'Solo Hell 4' star Lee Si-an wins lawsuit filed by her agency

Lee Si-an, the model and broadcaster who rose to fame through the Netflix reality show "Solo Hell 4," has won a legal dispute against her former agency.

According to legal sources, Seoul Central District Court Judge Ha Sang-je of Civil Division 31 ruled against the plaintiff June 12 in a damages lawsuit that Leaders Entertainment filed against Lee.

Leaders Entertainment had managed Lee since August 2023. Ahead of her appearance on "Solo Hell 4," the agency signed a supplementary agreement with Lee in April 2024 to complement their exclusive contract. The agreement included a provision extending the exclusive contract — set to expire in October 2024 — by one year and six months upon her participation in the program.

Leaders Entertainment later claimed that Lee had unilaterally declared her intention to terminate the contract around September 2024 without fulfilling her obligations under the exclusive agreement, and filed a lawsuit in December of that year.

The court sided with Lee, finding that the agency had deceived her by falsely representing that the production team required cast members to be signed with an exclusive management agency as a condition of appearing on "Solo Hell 4." On that basis, the court ruled the supplementary agreement invalid.

"There was absolutely no indication during the casting process for 'Solo Hell 4' that having an agency with exclusive and comprehensive management authority, or maintaining a contract through the broadcast date, was a condition of the appearance agreement," the court said. It added that Lee had entered into the supplementary agreement under a mistaken belief induced by the agency's representations.

The court also rejected Leaders Entertainment's claim for a contractual penalty against Lee on grounds of breach of contract. It found that the supplementary agreement had been lawfully rescinded and that there was no evidence Lee had violated her appearance obligations or other duties during the period the exclusive contract remained in force.

“북극곰은 둘째치고, 사람이 죽는다” 고작 10년 만에 지옥으로 변한 땅…그곳엔 무슨 일이 [지구, 뭐래?-픽(Pick)]

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