By Pen Fang
It feels like LOONA barely dodges disbandment every year. From the predebut bankruptcy rumors to the [X X] hiatus and deleting of their album by a former manager to the constant mismanagement, LOONA has miraculously survived so far in an industry with the odds stacked against them.
LOONA’s journey is an interesting one. Their predebut concept involving individual solos for members revealed in a periodic monthly fashion (LOONA’s Korean name means Girl of the Month) was unique in the industry, and the lore built through their music videos drew many fans. Their predebut project lasted from 2016-2018, with the full group’s debut being in 2018. Following the success of [X X], former manager Jaden Jeong left Blockberry Creative, and the girls’ completed album was deleted somewhere during that mess, and LOONA went silent for a year. The infamous “stan loona” phrase was born out of this silence when fans tried to promote the group. But LOONA persisted and returned.
In 2022, they reached new levels of success. They placed 2nd on Mnet’s survival show Queendom 2 and achieved multiple music shows with their summer comeback Flip That. Yet it has become increasingly unclear what the future holds for them.
Chuu vs. Blockberry Creative
Chuu is one of the most popular members of LOONA in the eye of the general public. She is not only a major player within the group, but constantly participates in activities outside of the group as well, including her own YouTube channel “Chuu Can Do It”, as well as features in many advertisements and other gigs and shows.
In December 2021, Chuu sued the company to terminate her contract with them for reasons unknown and won a partial victory in her injunction request. She posted, saying “I’m going to do the best for the people I like, I’ll do the absolute best I can, for the Orbits, for the members. Don’t worry. I am going to protect everything that I want to protect, with my own effort.” (trans cr. @orrery_nim on Twitter).
Also in June, just 20 minutes before tickets went on sale before LOONA’s first ever world tour, Blockberry Creative issued a statement that Chuu would not be participating in the world tour for “conflicting schedules.” The same excuse was also used to later exclude her from LOONA’s Japanese comeback and first Japan concert. She was similarly excluded from the [LOONAVERSE:FROM] Seoul concerts due to “health reasons,” despite Chuu herself saying she was “not that sick”. Furthermore, it was revealed by LOONA fansites that Chuu had to provide her own transportation to her activities (even group ones) and was not provided with a manager by Blockberry Creative for her numerous gigs.
September marked another month of Chuu being excluded from activities. When the website for LOONA’s SuperStar mobile rhythm game went online, fans noticed that Chuu was not displayed on the site, despite graphics for Chuu being found in the site assets. She wasn’t notified about the group’s activities, despite member Yeojin saying that the schedules were sent into the members’ group chat. October revealed that Chuu formed her own company, with Blockberry denying the report that stated so (“The rumors of Chuu leaving our company are groundless.”)
Then, on November 25, 2022, Chuu was suddenly removed from LOONA for alleged “violent language and misuse of power toward our staff.” On November 28, 2022, it was reported that she had signed with company BY4M Studio.
Blockberry Creative’s Statements
(All translation credits in this section belong to @gointosubbit on Twitter.)
Blockberry Creative’s official expulsion statement (November 25) was posted to LOONA’s Fancafe. “Hello. This is Blockberry Creative,” it begins. “The Company is announcing that it has determined to expel and remove the Company managed artist Chuu from the membership of LOONA effective today, November 25, 2022.”
An excerpt reads, “However, recently there have been reports of abuse of power, including verbal abuse, by Chuu towards Company Staff. Investigation has confirmed the veracity of these reports… The LOONA members have never worked solely for their personal profit or gain, and because they know the gratitude owed to the fans who have helped them get to today, they have done nothing that would burden the team.”
On November 28, they posted a follow-up statement, including, “Stating the cause of removal is a natural course of explanation, but needing to provide the relevant facts and evidence is the right of Chuu herself and the staff who was victimized. Regarding the facts of the matter, if any party feels wronged about some issue or wishes to rectify an issue, the concerned parties themselves will have to bring it to light…”
Industry Staff Come to Chuu’s Defense
Following the November 25 statement, multiple staff and industry professionals posted, refuting Blockberry Creative’s statement. The first was a Chuu Can Do It writer, who spoke up on Instagram stating, “Power abuse, that’s really funny 🙃 Even when it was tiring for Jiwoo [Chuu] she was someone who worried in case the staff wouldn’t get paid. Once I got frustrated and said hey Jiwoo worry about yourself first! and she’d say that having gone through this herself and knowing how hard it is, she couldn’t bear seeing that~ Everyone knows that she didn’t have proper care. Regardless Jiwoo will be fine~ Since she treats others so well haha.” (trans cr. @orrery_nim on Twitter).
Others who spoke up included photographers who had worked with Chuu from her Pocari Sweat and Study Jelly ads, as well as one who worked with LOONA, Queendom 2 staff, and in general, industry staff who worked with Chuu — all defending her, saying that she was kind and hardworking. Within days, 30+ people had come to her defense and shared their own stories about Chuu, including idols Sunmi and Ryu Sera.
Chuu’s manager told OSEN News, “We are currently preparing our side of the story. We will be able to make an official statement later. Please understand that it’s difficult to give a clear answer at the moment.”
Chuu herself took to Instagram, posting a statement saying, “I was not informed or have any knowledge about the aforementioned situations, and I’m currently investigating the situation myself, but one clear thing is that I have never done anything that will make my fans feel ashamed.”
The Members React
Member Hyunjin gave the first public reaction through Fab (a subscription based chatting service with the members, similar to JYP’s Bubble service), stating, “My head hurts. My heart hurts. I’m angry, I’m so angry.” When asked by a fan if she was allowed to be on the app, she replied, “No… I’m so sorry… Chuu unnie’s heart is probably hurting more than anyone’s right now. Please root for & love her lots…” (trans cr. @litell_johnn on Twitter)
Hyunjin later also changed her Fab bio to the twelve members’ representative animals. Members Heejin and Haseul also changed their Fab profiles to include pictures of all twelve members.
On November 28, news agency JTBC posted an article stating that nine members of LOONA (Heejin, Haseul, Yeojin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, Choerry, Yves, Go Won, Olivia Hye) filed for an injunction to suspend their contracts with Blockberry Creative.
“It was confirmed that the nine members have made this decision because they have determined that mutual trust, which forms the basis of the contract, has been breached to the point that management and entertainment activities based on cooperation have become difficult to expect.” (trans cr. @gointosubbit on Twitter)
Also, just to add another level of ridiculousness to this situation, a LOONA comeback was announced for early January.
Blockberry Creative and LOONA (A History of Mistreatment)
Chuu’s situation has drawn many fans to highlight the instances of Blockberry Creative’s mistreatment and abuse toward the girls.
For Chuu specifically, it was revealed, despite her many activities, that she had not received an earnings distribution. She stated that she had received “zero income last year [2021],” around the same time reports came out revealing internal and external staff (hair, makeup) and outsourced companies had not been paid by Blockberry Creative due to financial issues (yet they claim to care about their staff). Allkpop published an article stating that the Blockberry Creative CEO and COO are suspected of evading over $37 million USD in taxes. Member Yeojin also revealed on Fab that the earnings distributions for the members had not begun.
On an episode of Oh Eun Young’s Golden Clinic, Chuu appeared to discuss her issue of stress induced binge-eating. “Last year, I didn’t have an income,” she said, “So while I wanted to eat, the cost was too great, which also caused me stress. That’s why it became a habit for me to order one incredibly spicy thing to eat without sparing anything.” To add to the issue, it was also revealed that Blockberry Creative had photoshopped Chuu’s 12:00 teasers to make her appear thinner.
This isn’t the first time Blockberry has caused food-related stress on the members. Members of LOONA’s subunit LOONA yyxy (consisting of members Yves, Chuu, Go Won, and Olivia Hye) revealed on a V Live in 2020 that, during their predebut music video filming in Hungary, they were starved by Blockberry staff, and had to forage for leftover food and snacks at their filming sets. Yeojin was forced to diet at the time of her debut — when she was only 14. Blockberry staff even looked through the girls’ trash to make sure they maintained their diets. Haseul was called out of school during predebut era when the staff found chicken bones in LOONA 1/3’s trash. While harsh diets and starvation are not uncommon in the industry, they are still horrific and absolutely should not be the standard.
The 2022 World Tour was another instance of Blockberry Creative’s poor management. At the end of the tour at their concert in Mexico City, only eight of the members were performing. Member Yeojin fainted on stage, and member Choerry was on hiatus for a leg of the tour due to being overworked. Haseul was seen dancing with a cast on. Again, LOONA being overworked seems to be a common occurrence. During PTT (Paint the Town) promotions, Heejin was seen fainting after a performance. Olivia Hye’s knees were constantly bruised due to the company not providing her proper knee protection during the dance. During Queendom 2, the girls once again injured themselves for their performance, with each member bearing bruises due to the choreography. And if the list couldn’t get long enough, Vivi has faced constant mistreatment and lack of lines that has been the subject of fan concerns for years.
In Defense of LOONA and Chuu
Both domestic and international fans have been among those defending Chuu. Twitter trending included tags such as “#JusticeforChuu” and “#WeStandWithChuu”. A fanbase union has been organized with the purpose to support LOONA and unite the fanbase. They have demanded a formal explanation from Blockberry Creative about LOONA’s situation by December 7, 2022; otherwise, they would proceed with a boycott. (The boycott is currently underway.) It has reached a point where fans are supporting the disbandment of LOONA if it means the girls getting freedom from Blockberry Creative.
In other words, no one seems to be believing Blockberry Creative.
Considering everything — Blockberry Creative’s history of mistreatment toward LOONA, Chuu, and even their own staff, the industry’s quick responses in defending Chuu, and the timing of events— it does not seem like Chuu was abusive toward staff. Again, many staff she had worked with posted in her defense. Rather, it seems that Blockberry Creative needed an excuse to remove Chuu. Chuu, who sued them for her rights — and won, at least partially, thus resulting in a need to silence her.
Let’s revisit Blockberry’s statements (translation credits @orrery_nim on Twitter).
“Stating the cause of removal is a natural course of explanation, but needing to provide the relevant facts and evidence is the right of Chuu herself and the staff who was victimized. Regarding the facts of the matter, if any party feels wronged about some issue or wishes to rectify an issue, the concerned parties themselves will have to bring it to light…” Blockberry Creative’s reluctance to provide evidence for their claims is also a major eyebrow-raiser. For something as serious as this, why wouldn’t they provide evidence, at least to support their side of the story? Why would they want to make Chuu bring forth the evidence?
“Many stories have circulated this year regarding LOONA’s Chuu, but the Company and the LOONA members have gone through this time without expressing any perspective on the matter to avoid causing problems, out of concern for the group’s development and the worry of fans.” You heard it here: Blockberry Creative wants to avoid causing problems, yet has created a controversy that has reached news sites such as Billboard and NME — and not just a controversy, but a controversy that puts them in a negative light. Furthermore, the statement about the LOONA members not expressing perspective is just a blatant lie. The members have talked about Chuu multiple times, for example, Hyunjin crying and saying she missed Chuu during a concert Chuu was excluded from. As aforementioned, Heejin, Hyunjin, and Haseul all showed support for LOONA as twelve on Fab.
Blockberry’s statement feels less like an explanation and more like an attack on Chuu. “The LOONA members have never worked solely for their personal profit or gain, and because they know the gratitude owed to the fans who have helped them get to today, they have done nothing that would burden the team.” Is Blockberry Creative implying Chuu wanting to be able to work for profit is her working for her personal gain? The LOONA members are not working for personal profit… maybe because Blockberry isn’t paying them! It’s almost as if Blockberry Creative is trying to show the remaining members what happens when you try to sue for your rights and freedoms.
Chuu deserves better. LOONA deserves better.
