By Korean Pop Star Jung Ji-hoon otherwise known as Rain has lost a lawsuit filed against him for canceling a 2007 concert in Hawaii:
Korean pop sensation Rain had a dark cloud over his head. A federal jury ruled Thursday morning he and JYP Entertainment, his management team, have to pay more than $8 million for abruptly canceling his Hawaii concert almost two years ago.
Rain, whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon, was scheduled to kick off his U.S. tour at Aloha Stadium back in summer of 2007. That never happened, and Hawaii-based Click Entertainment, Inc., says the singer breached a contract, causing the company to lose $1.5 million in concert related expenses.
“I hope they sent a message that people can’t do the kinds of things that this entertainer and his agents did,” said Eric Seitz, an attorney representing Click Entertainment. ”I think he probably received very bad advice. I don’t hold him personally responsible in that he testified that he relies on other people to make decision for him but the decisions were horrible.”
The seven-person jury deliberated for just a day before handing out its verdict.
“I have to commend the jury,” said Seitz. “I think they listened carefully and they did an excellent job. I mean the verdict was over $8 million.”
A Click Entertainment executive says Rain never made any attempt to resolve the matter or even issue an apology to his fans in Hawaii. A similar lawsuit is pending in Los Angeles, where he also failed to perform. Rain also canceled concerts in New York, Toronto, San Francisco and Atlanta in 2007. [KHNL]
If anyone is wondering why Rain canceled the concerts, it is suspected because of low ticket sales. He wasn’t going to make any money with the concerts plus his coming out tour in the US would look like a joke if even in Korean-American strongholds he is performing in near empty stadiums.
12:40 pm on March 21st, 2009 1
I bet that verdict is making his eyes rain.
2:08 am on March 22nd, 2009 2
he was just a singer belonging to a company then, and was not able to decide whether to sing or not.are you just happy to hold back a man who becomes succussful by his hardworking. with so many clouds in the sky,the rain will keep on raining all the time, all the way and all over the world. the rain will reign.
3:30 am on March 22nd, 2009 3
I could have sworn juries in America consisted of twelve people??
4:02 am on March 22nd, 2009 4
It took a jury just one hour to decide that he was responsible for canceling the concerts. There must have been some overwhelming evidence of bad decision making on his part for such a quick decision holding him liable for what happened.
5:52 am on March 22nd, 2009 5
My guess is that the jury number difference is between civil and criminal courts – but each state would be a little different.
I'd also say failing to make a big splash in Hawaii would be embarrassing. The Korean Wave is pretty pronounced there even beyond the sizable Korean community. Korean soap operas and other TV shows are fairly popular. I knew middle aged women who took a vacation to Korea just because of how much they liked the TV…
12:33 pm on March 22nd, 2009 6
Rain would NEVER cancel a concert willingly. In an earlier concert in Singapore on the same world tour, he went without a cast and performed in pain with a broken arm in order to not disappoint his fans.
Rain has been victimized twice in this case – first by unscrupulous management and production companies who abused Rain’s reputation to make money, and a second time by the American court system.
Rain’s management company, JYP Entertainment, sold the production rights for Rain’s North American tour to Star M Entertainment for $10 million. Star M’s CEO in turn sold rights to some of the concerts to a friend’s company, Revolution Entertainment. Those two companies, both of which are now defunct, made the decisions to cancel. Rain had no control over those decisions and I have read accounts of eyewitnesses who said he tearfully begged to perform before the LA concert, but was not allowed to do so.
I think Americans lack an understanding of the differences between the Korean and American entertainment industry and that may have factored into the decision of the judge and jurors. In the US, artists hire their agents. In Korea, entertainment companies hire artists and make decisions over which artists have very little control. The role of the artist is to practice hard, put on the best performance he or she can, and avoid scandal. Rain has performed this role responsibly and is respected as working harder than anyone else in the industry.
It is a shame that the greed of others have caused so much damage to the reputation and career of this talented artist.
2:23 pm on March 22nd, 2009 7
"I think Americans lack an understanding of the differences between the Korean and American entertainment industry"
Yes in Korea a contract with an American is meaningliess unless it favors the Korean. Silly Americans just don't understand the Korean way.
But I admit, Rain is one of the most talented gay singers in Korea.
4:55 pm on March 22nd, 2009 8
5:23 pm on March 22nd, 2009 9
Waaaahhhhhhhhhhh, my poor Rain. He is the god, or goddess! He has worked so hard to be ridiculously good looking! Zoolander has nothing on the rain! The rain is so powerful it even blocks the sun!
It's the Americans fault with their stupid beef and desire to put Korea under their thumb! oh, I hate you sillies!