Tao and His Representatives’ Defense Against SM Entertainment’s Lawsuit

The former EXO member Tao speaks up to SM Entertainment and defends himself on a lawsuit filed against him.

Just last Wednesday, Huang Zi Tao (Tao)'s legal and management team countered claims publicized by SM Entertainment earlier this week. Tao used to be an employee of the Korean entertainment agency, and apparently lost his case after failing to settle temporary payments due to the company. It's information that has raised questions from Tao's side.

Tao's side shows that Tao attempted to repay SM and that their recent statements were untrue.

As written in Weibo, SM Entertainment cited multiple issues regarding its statement. In this post, Tao explains that he tried to reach out to SM many times just to pay back the sum he was paid in advance for services he didn't perform. He says it was due to his filing a contract nullification lawsuit. He continues about SM defaming his character and trying to sway public opinion about the lawsuit.

According to SM's statement as translated by Soompi:

Last January 5, SM released a statement saying they have filed a court case against Tao for failing to repay them on the 13^th of October 2015. It was a verdict made by an intermediate court in Qingdao, China for Tao to repay the company including interests for delayed payments.

Tao's side says the January 5 statement made by SM is falsified. To make a distinction on who's telling the truth and also to protect Tao's dignity, his team released the following statements.

1) Tao was working on the nullification of his exclusive contract with SM Entertainment in April 2015, while SM provided voluntary temporary payments for him.

2) In SM Entertainment's second statement, they say Tao failed to pay his temporary payments using a given bank account number they provided. In actuality, there was no specific bank account numbers given to Tao's representatives and that he didn't violate any single contract or agreement. The filing of a lawsuit was intentional just to kill time.

3) SM overstated their words with deliberate statements to move public sentiments with negative judgments that harm China and Korea's cultural exchanges.

To prevent falsified facts from SM Entertainment, Tao's representatives are now working on evidences disputing such statements. They are now taking legal steps for violation of his honor and to protect his rights and interests.