Actress Han Ye-seul has won part of a lawsuit against the health food brand operator, claiming that she did not receive the advertisement model fee.

According to the legal community on the 24th, the 37-3 Civil Division of the Seoul High Court (Judges Seong Eon-joo, Lee Seung-cheol, Min Jeong-seok) ruled on the 21st that Han's agency, High Entertainment, should be paid 660 million won by Next Player, just as in the first trial.

Previously, Han Ye-seul and her agency signed a contract in April 2022 to be the advertisement model for Next Player's health food brand, agreeing to appear in a total of 22 times, including four video shoots and four print shoots. The model fee was set at 715 million won to be paid in two installments, totaling 1.43 billion won, with the condition that if any advertisement featuring Han Ye-seul was used, the entire model fee would be paid.

However, Next Player paid 715 million won for the first model fee in May to June 2022, and only paid 55 million won of the second model fee in March of the following year. A total of 770 million won was only transferred.

In response, the agency filed a lawsuit for the unpaid amount of the second model fee, while Next Player claimed that the agency intentionally delayed the video shooting schedule and failed to fulfill their obligation to upload on social media, indicating its intention to terminate the contract, claiming there was no need to pay the second model fee.

In relation to this, the first instance judged that "there is insufficient acknowledgment that the plaintiff did not cooperate with the shooting. The defendant's indication to terminate the contract is invalid." The court ruled that it could not be seen as the agency's fault that the video shooting schedule was delayed due to Han Ye-seul catching COVID-19 and other related reasons, while requesting a concept change due to incompatibility with Han Ye-seul's image.

Additionally, the court stated that the advertisement featuring Han Ye-seul had been used more than once, and that the lack of additional shooting after this was likely due to not receiving the second model fee, saying that "the defendant is obligated to pay the second model fee to the plaintiff per the contract."

Afterwards, Next Player appealed the first instance ruling, but the appellate court dismissed the appeal, stating that the original ruling was justified.

Meanwhile, Han Ye-seul registered her marriage with stage actor Ryu Seong-jae, who is 10 years younger and with whom she was in a public relationship, in May of last year. Since then, Han Ye-seul has been sharing her daily life on social media and YouTube.

[Photo] OSEN DB

[OSEN]