SM Entertainment has announced that it had won a lawsuit against EXO's former member Tao.
Korean entertainment agency SM Entertainment revealed on Tuesday that it had won a Chinese lawsuit against Tao (Huang Zi Tao) for the entertainer failing to pay back the amount he owes his former agency. SM Entertainment published a statement following the end of the lawsuit.
Tao reportedly received a "temporary payment" from SM Entertainment following his absence from EXO in April, 2015. The Intermediate People's Court in Qingdao, Shandong, China declared that Tao violated the law by not returning the payment to SM Entertainment following his formal departure from EXO.
SM Entertainment explained that the agency acted "sincerely" and gave Tao the temporary payment in order to show its good intent to keep Tao happy.
Following his absence, Tao filed a contract nullification lawsuit against SM Entertainment in a Korean court.
SM Entertainment's statement, translated by AllKpop, also declared that Tao "ignored the standard morals as a member of society."
The statement also reiterated the fact that SM Entertainment will continue its various lawsuits against Tao and two other former EXO members, Kris ( Wu Yi Fan) and Luhan, who left EXO after filing contract nullification contracts.
All three former EXO members are currently active in the Chinese entertainment industry.
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Tamar Herman is a multi-media journalist and the co-founder of KultScene. She is a freelance writer and copy editor, and has written for MTV Iggy, Noisey, and Paste Magazine.
