Sleepy lawsuit update: Court acknowledges rapper's illegal earnings; may entail criminal liability

6 years ago, Korean rapper Sleepy filed a case against his former agency and after the long wait, the legal battle has some new updates.Sleepy had initially filed a lawsuit against his company over unpaid dues and to confirm the invalidity of his exclusive contract with the firm.

In relation, the company had filed a counter suit against him for not revealing all forms of income, whatever he earned from social media ads and broadcasting appearances.

Update on the case

According to a report by Chosunbiz, the court has ruled in favour of the company in its appeal, citing unlawful actions by Sleepy. The court acknowledged the company’s claim that the rapper had earned income from social media advertisements and brand partnerships but failed to disclose these earnings.

Company releases statement

Initially, the company lost the first two trials with the Korean rapper in the first lawsuit. A statement from the company's legal representation read, "The court also acknowledged that Mr. Sleepy conducted SNS advertising without the agency's consent and gained monetary benefits amounting to tens of millions of won. This means that Mr. Sleepy's actions are serious illegal acts that may entail criminal liability, going beyond a simple contract dispute.

"They continued by adding, "Through this ruling, we believe it has been clearly revealed that Mr. Sleepy's claim of unpaid settlement payments for 10 years is different from the facts."

Court orders company to pay Sleepy's unpaid dues

In the last two trials, the court has ruled in favour of Sleepy for his claims of settlement fees not being paid to the idol due to his contract termination letter. While the court has acknowledged that the rapper did not reveal his income from social media ads, it also ordered the company to pay settlement claims and a monthly salary to the rapper.Another statement from the report regarding this matter read, "Unpaid settlement payments for the first quarter of 2019, which were withheld due to Mr. Sleepy's contract termination certificate, and the unpaid portion of the contract fee that was paid monthly as a salary after the contract ended (should be paid)."