On the afternoon of March 14, many Korean newspapers reported that the representative of luxury fashion brand Prada stated: "Given the severity of the problem, we have decided to terminate cooperation with actor Kim Soo Hyun according to a mutual agreement" and "The contract has been terminated. This is a decision made at the head office level".
Kim Soo Hyun was announced by Prada to become a brand ambassador from December 19, 2024. Thus, the star of the movie "Queen of Tears" and Prada ended their collaboration after less than 3 months.
This is not the first time the Prada ambassador has been involved in a scandal. Previously, many ambassadors of this brand in China and Korea were boycotted due to noise such as Trinh Sang, Ngo Diec Pham, Ly Dich Phong, Thai Tu Khon, Kha Chan Dong, Chanyeol (EXO), Irene (Red Velvet)... However, this is a rare time that Prada Korea directly appeared to answer the press about terminating a contract with an ambassador due to a scandal.
Since March 10, the family of the late actor Kim Sae Ron and YouTube channel Garosero have launched livestreams accusing Kim Soo Hyun of dating Kim Sae Ron when she was a teenager (2015-2021), and the actor and his management company put pressure on Kim Sae Ron to return the 700 million won she borrowed to remedy a drunk driving accident in 2022, while struggling financially.
In response, on March 14, Kim Soo Hyun's management company - Gold Medalist - issued an official statement, denying the allegations. However, they changed their stance, from saying that dating rumors were unfounded to admitting that the two had been dating for 2 years (2019-2020).
In addition, Gold Medalist emphasized that Kim Soo Hyun is not involved in the debt between Kim Sae Ron and the company. Kim Soo Hyun did not lend money to Kim Sae Ron, never asked to repay the debt and was not in a position to do so.
The actor did not intentionally ignore Kim Sae Ron's message, but instead acted based on the advice of a legal professional. At that time, the two had been separated for 4 years.
By March 26, 2024, the debt relationship between Kim Sae Ron and Gold Medalist had been resolved. The company did not request a repayment even once after handling all the debt to Kim Sae Ron.
