MC Mong shrugs off lawsuit over gambling allegations against actor Kim Min-jong

Singer MC Mong has responded after being sued for defamation over gambling allegations he made against actor Kim Min-jong.

MC Mong addressed the lawsuit during a TikTok live broadcast Thursday, brushing it off. "You think this is the first or second time I've been sued? It's no big deal," he said.

He added that he had been sued twice before and cleared of all charges both times. "No birthday party on Friday," he said, referring to his birthday on Sept. 4. "Let's just go to a nightclub, get a room and have fun."

On Wednesday, law firm O'Kims, representing Kim, filed a police complaint against MC Mong on charges of defamation through the spread of false information.

The dispute stems from a TikTok live broadcast MC Mong conducted on May 18, in which he claimed an illegal gambling ring involving celebrities existed and named Kim as one of its members, setting off a firestorm.

Kim's representatives said the allegations had seriously damaged the reputation and trust Kim had built over 38 years since his 1988 debut, and that talks over two upcoming projects — a Hollywood film role and two advertising contracts under active negotiation at the time — had fallen through as a result. "We will hold him fully accountable under the law and on principle, without any compromise," they said.

One reason MC Mong raised the gambling allegations against Kim appears to be that he himself had come under suspicion of overseas gambling. MC Mong co-founded entertainment agency One Hundred with Chairman Cha Ga-won in 2023, and Cha has faced allegations of embezzling company funds to go on overseas gambling trips with MC Mong. Cha is also embroiled in controversy over failing to pay settlement fees owed to agency artists including Lee Seung-gi, Lee Mu-jin, The Boyz and EXO-CBX, as well as unpaid staff salaries and vendor payments. He is further accused of defrauding Lee Seung-gi of a jeonse deposit of 10.5 billion won ($7.67 million) and causing losses of more than 60 billion won to singer Baekhyun. Cha was recently indicted and detained on charges of defrauding a joint-stock company called Nomers of about 30 billion won.