Don't Miss

YG, Yang Hyun-suk, Big Bang’s Seungri file lawsuit against reporter

August 18, 2015

YG Entertainment head Yang Hyun-suk (Yonhap)

YG Entertainment and its CEO, Yang Hyun-suk, filed a lawsuit at Seoul Western District Court last month against an entertainment reporter at a local news outlet for defamation, Yonhap reported.

The entertainment giant and Yang are requesting 100 million won each (about $84,000) from the unnamed journalist, whom they accused of penning defaming articles and columns regarding drug use among the agency’s artists.

Big Bang member Seungri also filed a lawsuit against the reporter, calling for 50 million won (about $42,000), early this month at Seoul Central District Court.

Seungri accused the reporter of writing articles suspecting him of drunk driving following a car accident in September last year, which police ruled as speeding.

Another YG employee, unnamed, also filed a suit for 30 million won (about $25,000) against the reporter for defamation at Seoul Northern District Court.

“Because of the thought that celebrities’ private lives should be healthy, as they wield considerable influence over the younger generation, and because I thought the prosecutors’ investigations were tepid and unfair, compared to their treatment of other stars, I pushed investigation,” a statement by the reporter through an attorney said. “I wrote my articles based on fact.”