Actor Lee Ja-eun opened up about fraud and sexual harassment she suffered in the past from an agency.
On the 27th, a video titled "Actor Lee Ja-eun's behind-the-scenes stories of 13 years in the entertainment industry" was uploaded to the 'Daktershin' channel.
Earlier, Lee Ja-eun appeared on 'Renew Us CBS' in March and revealed the sexual harassment, confinement and other abuses she had endured. When asked about this, Lee Ja-eun said, "Since I started acting, there have been continuous big and small incidents, and the last incident was before COVID," she began.
She recalled, "This is what happened: at first I had management. They introduced me saying, 'Our actor is an artist.' Then I received a separate contact asking to meet. They pushed a contract at me saying, 'You are currently contracted with the company, but I will acquire that company. Let's sign a new contract with me.' The terms included a monthly living allowance of a certain amount, a car, and an apartment accommodation. It felt somewhat like a sponsor. Then they asked, 'Why haven't you succeeded until now?'"
Shin Jeong-hwan joked, "Because there was no apartment?" and said in surprise, "It's the first time I've seen a contract include an apartment," and Lee Ja-eun said, "It was an apartment in Seoul of a certain pyeong, and the car was a BenO. When active it was a CarniO. It was a dream contract. I was really like, 'I'm so grateful to be able to make such a contract?' Then he said he was single," she said.
Shin Jeong-hwan asked, "Was that in a hotel room or did you talk at a separate coffee shop?" and Lee Ja-eun, flustered, said, "You're baiting me. I didn't tell that far," then revealed, "To be honest, he said, 'I'm too famous. It's awkward for me to meet outside.' I believed all of that," and disclosed that she was called to a hotel room.
Oh Eun-dam asked, "How old was the chairman?" and Lee Ja-eun said, "It seemed to be more than a 20-year difference. Almost none of the promises were kept and there were many lies," revealing it was a fraud. Shin Jeong-hwan asked, "Was he a rich man?" in puzzlement, and Lee Ja-eun explained the situation that left her no choice but to trust him, saying, "Even when we first met he gave a check and always did. And I met him through a company introduction, didn't I?"
Regarding the confinement, she said, "They kept giving me hints that someone was watching me and I lived under 24-hour surveillance for a couple of months." Oh Eun-dam asked, "Did they try to do bad things, like sexual assault or physical assault?" and Lee Ja-eun said, "He even put a Japanese sword to me," adding, "I was just so scared. He was not an ordinary person," which shocked listeners.
Shin Jeong-hwan asked, "Did he point a weapon and say, 'If you don't listen to me...' like that?" and "How did you get out of that?" and Lee Ja-eun said, "It was like that. I couldn't do anything and I trembled," describing how she had to comply with the threats.
Shin Jeong-hwan asked, "The case we know was headlined as the agency CEO's sexual harassment," and Lee Ja-eun revealed, "He said, 'I'll make you big, so work with me,' then in the office he pulled down the blinds and started to pull down his pants..." She said, "It was around 6 p.m. Then I ran out crying," and added, "(While they were talking) he said, 'In this world you need someone to help you. I'll verify you first,' and then pulled down the blinds. He said he had to verify me."
When asked how she had been making a living, Lee Ja-eun said, "I kept making a living with part-time jobs, and though I didn't earn much, I was scammed out of everything. The person I met at that hotel, the one who suggested the apartment, also took money from me. Suddenly he said he needed money and told me to take a loan. I said, 'My credit is low so I can't get a loan,' and he said he'd connect me and offered to help. A not-too-small, not-too-small amount came up, and he said he'd give it quickly and then took it. I didn't get it back. I'm paying that back over eight years, about 170,000 won a month," she revealed, adding to the shock.
She said, "But I'm living brightly like this. Worrying won't change anything. Because of that person, I put an end to being scammed. I paid the tuition," and in response to Oh Eun-dam's remark, "You would do well on TikTok," she revealed another fraud, saying, "I reached A1 on TikTok. But I made a bad contract with a Chinese company then. Even though I reached A1, they paid me 2 million won a month." Oh Eun-dam said, "If it's A1, the take-home pay would be around 1,000," expressing sympathy.
[Photo] Daktershin
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