Eight brands cut Park Na-rae within weeks of her former manager's demands

Park Na-rae was one of South Korea's most bankable television comedians, with a portfolio that spanned smartphones, luggage, retail, beauty and app brands. Industry sources put her annual model fees at 300–500 million won per contract.

On December 3, 2025, a former manager applied for asset preservation of roughly 100 million won against her. On December 6 she filed a counter-suit alleging threats and blackmail. On December 8 she announced she was suspending all activities, saying in a statement that everything was her fault, as police opened an investigation into the dispute. Media also reported allegations of cosmetic injections from an unlicensed provider; no finding has been published.

The advertisers did not wait for one. By February 2026, YTN Star counted eight brands that had cut or removed her: Samsung (Galaxy S20 ambassador), American Tourister, Lotte ON, the baby-care app BabiTalk, the game Samgukji Black Label, the mouth-care brand Albochil, Hanskin and the spam-blocker app HooHoo. Her comeback project for 2026 was announced in February, but the ad losses were not reversed.

The industry put a number on the damage. A former manager was reported to have demanded 10 percent of her previous year's sales — roughly 500 million won, implying revenue of about 5 billion won — and the press summarized the episode as 'tried to save 500 million won, lost 5 billion won'. Advertising penalty clauses typically run at 2–3 times the annual model fee, and lawyers estimated the total at 'tens of billions' of won or more.