Tao's Side Claims SM's Statement and Lawsuit Is an Attempt at Manipulating Media

In response to SM Entertainment’s recent statement regarding the agency’s lawsuit against Tao and the Chinese label that assisted him with his latest album, Tao has come back with his own statement, released on September 23 via his workshop.

The statement briefly outlines the treatment Tao received while he was with SM, Tao’s attempt to amend the situation, and explains that SM is attempting to manipulate the media with their exaggerated truths.

You can read the full statement below.

“The explanation that SM released was full of falsehoods, so we are releasing the following statement in order to make the truth known and protect Tao’s honor.

“1. After Tao and SM signed an exclusive contract, the agency was negligent in their guarantee of basic living needs, and throughout his time promoting [in Korea], Tao put off treatment for the scars he received. In addition, there were a lot of issues, not excluding discrimination of Chinese artists, which led to severe mental and physical stress on Tao. Even in this situation, Tao stayed with SM and openly expressed his displeasure with the unfair treatment, hoping for improvement. However, SM did not do anything. When Tao returned with an injury and was receiving treatment, he and his father attempted to negotiate with SM over eight times, but were met each time with a harsh proposal from SM, who said that they could not change the contract. You can plainly see SM’s insincere attitude and lack of respect for Tao.

“Because of this, Tao filed a lawsuit against SM to end his contract, submitted on August 24 of 2015. After continued tolerance of the above actions [of SM], Tao couldn’t take it in the end and sued.

“2. SM’s statement contains exaggerated truths. Taking Tao’s lawsuit and expanding it into an issue of cultural relations between Korea and China is [SM’s] method of attempting to ruin Tao’s future entertainment activities. We find this quite regrettable. Third parties cannot intervene in Tao and SM’s legal battle and it will bring no results. SM’s abuse of the legal process isn’t any help in resolving this issue. Moreover, according to stipulations outlined in the exclusive contract, any legal disagreements between Tao and SM must be dealt with in Korea, and SM’s lawsuit in China is not in accord with those stipulations.

“We are releasing the above explanation in order to block SM’s attempt at media manipulation. In the case of any future statements attempting to defame Tao, we will take legal action to protect our rights.”

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