After a whole lot of uncertainty surrounding the fate of K-pop band LOONA, fans finally have an update. On Jan. 13, fans were stunned to learn that [four members of the girl group had reportedly won their reported lawsuits against their management agency, Blockberry Creative. Her Campus reached out to Blackberry Creative about the result of the lawsuits and what’s ahead for the group, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
Discourse surrounding the fate of LOONA erupted after member Chuu was publicly removed from the group in November 2022, with Blockberry citing allegations of verbal abuse of power made against the artist. Their announcement said in part, “There were many stories about Chuu, but the company and members of LOONA did not say anything for a time to prevent problems concerning the development of the team and fans,” and that they removed her after they “investigated Chuu’s abuse of power.” Chuu has denied the allegations on social media, to much support from fans and other people working in the Korean entertainment industry. In a statement to her Instagram story on Nov. 28, she wrote, “What I’m sure of is that I haven’t done anything that would be shameful to my fans.”
After Chuu was discharged, many have questioned what LOONA would look like going forward. These worries were heightened further when nine of the official 12 band members filed provisional injunctions against Blockberry Creative in November, shortly after Chuu was removed, to dissolve their contracts with the management agency. On Jan. 13, it was announced that four of those members won their lawsuit. So, what’s really going to happen to the original 12 LOONA members now?
While the band originally had a seven-year deal set in place with Blockberry Creative, many were uncertain about the official start and end date for said contract, leaving the already hazy timeline of LOONA up in the air. With the removal of Chuu and reports that four members won their lawsuits to end their contracts, will the band continue on with the remaining members? Will Blockberry Creative completely dismantle the group and give the K-pop girl group a whole new name?
Heejin, Haseul, Yeojin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, Choerry, Yves, Go Won, and Olivia Hye were the nine LOONA members that reportedly filed for injunctions, and of those, Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, and Choerry are said to have won their suits, according to Korean news outlet JTBC. As for why Haseul, Yeojin, Yves, Go Won, and Olivia Hye reportedly lost their suits, AllKpop reports that they recently made changes to their contracts in the past year or two, leading to the court’s finding that the contracts were not “unfair.”
Both Haseul and Yeojin have reached out to fans online through social media platform Fab confirming the news that they lost their suits against Blockberry Creative. However, they both hinted that they would be revisiting the issue, and that they had “long and tough fights” against the agency ahead. For now, though, it’s looking like they’ll have to carry out their contracts to full length as originally expected.
Blockberry has made no public comment confirming or denying the reports about the lawsuits so far. However, they have released a short statement that stated, “We are currently looking into this. We plan to share a statement later on,” according to Soompi.
If the reports have truth to them, it’s looking like the four members who lost their suits — in addition to Vivi and Hyunjin (who did not file injunctions) — will make up what’s left of LOONA. In December 2022, BBC announced plans for the K-pop girl group to release a new EP, The Origin Album: 0 — its first as an 11-person group without Chuu. In response, fans have decided to boycott products generated by Blockberry Creative, content posted by the agency, and all of their social media accounts. Fanclubs like LOONA Union said on social media that the boycott is in support of Chuu and the other members of LOONA. Since the December announcement, though, BBC announced that the project was going to be postponed indefinitely. Her Campus reached out to BBC for comment, but didn’t hear back by the time of publication.
It’s uncertain what the fate of LOONA will look like, especially amidst all the chaos that has been erupting as of late. With the album postponement, it’s really uncertain if LOONA will release more music as a group any time soon. All fans are left with is many questions about what LOONA is going to look like forward, and it’s leaning towards, for now, a seven-member K-pop girl group.