On May 2, YTN star reported that yet another company has filed a lawsuit against the actor and his agency, Gold Medalist. This one was submitted to the Seoul Central District Court on April 25th, and they’re demanding a hefty 2.8 billion won (about $2 million USD) in damages.
Why? Apparently, the company ended their model contract with Kim, blaming the fallout from the recent scandal involving his private life. They say the controversy made it hard to keep him on board, so now they want compensation covering the model fees and other damages.
He’s already facing lawsuits from other companies too. Combined, the damages from these two suits alone are around 3 billion won.
To give some perspective, Kim Soo-hyun reportedly charges between 700 million to 1 billion won per brand deal. And he’s signed with 16 brands. So, depending on what’s in the fine print of those penalty clauses, the total financial damage could climb to a jaw-dropping 20 billion won.
Things might get even messier. Industry insiders are saying more lawsuits could be on the way—not just from brands but maybe from others involved in ongoing business with Kim.
And that’s not all. The production and release of ‘Knock Off’, Kim Soo-hyun’s upcoming Disney+ drama, has been put on indefinite hold. The show’s budget is no joke—it’s reportedly around 60 billion won. Because of the delay, there’s talk that both the production company and Disney might take legal action to sort out who’s responsible. If that happens, the penalties could stretch into the hundreds of billions of won.
Let’s not forget what triggered all this. Kim Soo-hyun has been under fire lately, caught in a storm of rumors—including an alleged inappropriate relationship with the late Kim Sae-ron when she was still a minor, plus some serious pressure around debt repayment.
Trying to fight back, Kim held a press conference on March 31st, where he strongly denied all allegations. “He vehemently denied the allegations against him and filed a lawsuit seeking 12 billion won in damages against the bereaved family and others.”
With the lawsuits now officially underway, this drama seems far from over—and not the kind you can watch on TV.
