Previously in mid-November, news outlet Dispatch reported Hook Entertainment paid Lee Seung Gi nothing for all the songs/albums that he released since he made debut in 2004.
The news outlet concluded that Lee Seung Gi was gaslighted by his agency until now―they constantly told him that he was a 'minus' singer, which he believed until last year.
For the past 18 years, the head of Hook Entertainment Kwon Jin-young also made sure that allowances for Lee Seung Gi's team were kept low at all times.
After Lee Seung Gi realized that the agency was not truthful to him about the profit from his music, he asked for explanation and payment from them.
Since they gave him no explanation or payment for a year, he recently filed a document against Hook Entertainment, demanding a transparent record of his earnings and payments.
When Kwon Jin-young discovered that Lee Seung Gi filed a document against her company, she furiously said that she would chase after Lee Seung Gi for the rest of her life to kill him.
▶ [SBS Star] Lee Seung Gi Says to Have Gotten Paid Nothing for Over 130 Songs from His Debut Song
▶ [SBS Star] Lee Seung Gi's Manager Explains that Lee Seung Gi Was Brainwashed by His Agency
▶ [SBS Star] Lee Seung Gi's Agency CEO Says She Will Pay Lee Seung Gi with Her Personal Assets
Even though Kwon Jin-young shared that she will take full responsibility for what is happening to her and her company, the public is angry about how she treated Lee Seung Gi this whole time.
Lee Seung Gi's former manager commented in utter disbelief, "I read the last article about Seung Gi's current manager reporting everything he spent with Seung Gi to the CEO. In their conversation, she told him not to spend too much on Seung Gi. I honestly can't believe that Seung Gi is still being treated like that, because that was how it was 18 years ago. Back then, she also told me off for spending too much on food and say things like, 'What? Starbucks? Why do you guys have to go to Starbucks? You guys aren't Starbucks people.'"
He sighed and continued, "Every Monday, we would receive 150,000 won (approximately 110 dollars) as our weekly allowance. That was to spend between me, Seung Gi and his stylist. At that time, Seung Gi was busy filming 'Nonstop 5', so he took part in a shooting at least four days a week. Since the shootings went on until early in the morning, we had to buy ourselves lots of meals. Seung Gi performed at many festivals around the country as well. But since we only had 150,000 won between the three of us, we were short of money all the time, even though we only ate at cheap casual-dining restaurants."
He went on, "I remember Seung Gi asking me how much money we had left on a regular basis. He asked me things like, 'Is it okay for me to buy a rice ball from a convenient store? Do we have enough for that?' too. Sometimes, he said, 'Let's get something nice to eat today.' and gave me his own card to pay with. He also used his own money for all our coffee and snacks, as the CEO got angry when she saw receipts that we had coffee and snacks."
"Despite being a newby in the scene, Seung Gi made lots of money for his performance. Per festival, he got paid about 7 to 10 million won (approximately 5,300 to 7,600 dollars) for singing three songs. I mean, that doesn't mean all that money goes into Seung Gi's pocket, but he's definitely brought a lot of money to the company. But they were so harsh to Seung Gi. They were always strict when it came to the amount of money Seung Gi and his team spent.", he added.
The manager resumed, "The CEO often said things to Seung Gi that made him lose his confidence. She said things like, 'Seung Gi, that's why you can't make it big.' and 'Are you crazy?!' When she didn't like something about his performance, she would call me instantly after the performance. She would be in great anger. Then, she would ask me to pass the phone to Seung Gi. He was always nervous to speak to her on the phone. So, every time Seung Gi came down the stage, he asked me if his performed well."
"You know how agencies are usually quite strict to newly-debuted singers and actors/actresses, right? Since Seung Gi had just made debut at that time, I thought it was normal-ish that they were being harsh to him. But I've never seen him going against any of the things that they told him. Seung Gi didn't have a phone until he wrapped up 'Nonstop 5'. The only thing he did was to work hard. After returning home, he went over his script and practiced his lines; he didn't go out at all. He wasn't one of those famous people who got drunk and caused trouble. Seung Gi was mature.", he stated.
At the end of the interview, the former manager said that he witnessed Kwon Jin-young changing her car to a luxury imported car a few times while Lee Seung Gi was filming 'Nonstop 5'―the time when she was repeatedly telling him and Lee Seung Gi to cut down their spending on food.
(SBS Star)