The contract dispute between Ju Jingyi and her former company 'SNH48/Star48 Media' has become increasingly intense. She insists her contract expired and terminated in June last year and that she is now a free agent. However, 'Star48' struck back at the end of the year by publishing a lawsuit, claiming her contract does not expire until 2033—at which point she would be 40—and disclosed that the company has paid her 139 million RMB (about 80.7 million MYR) before tax over ten years and provided her with the use of a luxury car and a sea-view mansion. Both sides have their own narratives. Her junior, Zeng Yanfen, came forward in support of her and accused 'Star48' of multiple wrongdoings, even dragging out the hidden stories of girl group members being arranged by the company to drink with major bosses in order to secure a stock exchange listing. 'Those who went told me, there would be inappropriate touching and dirty jokes,' and 'getting groped, sitting on laps, but at least we maintained the bottom line.' Star48 completely denied the drinking rumors, harshly criticizing her for slandering all group members' reputations based only on hearsay, maliciously smearing her former teammates, and stating that the police have been notified and they will not tolerate it.
When Ju Jingyi first fell out with 'Star48', there were reports that Li Bingbing's 'Hesong Media' was in talks to sign her, but nothing came of it. Looking back now, netizens speculate that 'Hesong' may have felt there were still problems with her contract situation with 'Star48', so they dared not sign her.
But what 'Hesong' didn't dare to do, others dared. 'Tiny Times' director Guo Jingming previously cast Ju Jingyi in his new drama 'Moon Scale Chronicle', and 'Love Between Fairy and Devil' producer Wang Yixu also saw potential in Ju Jingyi, making her the lead in 'Lai Zhan' and 'Ten Thousand Blossoms World'. Among these, 'Moon Scale Chronicle' and 'Lai Zhan' have wrapped filming, while 'Ten Thousand Blossoms World' has not yet started shooting. If Ju Jingyi's contract issues prevent these dramas from being aired, both Guo Jingming's and Wang Yixu's teams could face massive losses, and Ju Jingyi herself could be crushed by enormous compensation claims.
Source: Apple Daily News