After 8 months since getting sick and announcing a temporary hiatus, actress Zhao Lusi is currently in the media spotlight for publicly "exposing" her management company Galaxy Cool Entertainment.
The beauty born in 1998 accused the Galaxy Cool company of pressuring her, causing her to extend her contract in an unfavorable situation and suffer many financial and mental losses in the past time.
The actress emphasized that she had to pay 2.05 million yuan in advertising contract compensation after getting sick (from December 2024). The filming of "The Lover" was also canceled without discussion with Zhao Lusi. After that, she was the one who had to pay for the damages.
Zhao Lusi wants to terminate the contract with the company but it has not been resolved after many negotiations. The actress frankly stated: "I don't do it anymore". On social media accounts, she also deleted her link to Galaxy Cool company.
However, according to Chinese media, Zhao Lusi is at a disadvantage in this war. An internal source revealed: "The contract is not yet terminated and will be valid until 2030".
Zhao Lusi and Galaxy Cool renewed their contracts in 2023, which was also the peak development period of Zhao Lusi. She rose to the top of the generation of Chinese beauties born after 1995, with the success of two TV series Tinh Han Han Lan and Vung Thiet Cang Khong Da.
Fans accused the Galaxy Cool company of pressuring Zhao Lusi to extend her contract when she was at the peak with great commercial potential, threatening not to let her act if she did not extend it.
However, according to Sohu, Zhao Lusi will not easily escape the Galaxy Cool if she does not pay a large contract compensation.
Previously, Galaxy Cool was on the brink of bankruptcy in 2020 due to a financial crisis. The film Tran Thien Thien Trong Ban aired in the same year, starring Zhao Lusi, saved the company. Currently, Galaxy Cool depends 70% of its revenue on Zhao Lusi.
This situation shows that if Zhao Lusi is determined to terminate her contract, industry insiders estimate that she will have to pay damages 10 times more than her annual revenue. There is information that Zhao Lusi may face compensation of up to 400 million yuan if she breaks her contract 5 years ago.
This gambling game seems to have pushed the female artist into a dead end. Unless Zhao Lusi can prove that the company has violated the contract, such as "causing harm to health", "financial violations"... causing the company to be banned from operation until 2030.
Otherwise, terminating the contract because "can't continue working" is an unjustified reason and Zhao Lusi will be the violator of the contract.
The public is divided in this conflict. A part of Zhao Lusi's supporters fight to the end to escape the irresponsible company like Galaxy Cool.
On the contrary, many viewers believe that Zhao Lusi is trying to take advantage of sympathy and pressure from public opinion to terminate the contract without having to compensate the company. They mocked the actress and said: "The contract is clearly written, illness is not a golden ticket to be exempted from compensation".
According to Sohu, Zhao Lusi's incident exposed the brutal reality of "the dilemma of a top star" in the entertainment industry. When an artist emerges, investors bet a lot on them. When they become pillars, contracts become a prison.
The silence and caution of Galaxy Cool Entertainment may reflect a general principle in the industry, which is to always put profits first.
