Actress Han Ye-seul. /Courtesy of Han Ye-seul Instagram

The agency of actress Han Ye-seul won a lawsuit in the appeals court against the operating company of the health food brand Life Promise over advertising model fees.

According to the legal community on the 24th, the Seoul High Court Civil Division 37-3 (Judges Seong Eon-joo, Lee Seung-cheol, and Min Jung-seok) ruled on the 21st that Han Ye-seul's agency, H High Entertainment, is entitled to receive 660 million won from Next Player, affirming the lower court's decision. Previously, in April 2022, Han Ye-seul and her agency had signed a contract to serve as the advertising model for Life Promise, Next Player’s health food brand.

Both parties agreed to pay a total of 1.43 billion won in two installments of 715 million won each for Han Ye-seul to appear in a total of 22 advertisements, which included four video shoots and four print shoots. The contract also stipulated that the full model fee would be paid if just one advertisement featuring Han Ye-seul was used, regardless of the type.

Next Player paid the first model fee of 715 million won in 2022, but only paid 55 million won of the second model fee in March of the following year. In response, the agency filed a lawsuit demanding payment of the unpaid part of the second model fee. Next Player argued that the agency had delayed the video shoot schedule intentionally and had failed to fulfill its obligations regarding social media uploads, stating there was no need to pay the second model fee.

The first trial court stated, "Insufficient evidence exists to acknowledge that the agency did not cooperate with the shoot," and concluded that "the defendant’s indication of their intent to terminate the contract is improper." The court recognized that given the circumstances, including changes in concept requested by the agency claiming that Han Ye-seul’s image did not match and delays caused by Han Ye-seul contracting COVID-19 while the video shoot schedule had not been finalized, it would be difficult to acknowledge fault on the agency's part.

The first trial court noted, "The advertisement featuring Han Ye-seul was used more than once, and the lack of additional shoots appears to be why Next Player did not pay the second model fee," stating, "The defendant is obligated to pay the second model fee to the plaintiff according to the contract."

Next Player appealed the first trial ruling, but the appeals court upheld the original decision and dismissed the appeal.