On May 12 (local time), Lee Soo Man attended the premiere of his documentary “Lee Soo Man: The King of K-Pop” held in Hollywood, California.
The event was attended by several artists who debuted under Lee’s guidance during his time at SM Entertainment, including Super Junior’s Choi Siwon, SHINee Taemin, and Girls’ Generation members SNSD Sunny, Hyoyeon and Tiffany Young.
In photos released via Getty Images, Lee Soo-man can be seen warmly holding hands with Taemin and Choi Si-won, smiling with a fatherly expression.
In 2023, Lee Soo-man had a management rights dispute with the leadership of SM Entertainment. On February 10, 2023, he sold his 14.8% stake in SM to HYBE, led by chairman Bang Si-hyuk. The conflict was effectively resolved when HYBE announced in March 2023 that it would halt the acquisition process due to internal and external considerations.
Since then, Lee Soo-man has been focusing on ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) ventures based overseas. In the first half of last year, he founded a new label called A2O Entertainment through his company Blooming Grace, launching the rookie girl group A2O MAY.
Notably, A2O MAY is composed entirely of non-Korean members. This move aligns with the non-compete and non-solicitation clauses included in the stock purchase agreement between Lee Soo-man and HYBE. As a result, Lee is restricted from producing domestically for three years, though he is free to engage in overseas production.
