The second round of interrogations for Megan Lee and agency Soul Shop Entertainment took place on December 19 to no conclusive end. Neither side's story regarding what happened between Megan Lee and Soul Shop Entertainment corroborated with the other.
Both sides met at the Seoul Central District Court for the hearing over the status of the singer's exclusive contract with the entertainment industry. While Megan Lee came with one attorney, Soul Shop Entertainment came with two.
Previously, Megan Lee submitted a request for the nullification of her contract with Soul Shop Entertainment to the Seoul Central District Court on November 25 on the grounds that she was mistreated by the wife and mother-in-law of CEO Kim Tae Woo, both of whom got high positions that they allegedly abused and received via nepotism rather than earning them through the required skill set and work.
On the other hand, Soul Shop Entertainment fired back with claims that Megan Lee was merely behaving this way to break away from the Korean entertainment so she could break into the American market instead.
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Just like in the first hearing, Megan Lee's side claimed on this day, "The content in the contract is unfair," while Soul Shop's side had refuted with, "The contract with Megan Lee is not unfair at all--if anything, it's actually generous and favorable for Megan Lee."
Megan Lee's attorney said, "They say that splitting the profits 50/50 is favorable considering she is a rookie, but this is not the normal 50/50 calculation. When they go through the profits, Soul Shop deducts all the expenses first, and then they split the remaining money 50/50, which is an unfavorable calculation and split for Megan Lee. Saying that this is advantageous considering she's a rookie is the typical way of thinking for the higher ups in Soul Shop. The people in Soul Shop's management did not do their job properly and they one-sidedly formed the contract with musical 'All Shook Up' with no prior explanation [to Megan Lee]. Her trust broke down to the point she no longer felt she could stay in the contract, so she doesn't think she can be with Soul Shop any longer."
Soul Shop repeated that the contract was generous toward Megan Lee, stating, "Other places actually divide the profits into a 70/30 split, but our contract set it as a 50/50 split, so the contract is favorable toward Megan Lee," and explained that as she was the first celebrity they signed on, they invested a lot of money and put in a lot of effort; hence, she would need to succeed and bring in money for the agency to make a profit.
Soul Shop said, "We wanted Megan Lee to succeed and, even from the company's perspective, we can collect the money that we had put into Megan Lee. Megan Lee and we have an understanding about that part. There was no unreasonable treatment at all."
The hearing did not last long and followed how the first one went with neither side changing their viewpoints on the situation. The third hearing will take place on January 16, 2015.
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