The court ruling has been confirmed Actress Seo Ye Ji, who was suspected of school violence and gaslighting her ex-boyfriend, does not have to be liable for damages to the brand she modeled for.
However, her agency has to return half of the model fee to the brand according to the terms of the contract.
According to Star News on November 25th, Yuhan Care, which filed a compensation lawsuit against Seo Ye Ji and her agency Gold Medalists, did not file an appeal until November 24th, the deadline for the appeal. Seo Ye-ji and her agency also did not file an appeal.
Earlier on November 10th, the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Affairs Department ruled in a compensation lawsuit filed by Yuhan Care against Seo Ye Ji and her agency that Gold Medalist should return 225 million won, 50% of the model fee, and pay 12% of the delayed damage per year.
As both sides gave up their appeals, the agency decided to return half of the model fees to Yuhan Care without penalties, as the court ruled. Yuhan Care accepted the court’s judgment that “it cannot be considered that Seo Ye Ji violated the contract just by the suspicions surrounding the actress.” The refund is estimated to be around 288 million won (225 million won in principal + 63 million won in delayed damage).
Seo Ye Ji signed a model contract with the health insurance company Yuhan Care in July 2020, and received 450 million won in model fees on August 13 of that year. The advertisement was released on August 26 of that year.
However, in April of the following year, various suspicions were raised over Seo Ye Ji, including gaslighting her ex-lover, school violence, forgery of academic background, and staff abuse. Even though her agency issued a statement denying the allegations on April 13 of that year, Yuhan Care sent an official letter to the agency on April 27 of that year, asking for the cancellation of the contract and the return of the model fee, and the advertisement featuring Seo Ye Ji was also suspended.
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