[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Companies that had hired actor Kim Seon-ho as an advertising model are now trying to "erase traces" following allegations that he coerced his ex-girlfriend into having an abortion under the pretense of marriage.
According to the distribution industry on the 19th, 11st and Domino's Pizza, which had selected Kim Seon-ho as their model, have made all related advertisements private, and Shinhan Card's auto-exclusive financial service Shinhan MyCar has also made some videos private. In addition, there are about ten brands currently using Kim Seon-ho as a model, including nau, Mima Mask, Canon Korea, Food Bucket, and La Roche-Posay.
Domino's Pizza, starting from the afternoon of the 18th, deleted or made private all videos, photos, and event posts featuring Kim Seon-ho on their official website, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and other social networking services (SNS).
11st, preparing for the year-end shopping festival, has also removed all advertising banners and photos featuring Kim Seon-ho from their official website and SNS profiles.
The related companies, having paid large sums for model fees and signed advertising contracts, are closely monitoring the facts. If a brand's advertising model causes social controversy and negatively affects the brand image, the model generally has to pay a penalty of two to three times the advertising fee.
Meanwhile, the controversy arose on the 17th when a post titled "Exposing the dual and shameless nature of the recently trending K actor" was uploaded on the online community 'Nate Pann'.
The author claimed, "I dated actor K for four months starting early last year," and "I was promised marriage but was coerced into having an abortion, and after the procedure, I was unilaterally broken up with."
They also revealed, "Contrary to actor K's pure public image, he frequently cursed at people around him and spoke ill of those close to him."
Subsequently, journalist-turned-YouTuber Lee Jin-ho stated on the 18th, "I was aware that Kim Seon-ho was already facing difficulties related to his ex-girlfriend, and the content described by the author matched various facts."
Regarding the personal life revelations, Kim Seon-ho's agency (Salt Entertainment) remained silent but on the 19th officially stated, "The interview scheduled for the 20th with actor Kim Seon-ho regarding the conclusion of 'Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha' has been canceled due to internal circumstances," and "We are currently verifying the facts of the anonymously posted claims."
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