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.

Eight ad contracts were cut, with losses estimated above ₩10 billion, as penalty clauses of 2–3 times annual fees compounded the damage.

The dispute went public before any finding: an asset-preservation filing, a counter-suit and a police investigation gave advertisers an open-ended liability to price, and they priced it immediately.

The contractual math was unforgiving: penalty clauses of 2–3 times annual model fees meant every passing month of the dispute extended the bill.

Her own pause announcement, framed as 'everything is my fault', removed the last reason for an advertiser to wait and see.

The exit cascaded: once the biggest names such as Samsung moved, the remaining brands had no reason to hold on.

Brands priced the risk before any finding: eight advertisers left in two months, the bill above ten billion won. An unresolved fight with an ex-manager reads as liability — endorsers are leased.

By February 2026, eight brands had cut ties with or removed Park Na-rae: Samsung (Galaxy S20), American Tourister, Lotte ON, BabiTalk, Samgukji Black Label, Albochil, Hanskin and HooHoo. The cascade followed her December 8, 2025 announcement suspending activities, days after a former manager filed for roughly 100 million won in asset preservation and she filed a counter-suit alleging threats; police opened an investigation. Industry estimates put her advertising losses above 10 billion won. Her comeback project was announced in February 2026, but the lost contracts were not restored.