Kim Soo Hyun has been embroiled in a controversy after news of him dating Kim Sae Ron while she was a minor was confirmed today. Now, he is expected to pay hundreds of billions of won in liquidated damages to the production team of his next project, Knock-Off with Disney Plus.
According to the entertainment industry on the 27th, Disney Plus had postponed the release date of Season 1 of Knock-Off, which was scheduled for release next month. The series was scheduled to be released with 18 episodes divided into two seasons. The production team, which finished filming season 1 early, planned to finish filming season 2 by next month. However, due to the controversy surrounding lead actor Kim Soo Hyun’s personal life, all schedules were halted.
While the exact price and penalty charges Kim Soo Hyun must pay aren’t certain, reports suggest it can cost over 18 billion Korean won (roughly $12.3 million USD) and that the damages incurred due to Knock-Off being delayed will be entirely borne by Kim Soo Hyun. The specific amount of the penalty is unknown because it is a non-disclosure contract, but contracts usually include a clause stating that “if the actor causes social controversy by violating laws or social norms, the actor must pay 2-3 times the appearance fee.”
According to reports, the Disney Plus production cost over 60 billion won to create seasons 1 and 2. A significant portion of the production cost was shown to be lead actor Kim Soo Hyun’s appearance fee. He reportedly received 500 million won per episode, totaling 9 billion won. This is about 15% of the total production cost.
If the situation continues to escalate, the worst-case scenario is that Knock-Off itself will be scrapped by Disney. If this happens, Kim Soo Hyun will have to pay a penalty of double the production cost, resulting in an estimated 180 billion won penalty in liquidation damages. Suddenly, the 700 million won fee doesn’t look half as egregious.
Alongside this whopping fee, there is also a penalty that must be paid to the advertisers. Kim Soo Hyun is a model for 16 companies, including Homeplus, Shinhan Bank, Tous Les Jours, Cuckoo, Prada, and Jo Malone London. Kim Soo Hyun’s modeling fee is known to be around 700 million won per year, and based on this, the penalty is at least 22 billion won. Collectively, Kim Soo Hyun could face a jaw-dropping loss of almost 203 billion won (roughly $137 million USD).
As discussion of cutting ties with Kim Soo Hyun continues among industry leaders, the fate of Kim Soo Hyun’s career appears to be dangling by a thread and expectations of him being cancelled continue to be on the rise.
Source: (1)
