Sim Eun-ha False Comeback Rumor Company: "We Were Also Deceived by a Fake Agent... Sorry"

"Claim of Being Deceived by Mr. A into Paying 1.5 Billion Won Deposit"

Actor Shim Eun-ha (51) and By4M Studio, which announced that they had signed a contract for her comeback project, clarified that they were deceived by a fake agent.

By4M Studio released a statement on the 3rd, stating, "We announced that we had signed a contract with Shim Eun-ha for a drama appearance and paid the contract fee. It has been confirmed that all related materials and actions were false."

Actress Shim Eun-ha Photo by Asia Economy DB

They continued, "Around February 2022, Mr. A, who claimed to be Shim Eun-ha's agent, signed a contract with a company whose CEO he represented, and paid 1.5 billion KRW out of the total 3 billion KRW appearance fee. However, both Mr. A's claim that he had legitimate authority to represent Shim Eun-ha and that he delivered the contract fee were false."

By4M explained that the seal of Shim Eun-ha, related stamped documents, and text messages presented by Mr. A were all forged. They even claimed that Mr. A arranged a phone call by hiring a body double for Shim Eun-ha.

Why did they believe Mr. A and trust that they would work together with Shim Eun-ha on her comeback project? By4M stated, "We were introduced to Mr. A through a famous entertainment production executive, and Mr. A is widely known in the industry as someone who has served as the CEO of several well-known entertainment companies in the past."

They added, "We apologize to Shim Eun-ha and her family for causing concern due to this controversy. We deeply apologize to those who were worried by the false information reported." They also said, "We will hold Mr. A strictly legally responsible and will take thorough internal measures to prevent recurrence."

By4M was reported last March to be coordinating Shim Eun-ha's comeback project. After rumors of her comeback surfaced through a media outlet on the 1st, By4M issued a statement saying, "We have signed a contract with Shim Eun-ha for her comeback project and have paid the contract fee." Shim Eun-ha's side denied this, calling it "groundless."

Shim Eun-ha's side viewed By4M's repeated malicious dissemination of false information to the media as defamation and filed a police complaint on the 2nd against By4M CEO Mr. Yoo and others for violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. (defamation).