One by one, brands that had partnered with Cha Eun Woo began withdrawing their advertisements, from skincare to fashion to banking institutions. His image was tarnished after facing allegations of tax evasion.
It started with South Korean skincare brand Abib, which changed Cha Eun Woo's advertisements to private content on its official Instagram and YouTube channels. The move was taken on (January 22, 2026), following news that Cha Eun Woo was being investigated by the National Tax Service before his military enlistment last year.
Not only that, Abib also deleted his Twitter tweet when he announced Cha Eun Woo as a brand ambassador. Since his trainee days, Cha Eun Woo has remained under Fantagio. He then founded the one-man agency Cha's Gallery with his parents in 2019, which is suspected to be a ploy to reduce income taxes.
He is currently facing a tax fine of 20 billion won. A day later, Friday (January 23, 2026), Shinhan Bank was seen restricting videos featuring Cha Eun Woo's face on several social media platforms, including YouTube.
Netizens also highlighted how Cha Eun Woo was initially chosen as Shinhan Bank's model to replace Kim Soo Hyun, but also became embroiled in controversy. Despite initially remaining silent, Cha Eun Woo decided to release an official statement on Monday (January 26, 2026).
He denied allegations that he enlisted to avoid investigation by the National Tax Service. Moving forward, Cha Eun Woo promised to follow legal procedures and accept the National Tax Service's decision.
However, Korean netizens noticed that Cha Eun Woo didn't mention paying the tax fine, instead citing a "misunderstanding." Following Cha Eun Woo's statement, South Korean fashion brand Marithé François Girbaud took decisive action to remove him from the model's presence.
His advertisements are no longer accessible on their official YouTube channel. Marithé François Girbaud appointed Cha Eun Woo as its model in March 2025. Brand representatives initially stated to local media that they had no plans to remove the advertisement or alter the photos and videos featuring Cha Eun Woo.
However, less than five hours later, the advertisement was made a private video on the YouTube channel. On Tuesday (January 27, 2026), Daesung's tutoring platform MIMAC also removed Cha Eun Woo's advertisement which had been pinned on its Instagram account.
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