Before you read:
BlockBerry Creative, the agency that represents the 11-member K-pop girl group LOONA, has seen four of its members terminate their exclusive contracts.
On Jan. 13, the Seoul Northern District Court’s civil division issued an injunction to terminate the contracts of Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul and Choerry with BlockBerry Creative effective immediately.
Five other members of LOONA have also requested to have their contracts suspended.
Haseul, Yeojin, Yves, Gowon and Olivia Hye have all filed for an injunction as part of the ongoing legal battle against their agency. However, their requests were denied due to the fact that these five members had previously made provisional changes to their contracts with the agency.
In response, BlockBerry Creative issued a brief statement to Star News, replying, “We are currently checking [the situation]. We will share our position later.”
The status of the other five members’ denied injunctions could change by the end of the lawsuit. LOONA members Hyunjin and Vivi were not involved in the injunctions and presumably continue to operate under BlockBerry Creative, according to reports.
Shortly after the contract termination news broke, statements attributed to members of LOONA began to circulate among fan circles.
These messages were allegedly first posted to the group’s subscriber-only fan-artist communication platform, Fab, and later archived and reposted to Reddit.
According to a notice uploaded to Fab, LOONA’s page and services will end on Feb. 11 at midnight KST.
In the notice, LOONA’s leader Haseul wrote:
Orbits it’s been a really long while…It’s been a long time but coming with news like this, I don’t really know what to say. The news is true, and I, for the team and for myself, will try until the end, so please cheer for us lots. There will be long and hard fights in the future too, but if Orbits are by our side I think we [will] be able to overcome it. And the content about payments, there was a lot of speculation thinking that we’ve been receiving payments. I can’t tell you in detail now, but I think I can tell you that that part is not true. Let’s be together forever, and be sure to be happy. I love you. Sorry I haven’t contacted you for all this time.
Yeojin, who also failed to attain the contract injunction, shared Haseul’s disappointment in another message.
At first, I endured it because I had Orbits who loved me and my family who supported me, but the anxiety that made me feel that there would be no hope and nothing and nobody left by my side made me suffer all day. I couldn’t help but wonder how I could escape this time. I didn’t ask for much, I just wanted to be treated fairly, but I think my dreams were shattered. Even now as I write this, I feel so scared and afraid, but I’m trying to cheer up and not cry anymore for Orbits who support me.
BlockBerry Creative denied all reports regarding the lawsuit at the time, calling the claims “groundless.”
The lawsuit followed shortly after the agency announced the expulsion of former member Chuu, alleging that she had mistreated staff. A bevy of industry professionals have come to Chuu’s defense rebuking the agency’s claims.
LOONA was initially slated to release their first comeback without Chuu on Jan. 3, a record titled “The Origin Album: 0.” BlockBerry Creative then announced the comeback would be “postponed indefinitely” as situations regarding individual members have yet to be resolved.
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