorrow!”
Lee Seung Gi.
Hook Entertainment CEO Apologized for Lee Seung Gi’s Stolen Revenues
In response to the truth revealed, Hook Entertainment CEO apologized in an official statement. Previously, the CEO also reportedly participated in mistreating Lee Seung Gi. She ordered the manager to prevent Lee Seung Gi from using the company card to buy food when he’s out on schedule.
Today, the CEO posted her official statement and apologized for all the unfolded truth. She also promised to take legal responsibility.
However, Dispatch also reported a retaliation statement from CEO Kwon Jin Young about Lee Seung Gi’s proof of content. However, no further explanation was officially available about the threat.
So, what do you think about Lee Seung Gi issue with Hook Entertainment? Please share your thoughts and stay with us for more updates. Also, don’t forget to follow Kpoppost Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and subscribe to our Telegram channel.
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