Clara claims sexually harassment by agency owner

By Kim Se-jeong

Clara

Clara, a Swiss born British actress who recently gained fame here, has filed a suit demanding termination of her contract with Polaris Entertainment claiming the owner of the firm, Lee Kyu-tae, made sexually harassing comments to her.

In a suit filed last month against the company, the 28-year-old actress says Lee’s sexual comments made her feel disgusted. In June, she signed the contract, which is due to expire at the end of 2018.

Lee is the chairman of Ilgwang Group, which has several subsidiaries, including the entertainment agency.

The agency insists Clara is lying, saying her claims were made up in order to cancel the contract.

The suit came as police were investigating an allegation that Clara and her father had tried to blackmail the agency to end the contract. The agency recently filed suit against the two.

According to Clara, the chairman sent her text messages saying things like “You are different from other female celebrities,” and “You make me feel excited.”

“Comments like that from a man in his 60s made me feel disgusted,” Clara said. She also said that the chairman fired her manager out of jealousy because the two were dating.

“Clara had done the same before. She brought up a sexual accusation before so that she could end the contract,” the agency said on Thursday. “Later, she apologized to us for making such an allegation. What she is doing damages the chairman’s reputation.”

Clara, who is new in the industry, became an overnight sex symbol after throwing a ceremonial first pitch in a baseball match wearing a very tight fitting Doosan Bears uniform. Her father is Lee Seung-kyu, a member of Koreana, a bilingual Korean musical band founded in 1961. The group sang “Hand in Hand,” an official theme song of the 1988 Seoul Olympics.