From Being Manipulated By His Company, To The Truth About His Wife’s Family’s Scandal — Lee Seung Gi Tells All In A Lengthy Statement
Actor Lee Seung Gi recently got married to actress Lee Da In. Their journey was filled with rife, given the negative public sentiment against her family.
The Full Story Behind Lee Seung Gi And Lee Da In’s Controversial Relationship
Many had tried to dissuade him from marriage, given that the public was under the impression that Lee Da In’s parents had manipulated stocks, causing economic victims.
Lee Seung Gi has finally stepped up, making a public statement on his Instagram. The post covered a few topics, including the corrected facts behind Lee Da In’s family’s case, HOOK Entertainment‘s manipulation of him before he left the company, and his future with his new wife. Read on to find out more.
1. The negative sentiment regarding Lee Da In’s family
Last year, in December, the public praised me when I donated the ₩5.00 billion KRW (about $3.79 million USD) that I received from my former agency. Many people showed me support and gave me courage. I think I lived in that praise for about two months. When I announced my marriage to my wife, Lee Da In, the atmosphere switched up. But it doesn’t matter to me. Donations and receiving good comments are different things. I did not make that donation to win the support of the public.
I have always believed that the public is right. If the public doesn’t like something, there is usually a reason. But, at some times, it does feel unfair. For example, when the public does not know the truth.
“Embezzling ₩26.0 billion KRW (about $19.7 million USD) through stock manipulation, resulting in 300,000 victims?”
This is clear misinformation. I don’t know where a portion of reporters and YouTubers got this information from, but it is completely false. Lee Da In’s parents have filed a complaint with the Media Arbitration Committee against the five media outlets that have reported the news. (Sports Trends, TenAsia, Expo’s News, Celeb Media, and Wikitree.) These reporters were unable to prove it and the Arbitration Committee request a correction of the articles made by these outlets. These outlets responded in unison and said they “would correct the facts” and released corrected reports. (I will attach the content of the corrected articles at the bottom of this post.)
— Lee Seung Gi
2. The corrected facts as attached by Lee Seung Gi
The involved media outlets corrected their content as the following.
On February 15, 2023, TenAsia stated on the entertainment topic page of its website, there was no mention of “Lee Seung Gi’s victim…” Under the title of “Newlyweds only emphasized responsibility for the family,” they had stated that Lee Seung Gi’s parents-in-law were financial criminals, Kyeon Mi Ri and Lee Hong Heon, who produced more than 300,000 victims.
However, as a result of confirming the facts, Lee Hong Heon was not guilty of any crime concerning the 2016 stock manipulation case. On the other hand, the court has already acknowledged that due to the inspector’s biasedness, he became a victim of being a scapegoat. Secondly, Kyeon Mi Ri also has no connection to the 2016 stock manipulation case and there is no content anywhere in the judgment of the case that she is an accomplice in the 2016 stock price manipulation case or is involved in the crime. There is no proof that the 2016 stock manipulation case produced around 300,000 victims and that there were some who took extreme measures. On the other hand, a minority of the stockholders in BotaBio filed a lawsuit for damage compensation against some of the staff including Lee Hong Heon, for stock manipulation. In the lawsuit, the court ruled that there is no truth behind the relation of Lee Hong Heon to the stock manipulation of BotaBio and it was ruled that all the requests for compensation against Lee Hong Heon from the stockholders were dismissed.
This correction has been mediated by the Media Arbitration Committee.
— Lee Seung Gi
3. Media manipulation and gaslighting from HOOK Entertainment
Lee Seung Gi talked about how news reporters have been disappointing in their failure to fact-check. He also exposed his former agency for trying to control him using his wife’s matter.
Today, on April 12, Money Today also released this article. “Just what did he have to want for…? Lee Seung Gi’s wedding PPL scandal.” On February 2, the same outlet also released the article called “Swallowing up ₩26.0 billion KRW (about $19.7 million USD), will Lee Seung Gi become the son-in-law of a scammer?”
There have been issues in the celebrity world in the past due to sponsored wedding ceremonies. I understand that most people have their weddings at their own expense. For myself as well, I wanted to treat my guests to a good meal to express my gratitude without any sponsorship. Reporter Chae Tae Byung, I feel regret that you did not call my company. If you asked, saying, “such rumors are going around,” I would have replied to you in detail.
One media staff said this:
“Seung Gi. Do you know why reporters don’t call? It is because if the scandal is not true, they cannot write about it. But scandalous articles receive high views. That’s why they don’t call so that they can write their articles.”
Then suddenly, I thought of the article, “Lee Seung Gi cannot manage such dangerous situations because he has no proper management.” Did they not call me because of that article?
Reporter Chae. I have a new company too. And a manager who has worked with me for 10 years. In the future, before you write articles, please call me.
Since we’re on the topic of my management, I recall the article from TenAsia titled “Lee Seung Gi, who can’t even manage a crisis, shouldn’t be dreaming of a sweet newlywed life right now.” It was an article written by Reporter Woo Bin, who had treasured me so much. At that time, he wrote, “Right now, what Lee Seung Gi needs is not support but a management who can give him advice.” As examples, he listed HOOK Entertainment, who had “created a good image of me as a former school student’s representative” and “Lee Sun Hee’s protegee.”
Mr Reporter, let me tell you something scary. If you want to investigate more on this after, please give me a call.
One day, a director from HOOK called me. They said, “Media outlet Reporter A is looking into Lee Da In’s father. If things are published in the media, things will get out of hand.” They tried to scare me like this. Not long after, they told me, “We solved it. We really tried hard to block the article,” as they tried to show it off.
But the world is so small. I got to know that reporter through some people. Reporter A told me, “HOOK Entertainment found a media reporter that had been going around leaving comments. They got in touch with me and they asked me if I could take a hit at Lee Da In’s father.”
That was how HOOK tamed me. It can be called “HOOK-lighting” (HOOK’s gaslighting). Then, they suddenly asked me for a present. They called me to the 3rd floor of the building, where they enjoyed having gamjatang. That was how they asked me to pay for things a few times on the basis of a present.
Reporter Woo Bin. You told the PR company I work with that it was “a fair criticism of Lee Seung Gi out of love for him,” and that you are always open so they should arrange for me to meet with you, right?
If “The son-in-law appeases, while the mother-in-law threatens, “Lavish wedding and rumors of pre-marital pregnancy,” and “Lee Seung Gi’s image crashes with his marriage,” are considered criticism out of love… Then it seems like I’m still rather lacking.
— Lee Seung Gi
4. A message to fans
Lee Seung Gi rounded off by addressing his fans and his plans for the future as a married man.
To the fans who have treasured me. Firstly, I am sorry. I heard that you guys were very hurt due to the flood of articles due to the issues of my wife’s family bursting out. One fan also said that that was why she wanted to stop my marriage.
Once more, I’m sorry. Even my close acquaintances also advised me to break up, telling me to think about my image. It was very frustrating. My wife did not choose her parents… And so how could I ask to break up due to her parents’ issues?
I have a promise with my wife Lee Da In, that was made before and after marriage. “Moving forward, let’s live as we pay it back.” We will look over the places that need help and take care of the ones that are hurting more. I will keep this resolution no matter what the malicious comments say.
Lastly, many people came to our wedding and congratulated us. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. As I thought of how I can repay this gratitude, I thought that it would be more meaningful for the congratulatory money to be spent on children who are in difficult circumstances.
We plan on donating all the congratulatory money that comes into our names to support the less-fortunate children.
I have lived 20 years of my life as a celebrity. I have never spoken out with such emotions before. Of course, there will be things people can pick a bone with in this post too. And many malicious reporters will also use this post as a starting point once more. Even so, the reason I have taken the courage to post this is…
From my dating scandal to the wedding, and even now, 5 days after the wedding, I’ve been having it hard due to the news mixed with degradation and mockery. And what’s more, is that I was slowly feeling smaller as I read the malicious comments that give strength to such fake news.
I won’t ask you to congratulate my marriage. But please look over it. I will share my life with Lee Da In. I think that that is the best I can do.
— Lee Seung Gi
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