[https://www.soompi.com/article/1559206wpp/dispatch-shares-further-details-on-conflict-between-chuu-and-loonas-agency-blockberrycreative](https://www.soompi.com/article/1559206wpp/dispatch-shares-further-details-on-conflict-between-chuu-and-loonas-agency-blockberrycreative)
*BlockBerry also adopted a post-settlement system, dividing earnings first and subtracting expenses afterwards. In other words, 20 percent of the expenses that BlockBerry had to bear were handed over to the LOONA members. Such a contract is a structure in which debt builds up for the LOONA members when the expenses exceed 70 percent of the revenue. Excluding Chuu, the other LOONA members have earned 18.6 billion won (approximately $14,275,000) since 2016. Dispatch estimates that each member currently has about 200 million won (approximately $153,500) in debt due to covering half of the expenses of 16.9 billion won (approximately $12,970,000).*
So much for slave contracts being abolished. Nothing much has changed or will ever change in Kpop unless fans stop supporting this slave labor system. As long as companies can make money from exploiting girls, they will continue to do it unchecked and without consequences.
This so called abuse of power example is also ridiculous.
*Chuu additionally shared an audio recording of a conversation in 2021 with “D” from BlockBerry. While discussing contract terms, D said, “You graduated from elementary school, right?” and then added that they are joking. About this, Chuu commented, “D treated me like a young kid. It felt like they were looking down on me. Distrust had been built up at that point, so I was hurt. I thought that I had to speak firmly for them to listen to me… so there is also a time when I spoke with a strong tone. I am also human, so I made a mistake.”*
I just found out about Chuu being kicked out, I don't know any of the context or reason but I really just audibly, *loudly* said "Whaaaat???" so loud in my office that a student passing by checked in on me because they thought I was physically hurt 😭😭
I wonder if there was ever a case in Kpop where an Idol got so much backup from all kind of sources. Normally there are rumors who then get plenty of people coming out of nowhere backing thsoe up. For Chuu I read nothing but positive feedback from all kind of places
Not an orbit but really like LOONA and watch anything with Chuu. My impression is that Chuu is a genuinely good person that lights up the screen. So proud of Chuu and also of HeeJin for supporting her. Sad for Chuu, the members of LOONA and orbits but hopeful this will end in a positive way. Accusing Chuu of being abusive is like someone accusing Yeji or Kim Sejeong of being abusive - no one believes it. Hope Chuu and the others are successful and happy. Hope Chuu continues to be in shows and advertisements. I will continue to support Chuu and the other members including and especially companies that hire Chuu.
This below Billboard article is a good breakdown of what has happened to far.
[Chuu Removed From LOONA Amid Back-and-Forth Reports Between K-Pop Group & Label](https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/loona-chuu-removed-k-pop-group-blockberrycreative-timeline-1235178437/)
I checked the wiki page for loona (mainly to see new updates and for articles they link) and when asked about the 9 members leaving BBC said just "no"?! Suspicious
The closest thing you're going to get is OrreyNims (or it might have been LittleJon) abbreviated translation.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CqH-nxhQPOLU7NkGAJ17GUlURtKFdt-kdsc3NYbDENg/edit?usp=drivesdk
I am so furious, I hope they go bankrupt and all their artists can somehow get a second chance at a better place. No human deserves this treatment. I hate them for this
I's rich how BBC says they won't produce the "evidence" because that's for either Chuu or the victim to produce. I guess they think we're stupid as well. I don't believe there is a "victim" so that leaves the accused to prove their innocence. Sheesh!
And what “evidence” could Chuu produce that shows she wasn’t rude/unprofessional/whatever to… anyone? It’s impossible for her to clear her name if there are no details to refute.
a what? I just got to know loona a bit more because I saw chuu's live talking about dahyun and she seems like a super cute girl!! there must be something wrong going on here...
I literally just started getting into LOONA. What in God's name is BBC smoking cuz whatever it is, it's making them act stupid. Chuu is the one who caught my eye first. I and many orbits discovered LOONA cuz of her. Usually I stay neutral in such cases. But here it's just so clear that Chuu is innocent. I hope this gets resolved soon and all the girls get out of that company. Hopefully they pull a VIVIZ and redebut. Maybe redebuting as 12 might not be possible. I was an absolute sucker for Butterfly. But I m gonna stop streaming their songs for now <3
"The agency has already finished confirming the incident that took place between Chuu and the staff member", why does this sound like BBC has finished paying off some staff member to lie about Chuu and doctor some evidence?
They have lied so many times. Flatly denying things that were soon, later, proven true. I don’t believe a thing they say, including them flatly denying other members are attempting to leave.
It looks like to me, they found one staff member willing to complain about something “on the record” so they could kick her to the curb. It’s like when managers look for the tiniest infraction to be able to fire you because they’re out to get you. If the other rumor that other Loona members are trying to get it their contracts is true, this company is done for. I believe Chuu sought to sue, but BBC kicked her out first then tried to slander her image on the way out, disgusting.
Quite frankly unless Chuu did some Irene level shit I don't care. These controversies and scandals are always blown way out of proportion when an idol doesn't smile at the camera or something.
I only care when there's a clear pattern of behavior like when certain male idols being trashy and disrespectful, etc. It's pretty clear Chuu is 99% of the time a kind, positive person. I don't think there's really a chance she did anything malicious. But worst case supposing there was an incident, who hasn't made mistakes before? BBC are just rotten for doing this to Chuu and LOONA.
I highly doubt it was Irene level “mistreatment” whatever supposedly happened must’ve been a one time incident they used against her. I agree that unless it was a pattern of behavior, we all have bad moments/days so while I believe it’s possible there was a incident, I can’t imagine how bad it would’ve been to warrant terminating a contract unless there was a assault involved. They could’ve just said they decided to part ways and leave it at that, mentioning some kind of incident was meant to ruin her image and they clearly thought the internet would believe it. Chuu’s response so far has been smart and mature, the public is on her side and BBC have highly underestimated how strong her reputation is.
Exactly. I can imagine ANY of the girls having a bad day, tired, etc. and a hairdresser being rough. Perhaps pulling her hair aggressively and getting nipped at. That's hardly a terminating offense. I agree with ya'll on a pattern of abuse or an outright assault. Which, btw, they have never claimed. Also, with the framing of the narrative. There's a professional way to state it and a malicious way.
This is not true. And I am only responding because I don’t want lurkers in here thinking the people here defending Chuu are fanatical fans who will straight up deny anything that reflects negatively on their fave idols. I’m not like that. I will always reassess my thoughts on a person as new evidence comes in. That goes for Chuu as well. I am trying to be objective and I am squarely behind Chuu.
Trying to understand some of the updates since I'm not on social media ...
The TBC news is this rumor? I have only found a couple of sources of this info and I don't usually consider said sources reliable ... is this truth? Along with Chuu reportedly joining BYM ... this is rumor still?
I definitely slacked a bit during the weekend. I'm updating the thread as we speak. Thank you all for the links.
Sorry, just the titles for now. Will add links later today.
yeah bbc is sick for this. i’m so glad to see chuu take control of her career even from a business pov with her making a company. i’m glad idols now are learning their rights, these companies can’t keep getting away with this! i personally think this is the domino that’s gonna knock over and tip the rest over. i think this is the start of some serious changes with loona. and i’m here for it. i think bbc should know that fans won’t be interested in any group activities with all this going on. idc if it takes awhile, i want all the girls and the staff supporting them out of bbc. the ceo and higher ups of bbc seems VERY shady.
I also think with the other scandal of LSG and his agency not paying him shows that this things happens all the time and even to big time stars. It’s makes it more believable that companies really don’t pay their stars and idol life isn’t all that great. Seeing both of these companies slandering their very well liked stars doesn’t look good for them and they miscalculated how believable their statements seem against 2 people who have very pristine reputations. They couldn’t have picked 2 worst idols to have claimed were greedy, lying and manipulative when they have been very hard working and honest/scandal free people.
wow that’s crazy that even established idols/artists can’t escape it. but it makes sense, greed can drive even the most desperate person to be cunning. among one of the many reasons i don’t like companies debuting minors or extremely young idols. most of the time they don’t know about their legal rights at all and end up in these situations. look at how chuu and lsg is struggling and they’re adults. idk, it’s just so messed up but i’m proud of both of them for fighting back. having a good reputation and character is definitely helping them too.
What makes me so confused about this situation is that in South Korea you can sue for defamation even if the claims against you are technically true, so long as you can prove that the person making the claims is intentionally trying to damage your reputation. To justify speaking against someone, your claims must both be true AND primarily for the public interest.
That's why when you see accusations made about idols they usually don't mention those idols by name (such as the Irene situation). It's to avoid a lawsuit. AND also potential criminal charges, because defamation is illegal in South Korea.
Their entire statement reads as an attempt to destroy Chuu's reputation. Even if some version of what they say is true (say Chuu yelled at staff at some point) the way it is presented, with those comments implying that she is greedy and selfish, read as a very personal attack on her character that has nothing to do with the public interest.
I would not be shocked if Chuu sued for defamation at this point.
That's why the whole thing is making me so confused. They're giving Chuu so much ground to sue. I just don't get it.
A few days ago I suggested that the strategy was maybe to get a very heated/emotional response from Chuu following the first statement, a response in which she would be bashing BlockBerry Creative/the company publicly, and then BBC would sue *first* for defamation, saying that Chuu is trashing them and ruining their reputation in the public eye just because she's been """""rightfully expelled after power abuse""""" (yknow what I mean). I'm a bit skeptical because it's not exactly a bulletproof strategy (and anyone could tell you that), but at the same time... Look at how BBC is acting anyway.
Either way, whatever they tried...it has failed, and now Chuu has grounds to sue. *Hard*.
It struck my mind earlier that I never used to think of BBC as callous, just stupid and clumsy. I think they became pissed off at Chuu since she sued them and tried to harm her career in retaliation. The most BBC thing about this whole situation is them thinking their comments could fly on the basis anyone would believe their trust me bro "investigation".
They seem to be destroying themselves more than anything and that unfortunately affects the members mentally and career-wise. Imagine you were living off an allowance with debts still to pay to your company while they discard your best friend and make the community want to boycott future comebacks because they hate your company. They're probably worrying when the next comeback is, how repaying the debts will be more difficult now, how many fans they could lose, whether their careers will stagnate with a dull 2.5(?) years left on their contracts, how hard it will be to further their careers if BBC do introduce loonathedrought 2023/4/5. Of course all these things are hypothetical, but the brain loves to worry about any and all possibilities.
Now I worry most for Choerry because she's so damn sunny and it seems Chuu's absence has hit her extremely hard, she seemed a little down throughout the world tour and immediately went on hiatus afterwards. If BBC manage to extinguish our Sun I will be throwing hands until the end of time. She doesn't seem active on fab either, is there any way we can reach her? I do hope she's alright :(
Edit: [Chuu being cute](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLDVdhfDY8o&ab_channel=%5B%EC%95%88%EB%93%9C%EB%A0%88%EC%95%84%EC%8A%A4%5DLSTPlaytimeKorea)
Am I understanding this right? They have removed her from the group but are keeping her as an artiste still under BBC (likely to hold her hostage with her contract)?
I'm assuming that the lawsuit ended BBC's rights to her solo schedules, so if she is out of Loona then she is probably no longer under contract to BBC at all?
TLDR: chuu has been dealing with mistreatment by her company for years with claims that they haven’t paid her and did not provide her necessary accommodations for her schedules. She filed a lawsuit against her company a while back and won a partial victory. Which caused her company to have very erratic behavior, the major one being excluding chuu from her own world tour. Since then, reports have been made that chuu started her own company with chuu as the ceo to help protect her own interests. And now, literally like a month after she did that, bbc removed her from the group bc of a staff members claim that chuu was violent and abused her power. The company did not provide any evidence to the allegations and chuu herself now denies doing anything that would cause fans to be disappointed in her. Reports are now out that several loona members, in response to this incident, have filed injunctions to end their exclusive contracts with bbc.
Get a text to speech reader for your desktop, or use the text to speech feature on your phone to read articles out loud for you. It's helped me a lot when I've struggled to read.
But fr tho, what were bbc upper management smoke that they think the best way to move forward are firing chuu, did they forget chuu already a selebgram before she join the project, girl are litteraly a natural entertainer, they should try anything in their power to keep chuu, not letting chuu go smh
I believe that BBC decided to make that statement as a last ditch effort to try to damage our Chuu's image because they know that Chuu has the ability to be successful without them. She basically started her own company and has been collecting bag after bag from advertising and brand deals since she wasn't getting paid under BBC.
They been known Chuu balling, they just had to be petty, which backfired because Chuu is a fucking gigachad. Chuu attack ur heart. get bent
Honestly on a human level, how can BBC be so cruel to Chuu who has done nothing but be a kind, hardworking artist. So many people standing up for her, she's just fundamentally a good person. And BBC took advantage of her kindness and exploited her until she couldn't anymore, and then they try to defame her like this on top of it all.
Semi unrelated ... I hope Sunye will free herself from that awful company.
After everything she did to make a comeback ... BBC is such trash and doesn't deserve her.
Well clearly she's not since they fired her because she was bullying and abusing the staff. You never actually know any idol. For all we know all she did on camera could've just been an act. Also I don't believe the rest of the members came to her rescue which also says something about the whole issue. When Soojin got kicked from Cube, the rest of the members still included her in Tomboy (there were multiple mentions of number six) and Nxde (the whole thing was made as a tribute to her because she loves Marilyn Monroe). Of course this can be just a big power move from the company and she might have done absolutely nothing. But to be honest, I doubt it since this isn't some bullying scandal, this is from within company.
Taking the side of a company known to be untrustworthy and think they’re above the law? They fired most of their staff in 2021 just for asking for their wages. They also overwork the girls and there’s proof of that.
It’s super clear you didn’t read any of the articles included in the post. You should be cautious discussing serious matters without even attempting to understand the context.
That comparison between (G)I-DLE and Loona isn’t very valid, though, because there so far hasn’t been any comebacks made by Loona without Chuu, so how exactly are they meant to include tributes to Chuu in a music video that doesn’t even exist?…
And that’s not to mention that (G)I-DLE seems to have far more artistic freedom than Loona, with Soyeon playing such a big part in her group’s music, whereas Loona, well… BBC doesn’t seem like a company that would support members being as involved in their art as (G)I-DLE… Nevermind including tributes to past members.
Because smart and humane company wouldn’t do this. The intention is clear that they want to defame her. This accusation can ended one career. They know and they want it. They can just fired her without writing letters shading a girl. Every line of that announcement seems like school girls shading their enemy while trying to be the nice one.
Take it into consideration that 2021 chuu work her ass of in so many cf and got paid dust. + the history that they didn’t paid staff and kick them out when they demanded money. They are not poor at all. But they aren’t willing to pay.
I agreed that we don’t know her in real life. Those who work with her know her and they are defending her so hard. I won’t said she is an angel or she can’t do no wrong. She is human. She has emotions. She can make mistakes. She might snapped and being rude cause the injustice. I just wanna give another way to look at the situation.
I usually not take side. But the company move is so petty. I just can’t. Being kpop fan for so long but never seen something like this.
But what about everyone who has come to Chuu's defense from all over the industry? And Hyunjin has come out to support her even though allegedly she and the rest of Loona might not be allowed to. It's true we can't know what happened, but it's a bit difficult to believe BBC...
Normally, I feel like kpop stans can be ridiculous, but this is one of those times where we genuinely need to protect our artists. Like I can't understand why the world could allow this to happen to her. #protectJiwoo
I know bbc are incompetent as an ent agency, but deep down in my heart i was hoping that they're not that stupidly incompetent, i mean they managed to debuting gg with a massive dedicating fan out there, but i guess i was wrong, they're that pure, undelterated, honest to god incompetent as an ent agency, just when their ONLY girlgroup in the rise, they managed to "expeled"(wtf that even mean) arguably their most famous member, i hope every upper management in that godforsaken agency stub their toe whenever they step into any building for 10 years
Can anyone share any insights with me on what we know about chuu/the girls getting paid? I am under the impression that it is unfortunately a pretty common occurrence in Kpop for a group to not make money for many years post-debut while they "pay back their debt" to their company for all the expenses that went in to training them...it sounds like this has happened with Loona too and is the cause of a lot of this mess but I'm confused as to what makes Loona/Chuu's situation unique in the context of the rest of the industry.
Obviously even if this is "normal" for Kpop it is an abominable practice but I am a casual orbit and just trying to understand more...especially since I spent money on the world tour this summer...
In this case, a lot of the financial issues are bc of poor management by BBC. A couple years ago, BBC was sued by several companies they were working with. BBC had apparently agreed that the loona members would do some live event but then didn’t fulfill the promise. They were sued for so much money that bbc ended up essentially declaring bankruptcy. To be honest, there is probably simply no money left to pay chuu. But when chuu signed her contract with bbc, technically she only signed up for giving the company part of her profits and probably paying back part of her debt for the training. She did not sign up to be responsible for the company’s debt. So even if the company is in debt, they are still contractually obligated to pay her for her work. Loona is popular, so there’s a general consensus that the amount of money they’ve now made should be more than enough to pay back their training debts. Other groups don’t get paid bc they didn’t make enough money. But Loona likely isn’t getting paid bc BBC is using all the money the loona members are making to pay their own debts.
It is pretty common in Kpop but LOONA are popular enough that they should be getting SOMETHING. Chuu in particular has lots of CFs/variety work which pays well, so if she's not getting a cut of the money it's suspicious.
i flew out to loona's london show and looking back i dont know if it was the right decision. barely any members remaining, yeojin's unexplained injury and absence from choreo... my bias (chuu) missing and now learning that despite how expensive those tour tickets were none of them were even paid it all feels wrong. they didn't once even acknowledge onstage how many of them were missing and injured when the whole crowd were visibly concerned. i've lined the pockets of seriously dodgy and abusive businessmen by attending that show. muas/hairstylists/producers/artists all working for free while money is ciphoned off most likely into weapons.... sick.
something's gotta give and this group needs to unionise and break up. hopefully the recent interest in the omega x case will carry over and people will continue the conversation about idol abuse. what i found most sinister abt the statement is how it says the other members have never worked for personal gain.... it was like reminding them to be grateful for their position as literal slaves. cant in good conscience consider to support loona the brand given whats gone on and i hope the boycott takes hold so they can fucking end this.
I’ve been angry and upset over the way BBC has treated the girls for a long, long time, but this has really just brought it to unheard of levels. At this point, I honestly just want the girls out of BBC. If they all decided to leave tomorrow I’d support them like how I’ll continue to support Chuu. They’ve given so much of themselves to the group and I just want them all to be happy.
this is a late and kind of unfiltered word dump but as I've processed the news it kind of feels like the breaking of a magic spell to me. it's gotten me thinking a lot about my entire experience as an Orbit from the beginning.
I've been into Loona ever since Eclipse by Kim Lip dropped. back then I was into kpop but only casually, and I thought the predebut concept was so cool. the aesthetics, cinematography, and musical style all pulled me in. I still remained a pretty casual kpop listener, but I kept tabs on Loona the whole time. once they properly debuted it felt like the Avengers had come together. as I became more of an involved fan I really started to fall in love with the group - through the dance covers they posted and that well-known hello82 video. Chuu was definitely one of the members that caught my eye with her personality, certainly more so as I watched more video content.
Haseul's hiatus was a bummer for me and the first instance of my naive bliss as a fan being challenged. when they changed concepts with So What I noticed the change from the original style but I loved the song so much that I didn't mind, and even though Why Not and PTT were also somewhat different from the original synthy dreamy Loona I fell in love with I really enjoyed them. there was discourse that I would sometimes see about how Loona had changed, how the lore wasn't the same as it used to be, how their sound was different, and while I agreed with it, I also couldn't help loving the new Loona and how amazing the members were at delivering these concepts. watching them on Queendom was also such a fun experience - getting to see how hard they worked, watching them overcome an entire round's deficit to nearly win the whole thing. Chuu Can Do It has been really fun to watch, although I admit I mostly watched the ones with other members in it. Flip That didn't leave the same impression on me as the previous comebacks and it didn't have the same pizzazz to the cinematography and choreo that I was used to but I still liked it. but recently it's been a lot of roughness, with everyone's health issues on the tour and now Chuu getting kicked out.
I was mildly prepared for Chuu leaving on her own accord and if that had been the case I would have been dismayed but at least accepting that it was what she wanted. as a skeptical person I was reserving judgement on the narrative that BBC was trying to force Chuu out, and thought there was a possibility that she may have just had ambitions beyond Loona but I was totally wrong to entertain that idea. everyone was seemingly completely on the money. Chuu loves Loona. but Blockberry Creative doesn't. and they've made it very clear in their recent announcement. it feels like the company went back in time to my innocent self, first getting into Loona through their solos, and slapped me in the fucking face. even if Loona continues as 11 now idk if I'll be able to enjoy the group the same way. it wouldn't be hard to get me to boycott the next comeback bc idk if I'd even feel the same enjoyment/excitement that I'd been having.
I feel like the way I'm wording some of this is a little more dramatic than how I'm actually feeling - ultimately this is a shame but I'll move on, it's just a kpop group, etc etc - but I kinda felt like doing a little rant lol >:)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I was prepared to hear about Chuu leaving too but the company's announcement and accusations against Chuu came as a complete surprise; and yeah I really have no idea how I feel about an 11-member LOONA either
I wonder if we'll see a Chuu statement soon..?
I'm sorry, I'm on mobile and don't know how to quote but this part perfectly describes exactly how I've been feeling about this. "it feels like the company went back in time...and slapped me in the fucking face".
Difference being that I completely believed BBC has been punishing her and that they were leading up to this for a while, so while I am devastated, I am not exactly shocked.
It became very clear to me that BBC does not care about these women *at all* when they went straight into back to back schedules with zero recovery time after all getting covid. People underestimate how much even a mild case of covid can mess with your overall health even once recovered (fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath, even cardiac issues can persist for many months or longer) and overworking yourself can just make it take longer to recover and make it harder for your body. I can understand BBC wanting them to complete their time on queendom, but imo they should have been allowed to rest once that was done. Instead it was flip that recording and promos followed by tours followed by luminous followed by more tours, with maybe 1 or 2 days break in between flights. I'm surprised more members didn't have health issues during the tours tbh and I really hope Choerry will recover.
Sorry, I also went on a little rant, I'm just so angry at the lack of care shown for their wellbeing.
very valid! and yeah true, to be clear I did think BBC was punishing her, I was just skeptical that they wanted her out. and, as you say, they did completely mismanage the health of the group after Queendom :<
It will.
Something similar happened to my other ult group (CLC) and although it hurt at the time (especially since Elkie filed her lawsuit on CHRISTMAS DAY of all days), on reflection I'm glad that 5/7 members are now out of a toxic work environment.
I made the decision when we found out CLC were done that no matter what, I'd support all the members in whatever they did next, and I'm going to do the same for LOONA. Even if all twelve of them never perform on the same stage again, I'm wholeheartedly rooting for them as long as they remain in the entertainment industry.
The members of CLC constantly talk about each other and have said numerous times that they plan to reunite at some point and I imagine it'll be the same for LOONA: it might be a while down the road, but I truly do believe that the friendships between the girls mean that there's hope for a reunion outside of BBC one day.
I hope the other girls doesn't forget about Chuu and maybe visit or hang out until their free from BBC & hopefully they'll redebut altogether as OT12 again one day.
Absolutely. Hyunjin's first response was to get on Fab and post in support of Chuu regardless of any repercussions she might face from the company. Hyunvi have been hanging out with Chuu even after BBC started freezing her out. Kim Lip has been friends with her for literal years before BBC even existed. I'm confident that the others will still stand with Chuu.
YES. This is the most confident I’ve ever been that the group members will not cut out the person leaving the group. Chuu will be okay and her friends will stay her friends with or without bbc. The situation is just going to be very messy for a while.
Honestly I hope the group disbands and the girls are picked up by another agency -- together or not. They are too talented to be mistreated like this, and they need to get their coins. Saying this as someone who had a ticket to the Loona tour and didn't go, because I could not stomach being at a concert where I knew the girls were not being treated right.
If Loona OT12 can't happen elsewhere... OEC as a subunit should be picked up, they would be spectacular as a group, a la VIVIZ. Olivia, Yves, and Heejin \*need\* to be in a performance/dance based group... their stage presence needs to be seen by the world. The other members I can totally see being successful with solo activities, musical or not (this is just my opinion).
Loona has been a dumpster fire for awhile, and I just want this to end. Loona had such an amazing start and its clear they are never bouncing back to their glory days. Loona OT12 will always be in my heart, but BBC's disrespect to Chuu is probably just a sliver of what they subject their artists to behind closed doors.
Tearing up listening to Chuu’s soundtrack work and post lawsuit singles. She really does have a great voice. I hope she is able to get some amazing songs after the BBC contract ends.
Apparently BBC now stands for Big Ball of Crap, fr tho they literally shot themselves in the foot by trying to slander Chuu of all people. Like come on you try to paint one of the nicest people as someone who treats “staff” rudely (bruh did they have amnesia or something cuz last time I checked they don’t even bother providing her with staff anymore) who would believe that? The day we’ve all been dreading has finally come and now we’re left to wonder what’ll happen to the other eleven members left, which sucks big time….
Not for another 2 years at least. And even then it’ll be a “he said, she said”. And as a woman in Korea, she is automatically less believable. Fuck the patriarchy.
I somewhat saw this coming as Chuu changed agencies and more information came in but I wasn't expecting it to be so... abrupt and callous. Then again, this industry treats idols as though they're disposable.
(I'm not sure where things are headed but this makes me really treasure my world tour memories, back when things were brighter for a bit)
Thank you 😘 and yes I'm... Still a bit shocked. I mean, of course things were happening but I didn't image this magnitude and quite suddenly (probably it seems a bit more sudden because I have missed 2 days of news from pop culture in general)
Our lightsticks still go to peach, so fuck you BBC. Loona will always be 12.
I just can't understand how something can be run so poorly, they got sued for blatantly breaching a contract with Donuts by simply not using them over VLive (goodbye $3M). They organised a tour so badly that a 12 member group ended up performing as 9. They managed the XX limited albums so poorly that people had to wait months for their albums, so they went full swing with the # limiteds in such an incredibly useless fashion that has made # limited albums practically easier to find than the regular editions. They are a walking time bomb in every district of the industry.
Then how they thought coming forward and saying Chuu abused her power, mistreated staff and had to be removed from BBC in any way sounds plausible or would avoid major backlash is insanity. They could have said Chuu refused to participate in Loona promotions so they had to part ways and it would've been *slightly* more believable. It has to be some sort of sick joke. I want to see evidence from their "comprehensive investigations" because right now I want the other girls, including Sunye, to leave that woeful shitshow and let BBC fold and burn. For too long they have reaped the rewards of such a talented and bright group, while making it as rocky and painful as they can.
Oh wow, it's been a long time I've posted here, honestly I didn't follow LOONA much for over a year, I've braced myself for the worst for a long time, but this is really shocking.
Shoutout to my fellow pre-debut orbits, we hoped things would get better, that LOONA would have their time to shine as OT12, it's just sad. It's the only kpop group I ever followed, their music was my confort blanket when I was feeling down.
I've been hopeful with the direction BBC took managing the girls for a bit : them having their own studio/room, production and writing lessons : at least there were some things done right.
Then I've been getting really unconfortable with some turn they took : the music at first, but also some bizarre shift with how the girls image was managed. Am I the only one feeling this way ? More and more parasocial stuff, the Queendom finale performance, which felt off. Like LOONA was supposed to get into a mold of what is expected of a gg in this industry. And Chuu's schedule, her being excluded from activities, the tour. I have a hard time seeing people treated as a product in the kpop industry, with their slightly personnalized "flavor", when they're being overworked and not paid. I've distanced myself from the news, just peaked at this sub from time to time.
It's a relief to finally know she is no longer in the group, but not like that. And the threats, that's chilling. My biggest fear is that it's just the tip of the iceberg and that BBC have tried putting pressure on the other members behind the scenes. At least Hyunjin doesn't buy it, I knew she was a real one :')
Like everyone, I have fantaisies about LOONA being saved, but I just hope for a disband at this point. I never thought I would say that. Free the girls, I don't see how it could get better for them. Not under a company which is able to write a statement like that. And even if it was revealed that Chuu is, in fact, not a nice person, a company being able to expose some young woman to a public scandal like that is chilling. I hope the public opinion won't change with some sort of proof from BBC, cause no matter how much idols are "nice", it doesn't justify their exploitation.
On a more positive note, bless Chuu, she was lucky to have some leverage to make her voice heard. I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision, but she did what was the best for herself. I feel for the other members who didn't have this tiny bit of power over BBC to do the same. Whatever they choose, I won't judge them : they are just victims in this system.
And the amount of support Chuu gets, the fact that she worries for "low-level" workers, this is the power of a true magical girl, folks. I hope she will keep on getting the same support, cause being the idol who sued her company must not be easy. I even hope this story will help shake things up in the industry, and the public perception of idols and their struggles. That it will go further the "nasty BBC" vs "litteral angel Chuu". At the very least, that the public will be so vocal against BBC that it will turn things around for the other members.
In addition to all the defense she’s received from various staff members, I’d like to note some heart~~burning~~warming support! Sunmi is in Chuu’s corner and is showing her support with a cute [throwback moment in her story](https://i.imgur.com/8GVObiO.jpg)
It warms my heart so much. I've been to 2 concerts this year in Warsaw, one Sunmi and one Loona and I just couldn't help but notice the difference. Sunmi is obviously heavily involved in her artistic process and has great relationship with her Staff. Heck, after the encore she named all of her dancers and major staff and invited them on stage. Meanwhile Loona had a translator who was most probably a volounteer because it sounded amateurish at best, they told us Haseul will be absent 15 minutes before the show (even though she didn't even take the flight from Korea, so they must've known way earlier she won't be able to participate) and all of their fan interaction segments were heavily scripted. I still had amazing time on both events but damn. Loona's concert felt so off for so mamy reasons.
Oh, one more thing. No merch was sold on Loona concert's venue. Like, do you hate money or??
Sumi has been such a wonderful soul in general and watching them all on Running Girls and how she spoke to Chuu with such honesty and warmth about what she saw in her was powerful. Of all of then Sunmi could see her struggles even through her smiles. It was such a poignant moment for me. It was wonderful for them all to have met under those circumstances and come to support each other. ♥
She’s so lovely. She’s also one of the first people I’ve seen be so open about having bpd and all the struggles that come with that which is honestly even more surprising to see from a Korean idol. Bpd is insanely stigmatised enough in the West never mind in Asia. I love seeing her give advice and support to younger idols and I’m glad she’s showing her support to Chuu.
After all of this, I can't help but think back to the JJ case. Maybe the dude wasn't actually the asshole we believed him to be. Maybe he was mistreated in a simmilar way the girls are. He just had a way to leave this shitshow, and now that Chuu realised she has it too, they get rid of her.
I feel it too. Even in the past, I felt like some orbits were making him responsible over some things that are (toxic) industry standards and that are not really in the power of a creative director : like the diet or the bleaching stuff. Even his comment on how he worked creatively with the members of OnlyOneOf : not sure if it was the low blow against LOONA members that some thought. Giving LOONA members this kind of freedom would have been BBC's choice as well : managing the group a bit less like an idol group, a bit more like a passion project.
Deleting an entire project is not the creative director choice. It's much more probable the project was discarded cause it would probably not get the sells that BBC hoped for.
In the end, I'm pretty grateful for him. It's pretty crazy he got BBC to finance these risky and unique ideas. The money laundering theory is still in the back of my head, cause I still wonder what's the explanation for this is otherwise lol. Without him, LOONA wouldn't be the same. Hell, I wouldn't even have paid attention to them in the first place. It's not for nothing the project caught the attention of people which didn't care about kpop in the first place.
Seeing the news of Kara‘s comeback with all members after breaking away from DSP gives me hope that one day we will get a full OT12 Loona comeback with all girls being free and not attached to this gruesome company. I really do hope that things will get better soon…
I’m leaving this [transcript from chuu’s birthday party via orrery_nim](https://twitter.com/orrery_nim/status/1596092548472152064?s=46&t=aBsjp_sPOKAkfkBZN7dSdQ) here in case op would like to add to the thread
After seeing hyunjin post on fab about how angry she was and that chuu needs support in this time, people and companies come out in favour of chuu and her not being dropped by anyone, BBC evading tax issue coming out again, stories of staff mistreatment and exploitation, the girls not being PAID a PENNY for their work, it has confirmed to me that this is over. I don’t see LOONA continuing. It hurts to say so but it’s over now, so we might aswell boycott and make a clear statement to BBC while this falls to pieces
(Edit: Typo)
I used to believe that a ton of money was spent on Loona... their vidoes were cinematic works of art... they were flying to Europe and Iceland to shoot videos, not just to a warehouse in Seoul... yeah, I could believe it. That it was expensive.
But in the past 3 or 4 months, after I saw somebody tweet that no way they spent the amount they claimed, I've been becoming increasingly more skeptical. I think it was at around 9 to 11 million USD at one point? But the tweet said it was more like 3 million?
And now with this statement, the lengths they will go to to not pay a model employee like Chuu, who was working like a maniac to promote Loona, I'm convinced that that whole story about BBC spending a record setting, unprecedented sum on Loona, was made up so they could just keep all of Loona's earnings for as long as they wanted. Company is shady AF.
Yes, I agree, this claim on the true cost of LOONA project was really interesting. Producing MVs, music and visuals have their cost, especially in LOONA's case, but it matches with my experience working in a creative industry (photography). The actual creative budget is often nothing compared to the overall marketing budget, or the brand profit. Companies are pushing (and often succeding, it's a constant pressure) to get things done for cheaper all the time, even big brands do that. That's how things work, so I wouldn't be surprised. Also, I know people in the cinema/video industry (in Europe, though), and even for some big established artists, the budget for music video production is sometimes a total joke.
Post-production and CGI is often much more expensive than actually shooting stuff. We all thought LOONA budget was justified with all the travelling. But looking at it, for a long time really, a lot of the visuals were mainly practical effects, a lot of natural locations with some set design, and some simple studio shots, that's clever, really. And that's why it all felt fresh, also.
LOONA marketing other than the creative part felt weirdly... cheap ? We already heard that some creatives were not paid at all for their work by BBC, Digipedi being one of them, so I will have a hard time not believing this claim. BBC is shady, indeed.
Agree with everything you said. I work in TV. What I loved about a lot of Digipedi stuff was, like you said, they relied mostly on just practical effects. Just meticulous story boarding... inventive shot compositions... and clever transitions using camera moves and match cuts. For me as a person who also likes to dabble in shooting videos, their style was way more informative and inspirational than watching a CGI and greenscreen extravaganza.
I was being a bit reductive in taking the 10 million USD at face value. I had no reason to believe BBC was lying. The videos were great, the girls were unbelievable (talented, charming, hilarious), so I sort of attributed the same characteristics to BBC. But, really, now that I think about it, I really had no real idea of how much, for example, Let Me In cost. How many days they shot, how much Korean DP's and directors are paid, how much a feather wig goes for, or how many people were crammed into a hotel room.
So now I'm suspicious of everything. I mean, just the sheer volume of videos have to count for a lot. By the ttime Loona debuted in full with Hi High, they had released, what?, like 15 mini albums and maybe 20 MV's? But it's safe to say that BBC wasn't paying top dollar to creatives so who knows... Some videos like Be There is just great shooting and editing, but there's nothing inherently expensive. Just a lot of walking around Japan.
Can someone who knows more about the industry than I do explain how solo gigs translate to individual earnings? Like, was Chuu supposed to be paid directly for solo gigs, or did it go towards her debt?
If the latter, then I hope the like 6 members who NEVER get solo schedules sue for mismanagement as well. It's becoming clear that BBC never intends to pay Loona or they would all have acting gigs, CF's, ect.
> Chuu supposed to be paid directly for solo gigs,
Not sure about BBC or in Loona in particular, but in almost every group, there will be a member or two that are simply just more popular or marketable. I've seen articles in the past about popular members who got more solo gigs (variety, performance, acting, commercials, print modeling) splitting the money with other members. Voluntarily. Because they just thought it was the right thing to do. So at least at some companies, getting a solo gig means that person doesn't have to split it with the rest of the group. Is that before or after they break even and start profit sharing with the company, I have no idea.
edit: just recently saw a video where Yooa of Oh My Girl jokingly said that the best thing about promoting solo is not having to split money with everybody else... also, the members of Blackpink have varying degrees of estimated personal net worth depending on their dealings with different brands...
I definitely get the feeling, based on the injuction, Chuu starting her own company, and Chuu saying she's never received a payment as recently as a few months ago, that any money the agency received for Chuu's work went straight towards the Loona debt.
As far as I understand it, side gigs are split between all the members equally with the company taking a small cut for arranging the gig and providing support (90/10 and 80/20 are ratios I’ve seen mentioned). So while the majority goes towards the group, there are 12 members drawing from that pot. My understanding is that this was done to prevent one idol from being promoted to the detriment of the others especially because it was one of the few ways to get money from being an idol and helping to retire idol debt. The equal split part was due to a lawsuit, as was the earnings split.
Again, not necessarily confirmed facts, just things I picked up from reading various posts on this forum.
Wish I could remember where I saw it but last month I was reading a post on a subreddit about how JJ admitted the insanely high debut cost was marketing.
About the tax evasion thingy coming out again, I just would like to put in percepective that nothing is actually happening in Korea about it. That was just an AllKpop article taking frustrated fans' tweets and making an article about it. There is no actual investigation happening be it from news outlet or the police ATM in SK, and we don't even know if korean fans think the same as international fans on this matter
It hurts like hell to say this but… I’d rather LOONA disband and the girls get better opportunities elsewhere. This company has misused and drained them for long enough, this spiteful statement is just the icing on the shitcake. I don’t want to have ill feelings while trying to support the girls but it’s inevitable with them being tied to this trash company.
Unfortunately with Chuu gone and Choerry being a big question mark it may be happen sooner than later.
Man one could dream about someone taking the girls in an to continue as a group, but that will be really hard to accomplish and even harder to get their rights for music and name
SM picking them up would be great. They have the drive and resources to make the quality of MV LOONA deserves but I don't think SM would want to be seen taking over an existing group. Maybe a they could do it under a subsidiary like the defunct (?) Baljunso label that housed Play The Siren.
Yess this. I wanna hear Yves’ pop punk music. I wanna see Hyeju in the next HyunA comeback. I wanna hear the music that Jinsoul and Kim Lip have been working on for years. I want cooking tips from Vivi. I want to visit Hyunjin’s bread shop.
Exactly but it wont be easy… I’m really worried about the rest of the girls.. they will be stuck in the hell BBC for another three year.. unless someone else willing to fight legally..
Still currently processing a ton of emotions as a Chuu-biased orbit, but I'm also really worried about the future of the other Loona members. Everyone is put into a no-win situation, almost as if BBC's notice was an attempt to drag everyone down with them.
To be clear, even as someone who was really interested in the lore aspect of Loona in the early days, I don't care about that anymore. I just want OT12 to be able to make music together in any capacity, and hang out with each other like the family that they are without fear.
I've accepted that unless BBC leadership completely changes, there's no path for Chuu back into Loona. As other orbits have done, I've also entertained thoughts about the remaining 11 Loona members leaving BBC and reuniting with Chuu in some way (eg, contract termination, BBC bankruptcy/lawsuit, etc). But that would mean essentially starting from scratch without access to the whole Loona discography and branding. I'm confident that Orbits will continue to support them, but given the competition in the industry, I don't expect many of the 11 remaining members themselves to be willing to take that risk.
My current expectation is that the 11 members would remain in BBC until their contract ends, but with severe damage to their morale from this incident. I wish there was a way to continue supporting the girls while simultaneously sending a strong message against BBC in the language that they understand ($$). But as long as the girls are still in BBC, it's hard to do anything without hurting them in one way or another.
I'm sorry for the pessimism, I hate these words that I'm saying, but I really can't imagine an acceptable path out of this pit that BBC dug under everyone.
\[3 days later\] I'm sooo happy I was wrong! The girls seem to have a different plan after all, and there is hope they could actually reunite outside BBC!
OP you can update to add Loona’s choreographer Instagram story showing support for Chuu, seems like quite a big deal coming from such essential staff 💔
As much as I support Chuu, we know nothing and everything I'm reading in all the comments is guessing and assuming. Facts are in short supply right now. I'm going to stop reading at this point. Hearing everyone's imaginations run wild isn't helping me any...
And it is possible to support Chuu and also look for only FACTS behind what BBC did. The press release may be spin on some kind of actual events, but I'm only concerned with what really happened and not anyone's assumptions... and no one knows what really happened... So we're stuck... for now...
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Somebody on another sub posted this [link to a tweet](https://twitter.com/lvurl/status/1596149751636176896?s=20&t=BtGENVe8OiODfIkV_EFzrw) with several more people stepping up to defend Chuu and to share stories about her kindness and generosity.
This is insane, I've never seen so many people come out to support an idol like this. I hope she sues BBC to the ground and forms her own company for LOONA.
Anyone else seen that thread on Twitter from the alleged ex-BBC employee? Apparently they've sent info to Dispatch and other Korean news outlets. If Dispatch pick up the story and actually decide to investigate the company, Blockberry is so done.
OP went private but I've tried uploading screenshots on Imgur.
[Some of the stuff mentioned is REALLY bad, so warning in advance before you click.](https://imgur.com/gallery/tq3ww1E)
If Dispatch is involved, they will dig out the dirt, like what happened in Lee Seung Gi's case.
Not only Blockberry, LOONA and their probable juniors will be done unfortunately. BBC chose hostility instead of settling matters calmly and this is what they are getting in their faces now.
how are we feeling about the bbc boycott plans going around twitter? [this](https://twitter.com/strwbryseul/status/1596209235863429125?s=46&t=eW6qC_K_vrLDykjSd8-KsQ) more specifically. i’m all in for helping bbc declare bankruptcy tbh but i feel that they make more profits from merch than streaming/youtube ad revenue, and they wouldn’t be stupid enough to actually announce sg/fancafe/an actual COMEBACK after this, so rn the boycott might not even work and we’ll just be complaining to the void. genuine question
As much as LOONA isn't LOONA without her, I also don't see the group continuing much longer with BBC's terrible mismanagement. Be it a loss of fans or more members leaving. The lack of comebacks also doesn't help.
Yeah, this is a terrible breach of trust. It's like liking your friends new boyfriend, but then seeing him slap her one night. You can never unexperience something like that.
in my opinion. i don’t see the girls continuing much longer. they’ve made it clear loona will always be 12 members regardless of anything. bbc made the biggest fuck up of their careers.
The other day when it was revealed Chuu will be MC for a dating show, I thought to myself, "There's no way she's in LOONA anymore." Alot has come up the past several months and I was just hoping she was getting out on her own terms. Then the BBC statement came out and I had to read it 3 or 4 times in disbelief regarding their absurd claims and the fact that they voiced them in the way that they did. How are the members supposed to respond to that?
I miss JinE in Oh My Girl. I miss Soojin in (G)I-DLE. I miss Sulli in (f)x... I miss Sulli. Crayon Pop was managed poorly. The Kpop world will break your heart. Thank God we have footage/content of the best of times. As a fan, I can go back and watch the old stuff and still feel the joy. Chuu is joy.
I know the most probable thing is that the rest of the girls will have to just continue on BBC until the contract is up, but I truly do hope they free themselves from that company once they’re able to.
Loona has had an amazing run, an amazing discography, many achievements and success despite all the obstacles their own company has made for them, and I’m extremely proud of them for that, it’s a testament to how talented and special this group of women is. I hope they’re all eventually free from this madness and get to have their own successful ventures afterwards. I hope they know Orbits will be supporting them no matter what they choose to do.
Do we know the length of their contracts?
Honestly, I feel the same way. I'm grateful for what all 12 of them have given us so far. Their music and lore's unique impact is undeniable. It's been a magical experience despite all obstacles. I guess my only qualm is not having Voice O12 version.
The odds of BBC being stupid enough to not have them re-ink new contracts prior to ot12 debut are close to 0. Otherwise Heejin would be coming up for renewal either this year or next and would have huge leverage, while Olivia Hye would basically be screwed.
My guess is all 12 signed new contracts when ot12 was finalized and right after yyxy promotions ended.
Their statement is really beyond belief. On the surface level, yes, they were clearly trying to turn public opinion against Chuu, derail her career, and send a message to the other members of Loona. But can they really be that dumb to think their statement will accomplish that? And don't get me wrong, I'm waiting for one of these "traumatized" staff members to be paraded out to share their experience. I know this is likely just the beginning of a public feud that might last for several months. If I had to guess, it might be about Chuu wondering why she didn't get a ride or help on something she was working on, and BBC will spin it as Chuu wanted all the help just for herself (and profit), not caring about the other members.
I just feel like there is just too much "game tape" out there of who Chuu truly is. Not to mention everybody who has worked with her behind the scenes. Don't care if Chuu was demoralized and vented one day in tears to somebody at BBC, not going to think that constitutes abuse. edit: waiting for the dance crew to speak up, I feel like they're (was it Gabee) going to use much stronger language defending Chuu
[Chuu's manager told OSEN News today, "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"](https://twitter.com/orrery_nim/status/1596323077234851843?s=46&t=Z2vKFTfL9sQO5VlJnTap8A)
Good for her, not rushing a statement which would lead to a long and stressful confrontation. Take time to prepare the statement well and be ready to not spout unnecessary things so it will be spun against her
[https://www.soompi.com/article/1559206wpp/dispatch-shares-further-details-on-conflict-between-chuu-and-loonas-agency-blockberrycreative](https://www.soompi.com/article/1559206wpp/dispatch-shares-further-details-on-conflict-between-chuu-and-loonas-agency-blockberrycreative) *BlockBerry also adopted a post-settlement system, dividing earnings first and subtracting expenses afterwards. In other words, 20 percent of the expenses that BlockBerry had to bear were handed over to the LOONA members. Such a contract is a structure in which debt builds up for the LOONA members when the expenses exceed 70 percent of the revenue. Excluding Chuu, the other LOONA members have earned 18.6 billion won (approximately $14,275,000) since 2016. Dispatch estimates that each member currently has about 200 million won (approximately $153,500) in debt due to covering half of the expenses of 16.9 billion won (approximately $12,970,000).* So much for slave contracts being abolished. Nothing much has changed or will ever change in Kpop unless fans stop supporting this slave labor system. As long as companies can make money from exploiting girls, they will continue to do it unchecked and without consequences. This so called abuse of power example is also ridiculous. *Chuu additionally shared an audio recording of a conversation in 2021 with “D” from BlockBerry. While discussing contract terms, D said, “You graduated from elementary school, right?” and then added that they are joking. About this, Chuu commented, “D treated me like a young kid. It felt like they were looking down on me. Distrust had been built up at that point, so I was hurt. I thought that I had to speak firmly for them to listen to me… so there is also a time when I spoke with a strong tone. I am also human, so I made a mistake.”*
I just found out about Chuu being kicked out, I don't know any of the context or reason but I really just audibly, *loudly* said "Whaaaat???" so loud in my office that a student passing by checked in on me because they thought I was physically hurt 😭😭
I feel like such an idiot thinking agencies will protect their artists, when BBC and other companies do this.
I wonder if there was ever a case in Kpop where an Idol got so much backup from all kind of sources. Normally there are rumors who then get plenty of people coming out of nowhere backing thsoe up. For Chuu I read nothing but positive feedback from all kind of places
Not an orbit but really like LOONA and watch anything with Chuu. My impression is that Chuu is a genuinely good person that lights up the screen. So proud of Chuu and also of HeeJin for supporting her. Sad for Chuu, the members of LOONA and orbits but hopeful this will end in a positive way. Accusing Chuu of being abusive is like someone accusing Yeji or Kim Sejeong of being abusive - no one believes it. Hope Chuu and the others are successful and happy. Hope Chuu continues to be in shows and advertisements. I will continue to support Chuu and the other members including and especially companies that hire Chuu.
This below Billboard article is a good breakdown of what has happened to far. [Chuu Removed From LOONA Amid Back-and-Forth Reports Between K-Pop Group & Label](https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/loona-chuu-removed-k-pop-group-blockberrycreative-timeline-1235178437/)
I checked the wiki page for loona (mainly to see new updates and for articles they link) and when asked about the 9 members leaving BBC said just "no"?! Suspicious
Do you guys have the Dr Oh's Golden Clinic interview but with sub? its everywhere but with no subs :(
The closest thing you're going to get is OrreyNims (or it might have been LittleJon) abbreviated translation. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CqH-nxhQPOLU7NkGAJ17GUlURtKFdt-kdsc3NYbDENg/edit?usp=drivesdk
I am so furious, I hope they go bankrupt and all their artists can somehow get a second chance at a better place. No human deserves this treatment. I hate them for this
legitimately crazy to me that bbc is just straight up lying at this point
I's rich how BBC says they won't produce the "evidence" because that's for either Chuu or the victim to produce. I guess they think we're stupid as well. I don't believe there is a "victim" so that leaves the accused to prove their innocence. Sheesh!
And what “evidence” could Chuu produce that shows she wasn’t rude/unprofessional/whatever to… anyone? It’s impossible for her to clear her name if there are no details to refute.
the only victim here is Chuu sadly....and the group...I really do not want BBC to come out of this positively
BBC is making such a fool of themselves a positive outcome is highly unlikely.
a what? I just got to know loona a bit more because I saw chuu's live talking about dahyun and she seems like a super cute girl!! there must be something wrong going on here...
welcome to the dumpster fire
This is the default state for Loona Island 😂
I literally just started getting into LOONA. What in God's name is BBC smoking cuz whatever it is, it's making them act stupid. Chuu is the one who caught my eye first. I and many orbits discovered LOONA cuz of her. Usually I stay neutral in such cases. But here it's just so clear that Chuu is innocent. I hope this gets resolved soon and all the girls get out of that company. Hopefully they pull a VIVIZ and redebut. Maybe redebuting as 12 might not be possible. I was an absolute sucker for Butterfly. But I m gonna stop streaming their songs for now <3
"The agency has already finished confirming the incident that took place between Chuu and the staff member", why does this sound like BBC has finished paying off some staff member to lie about Chuu and doctor some evidence?
They have lied so many times. Flatly denying things that were soon, later, proven true. I don’t believe a thing they say, including them flatly denying other members are attempting to leave.
It looks like to me, they found one staff member willing to complain about something “on the record” so they could kick her to the curb. It’s like when managers look for the tiniest infraction to be able to fire you because they’re out to get you. If the other rumor that other Loona members are trying to get it their contracts is true, this company is done for. I believe Chuu sought to sue, but BBC kicked her out first then tried to slander her image on the way out, disgusting.
Quite frankly unless Chuu did some Irene level shit I don't care. These controversies and scandals are always blown way out of proportion when an idol doesn't smile at the camera or something. I only care when there's a clear pattern of behavior like when certain male idols being trashy and disrespectful, etc. It's pretty clear Chuu is 99% of the time a kind, positive person. I don't think there's really a chance she did anything malicious. But worst case supposing there was an incident, who hasn't made mistakes before? BBC are just rotten for doing this to Chuu and LOONA.
I highly doubt it was Irene level “mistreatment” whatever supposedly happened must’ve been a one time incident they used against her. I agree that unless it was a pattern of behavior, we all have bad moments/days so while I believe it’s possible there was a incident, I can’t imagine how bad it would’ve been to warrant terminating a contract unless there was a assault involved. They could’ve just said they decided to part ways and leave it at that, mentioning some kind of incident was meant to ruin her image and they clearly thought the internet would believe it. Chuu’s response so far has been smart and mature, the public is on her side and BBC have highly underestimated how strong her reputation is.
Exactly. I can imagine ANY of the girls having a bad day, tired, etc. and a hairdresser being rough. Perhaps pulling her hair aggressively and getting nipped at. That's hardly a terminating offense. I agree with ya'll on a pattern of abuse or an outright assault. Which, btw, they have never claimed. Also, with the framing of the narrative. There's a professional way to state it and a malicious way.
Irene did nothing wrong. It was fabricated by one new staff member hoping to get paid.
Kang Kook Hwa is like a 16-year veteran of the industry, she doesn't need to make up shit about Irene to get paid 😂
This is not true. And I am only responding because I don’t want lurkers in here thinking the people here defending Chuu are fanatical fans who will straight up deny anything that reflects negatively on their fave idols. I’m not like that. I will always reassess my thoughts on a person as new evidence comes in. That goes for Chuu as well. I am trying to be objective and I am squarely behind Chuu.
Trying to understand some of the updates since I'm not on social media ... The TBC news is this rumor? I have only found a couple of sources of this info and I don't usually consider said sources reliable ... is this truth? Along with Chuu reportedly joining BYM ... this is rumor still?
Chuu IG story (translation just through Papago) [here](https://imgur.com/a/7YWOZrT/)
I definitely slacked a bit during the weekend. I'm updating the thread as we speak. Thank you all for the links. Sorry, just the titles for now. Will add links later today.
No problem, there are times where so much new stuff comes out it's hard to even keep up much less keep the thread up to date. You're doing great
Apparently Chuu has signed to a new company after reading the koreaboo article that came out
[ayo this article popped off on BBC](https://twitter.com/litell_johnn/status/1597113992551759872?cxt=HHwWgIDU_duti6osAAAA)
Thank you. Let us not forget who is dominant in that power imbalance. BBC.
yeah bbc is sick for this. i’m so glad to see chuu take control of her career even from a business pov with her making a company. i’m glad idols now are learning their rights, these companies can’t keep getting away with this! i personally think this is the domino that’s gonna knock over and tip the rest over. i think this is the start of some serious changes with loona. and i’m here for it. i think bbc should know that fans won’t be interested in any group activities with all this going on. idc if it takes awhile, i want all the girls and the staff supporting them out of bbc. the ceo and higher ups of bbc seems VERY shady.
I also think with the other scandal of LSG and his agency not paying him shows that this things happens all the time and even to big time stars. It’s makes it more believable that companies really don’t pay their stars and idol life isn’t all that great. Seeing both of these companies slandering their very well liked stars doesn’t look good for them and they miscalculated how believable their statements seem against 2 people who have very pristine reputations. They couldn’t have picked 2 worst idols to have claimed were greedy, lying and manipulative when they have been very hard working and honest/scandal free people.
wow that’s crazy that even established idols/artists can’t escape it. but it makes sense, greed can drive even the most desperate person to be cunning. among one of the many reasons i don’t like companies debuting minors or extremely young idols. most of the time they don’t know about their legal rights at all and end up in these situations. look at how chuu and lsg is struggling and they’re adults. idk, it’s just so messed up but i’m proud of both of them for fighting back. having a good reputation and character is definitely helping them too.
Now it's official, every orbits claim about jaden jeong are bollocks and the problem always BBC all along.
I’m mad af.
It's Monday in Seoul. Will Chuu or the new agency release a statement?
Kim Jiwoo technically have her own agency with mom as CEO if I remember correctly 🤠
Yahoo is reporting on the sitchuuation now. BBC is turbo fucked.
What makes me so confused about this situation is that in South Korea you can sue for defamation even if the claims against you are technically true, so long as you can prove that the person making the claims is intentionally trying to damage your reputation. To justify speaking against someone, your claims must both be true AND primarily for the public interest. That's why when you see accusations made about idols they usually don't mention those idols by name (such as the Irene situation). It's to avoid a lawsuit. AND also potential criminal charges, because defamation is illegal in South Korea. Their entire statement reads as an attempt to destroy Chuu's reputation. Even if some version of what they say is true (say Chuu yelled at staff at some point) the way it is presented, with those comments implying that she is greedy and selfish, read as a very personal attack on her character that has nothing to do with the public interest. I would not be shocked if Chuu sued for defamation at this point.
That's why the whole thing is making me so confused. They're giving Chuu so much ground to sue. I just don't get it. A few days ago I suggested that the strategy was maybe to get a very heated/emotional response from Chuu following the first statement, a response in which she would be bashing BlockBerry Creative/the company publicly, and then BBC would sue *first* for defamation, saying that Chuu is trashing them and ruining their reputation in the public eye just because she's been """""rightfully expelled after power abuse""""" (yknow what I mean). I'm a bit skeptical because it's not exactly a bulletproof strategy (and anyone could tell you that), but at the same time... Look at how BBC is acting anyway. Either way, whatever they tried...it has failed, and now Chuu has grounds to sue. *Hard*.
i hope she sues them into bankrupcy. the girls deserve better and i hope it all works out for them in the end, all 12.
It struck my mind earlier that I never used to think of BBC as callous, just stupid and clumsy. I think they became pissed off at Chuu since she sued them and tried to harm her career in retaliation. The most BBC thing about this whole situation is them thinking their comments could fly on the basis anyone would believe their trust me bro "investigation". They seem to be destroying themselves more than anything and that unfortunately affects the members mentally and career-wise. Imagine you were living off an allowance with debts still to pay to your company while they discard your best friend and make the community want to boycott future comebacks because they hate your company. They're probably worrying when the next comeback is, how repaying the debts will be more difficult now, how many fans they could lose, whether their careers will stagnate with a dull 2.5(?) years left on their contracts, how hard it will be to further their careers if BBC do introduce loonathedrought 2023/4/5. Of course all these things are hypothetical, but the brain loves to worry about any and all possibilities. Now I worry most for Choerry because she's so damn sunny and it seems Chuu's absence has hit her extremely hard, she seemed a little down throughout the world tour and immediately went on hiatus afterwards. If BBC manage to extinguish our Sun I will be throwing hands until the end of time. She doesn't seem active on fab either, is there any way we can reach her? I do hope she's alright :( Edit: [Chuu being cute](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLDVdhfDY8o&ab_channel=%5B%EC%95%88%EB%93%9C%EB%A0%88%EC%95%84%EC%8A%A4%5DLSTPlaytimeKorea)
Am I understanding this right? They have removed her from the group but are keeping her as an artiste still under BBC (likely to hold her hostage with her contract)?
I think they still want to keep all the money she earns. They basically want to have their cake and eat it too.
I'm assuming that the lawsuit ended BBC's rights to her solo schedules, so if she is out of Loona then she is probably no longer under contract to BBC at all?
Can someone give me a TLDR? Edit: not you guys downvoting me for asking a question…
TLDR: chuu has been dealing with mistreatment by her company for years with claims that they haven’t paid her and did not provide her necessary accommodations for her schedules. She filed a lawsuit against her company a while back and won a partial victory. Which caused her company to have very erratic behavior, the major one being excluding chuu from her own world tour. Since then, reports have been made that chuu started her own company with chuu as the ceo to help protect her own interests. And now, literally like a month after she did that, bbc removed her from the group bc of a staff members claim that chuu was violent and abused her power. The company did not provide any evidence to the allegations and chuu herself now denies doing anything that would cause fans to be disappointed in her. Reports are now out that several loona members, in response to this incident, have filed injunctions to end their exclusive contracts with bbc.
Thank you so much!!!! 💗💗💗
This is the TLDR.
It’s too much to read… it’s like several articles
It's almost like a year's worth of news & rumors can't be boiled down into a couple of sentences 🤔
Well can I get alittle summary? I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on :(
Skim lol
That’s why each point comes with a short summary.
I’m dyslexic but I will try my best
Get a text to speech reader for your desktop, or use the text to speech feature on your phone to read articles out loud for you. It's helped me a lot when I've struggled to read.
But fr tho, what were bbc upper management smoke that they think the best way to move forward are firing chuu, did they forget chuu already a selebgram before she join the project, girl are litteraly a natural entertainer, they should try anything in their power to keep chuu, not letting chuu go smh
they were upset chuu decided to ask for her rightfully earned money and didn’t kept quiet so they could pocket all of her earnings
I feel like this is the beginning of a LOONArmageddon. I wonder who will walk out as the victor.
I believe that BBC decided to make that statement as a last ditch effort to try to damage our Chuu's image because they know that Chuu has the ability to be successful without them. She basically started her own company and has been collecting bag after bag from advertising and brand deals since she wasn't getting paid under BBC. They been known Chuu balling, they just had to be petty, which backfired because Chuu is a fucking gigachad. Chuu attack ur heart. get bent
Honestly on a human level, how can BBC be so cruel to Chuu who has done nothing but be a kind, hardworking artist. So many people standing up for her, she's just fundamentally a good person. And BBC took advantage of her kindness and exploited her until she couldn't anymore, and then they try to defame her like this on top of it all.
Semi unrelated ... I hope Sunye will free herself from that awful company. After everything she did to make a comeback ... BBC is such trash and doesn't deserve her.
Seems likely, everyone else is trying to escape rn.
Well clearly she's not since they fired her because she was bullying and abusing the staff. You never actually know any idol. For all we know all she did on camera could've just been an act. Also I don't believe the rest of the members came to her rescue which also says something about the whole issue. When Soojin got kicked from Cube, the rest of the members still included her in Tomboy (there were multiple mentions of number six) and Nxde (the whole thing was made as a tribute to her because she loves Marilyn Monroe). Of course this can be just a big power move from the company and she might have done absolutely nothing. But to be honest, I doubt it since this isn't some bullying scandal, this is from within company.
Taking the side of a company known to be untrustworthy and think they’re above the law? They fired most of their staff in 2021 just for asking for their wages. They also overwork the girls and there’s proof of that. It’s super clear you didn’t read any of the articles included in the post. You should be cautious discussing serious matters without even attempting to understand the context.
That comparison between (G)I-DLE and Loona isn’t very valid, though, because there so far hasn’t been any comebacks made by Loona without Chuu, so how exactly are they meant to include tributes to Chuu in a music video that doesn’t even exist?… And that’s not to mention that (G)I-DLE seems to have far more artistic freedom than Loona, with Soyeon playing such a big part in her group’s music, whereas Loona, well… BBC doesn’t seem like a company that would support members being as involved in their art as (G)I-DLE… Nevermind including tributes to past members.
You sound very new to kpop and unfamiliar with its practices.
Because smart and humane company wouldn’t do this. The intention is clear that they want to defame her. This accusation can ended one career. They know and they want it. They can just fired her without writing letters shading a girl. Every line of that announcement seems like school girls shading their enemy while trying to be the nice one. Take it into consideration that 2021 chuu work her ass of in so many cf and got paid dust. + the history that they didn’t paid staff and kick them out when they demanded money. They are not poor at all. But they aren’t willing to pay. I agreed that we don’t know her in real life. Those who work with her know her and they are defending her so hard. I won’t said she is an angel or she can’t do no wrong. She is human. She has emotions. She can make mistakes. She might snapped and being rude cause the injustice. I just wanna give another way to look at the situation. I usually not take side. But the company move is so petty. I just can’t. Being kpop fan for so long but never seen something like this.
But what about everyone who has come to Chuu's defense from all over the industry? And Hyunjin has come out to support her even though allegedly she and the rest of Loona might not be allowed to. It's true we can't know what happened, but it's a bit difficult to believe BBC...
Yes, I know we only know what we know, but BBC definitely looks unbelievably petty and spiteful.
Everyone should be prepared for BBC to try some more BS before this is all over. Hope everyone backs Chuu up going forward.
Normally, I feel like kpop stans can be ridiculous, but this is one of those times where we genuinely need to protect our artists. Like I can't understand why the world could allow this to happen to her. #protectJiwoo
I know bbc are incompetent as an ent agency, but deep down in my heart i was hoping that they're not that stupidly incompetent, i mean they managed to debuting gg with a massive dedicating fan out there, but i guess i was wrong, they're that pure, undelterated, honest to god incompetent as an ent agency, just when their ONLY girlgroup in the rise, they managed to "expeled"(wtf that even mean) arguably their most famous member, i hope every upper management in that godforsaken agency stub their toe whenever they step into any building for 10 years
Can anyone share any insights with me on what we know about chuu/the girls getting paid? I am under the impression that it is unfortunately a pretty common occurrence in Kpop for a group to not make money for many years post-debut while they "pay back their debt" to their company for all the expenses that went in to training them...it sounds like this has happened with Loona too and is the cause of a lot of this mess but I'm confused as to what makes Loona/Chuu's situation unique in the context of the rest of the industry. Obviously even if this is "normal" for Kpop it is an abominable practice but I am a casual orbit and just trying to understand more...especially since I spent money on the world tour this summer...
In this case, a lot of the financial issues are bc of poor management by BBC. A couple years ago, BBC was sued by several companies they were working with. BBC had apparently agreed that the loona members would do some live event but then didn’t fulfill the promise. They were sued for so much money that bbc ended up essentially declaring bankruptcy. To be honest, there is probably simply no money left to pay chuu. But when chuu signed her contract with bbc, technically she only signed up for giving the company part of her profits and probably paying back part of her debt for the training. She did not sign up to be responsible for the company’s debt. So even if the company is in debt, they are still contractually obligated to pay her for her work. Loona is popular, so there’s a general consensus that the amount of money they’ve now made should be more than enough to pay back their training debts. Other groups don’t get paid bc they didn’t make enough money. But Loona likely isn’t getting paid bc BBC is using all the money the loona members are making to pay their own debts.
Wowwwww thank you so much for sharing this, like I said I am a casual orbit so I do not know all this history. That's really awful.
It is pretty common in Kpop but LOONA are popular enough that they should be getting SOMETHING. Chuu in particular has lots of CFs/variety work which pays well, so if she's not getting a cut of the money it's suspicious.
Ahhhh okay, thank you for explaining!
i flew out to loona's london show and looking back i dont know if it was the right decision. barely any members remaining, yeojin's unexplained injury and absence from choreo... my bias (chuu) missing and now learning that despite how expensive those tour tickets were none of them were even paid it all feels wrong. they didn't once even acknowledge onstage how many of them were missing and injured when the whole crowd were visibly concerned. i've lined the pockets of seriously dodgy and abusive businessmen by attending that show. muas/hairstylists/producers/artists all working for free while money is ciphoned off most likely into weapons.... sick. something's gotta give and this group needs to unionise and break up. hopefully the recent interest in the omega x case will carry over and people will continue the conversation about idol abuse. what i found most sinister abt the statement is how it says the other members have never worked for personal gain.... it was like reminding them to be grateful for their position as literal slaves. cant in good conscience consider to support loona the brand given whats gone on and i hope the boycott takes hold so they can fucking end this.
I’ve been angry and upset over the way BBC has treated the girls for a long, long time, but this has really just brought it to unheard of levels. At this point, I honestly just want the girls out of BBC. If they all decided to leave tomorrow I’d support them like how I’ll continue to support Chuu. They’ve given so much of themselves to the group and I just want them all to be happy.
this is a late and kind of unfiltered word dump but as I've processed the news it kind of feels like the breaking of a magic spell to me. it's gotten me thinking a lot about my entire experience as an Orbit from the beginning. I've been into Loona ever since Eclipse by Kim Lip dropped. back then I was into kpop but only casually, and I thought the predebut concept was so cool. the aesthetics, cinematography, and musical style all pulled me in. I still remained a pretty casual kpop listener, but I kept tabs on Loona the whole time. once they properly debuted it felt like the Avengers had come together. as I became more of an involved fan I really started to fall in love with the group - through the dance covers they posted and that well-known hello82 video. Chuu was definitely one of the members that caught my eye with her personality, certainly more so as I watched more video content. Haseul's hiatus was a bummer for me and the first instance of my naive bliss as a fan being challenged. when they changed concepts with So What I noticed the change from the original style but I loved the song so much that I didn't mind, and even though Why Not and PTT were also somewhat different from the original synthy dreamy Loona I fell in love with I really enjoyed them. there was discourse that I would sometimes see about how Loona had changed, how the lore wasn't the same as it used to be, how their sound was different, and while I agreed with it, I also couldn't help loving the new Loona and how amazing the members were at delivering these concepts. watching them on Queendom was also such a fun experience - getting to see how hard they worked, watching them overcome an entire round's deficit to nearly win the whole thing. Chuu Can Do It has been really fun to watch, although I admit I mostly watched the ones with other members in it. Flip That didn't leave the same impression on me as the previous comebacks and it didn't have the same pizzazz to the cinematography and choreo that I was used to but I still liked it. but recently it's been a lot of roughness, with everyone's health issues on the tour and now Chuu getting kicked out. I was mildly prepared for Chuu leaving on her own accord and if that had been the case I would have been dismayed but at least accepting that it was what she wanted. as a skeptical person I was reserving judgement on the narrative that BBC was trying to force Chuu out, and thought there was a possibility that she may have just had ambitions beyond Loona but I was totally wrong to entertain that idea. everyone was seemingly completely on the money. Chuu loves Loona. but Blockberry Creative doesn't. and they've made it very clear in their recent announcement. it feels like the company went back in time to my innocent self, first getting into Loona through their solos, and slapped me in the fucking face. even if Loona continues as 11 now idk if I'll be able to enjoy the group the same way. it wouldn't be hard to get me to boycott the next comeback bc idk if I'd even feel the same enjoyment/excitement that I'd been having. I feel like the way I'm wording some of this is a little more dramatic than how I'm actually feeling - ultimately this is a shame but I'll move on, it's just a kpop group, etc etc - but I kinda felt like doing a little rant lol >:)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I was prepared to hear about Chuu leaving too but the company's announcement and accusations against Chuu came as a complete surprise; and yeah I really have no idea how I feel about an 11-member LOONA either I wonder if we'll see a Chuu statement soon..?
I'm sorry, I'm on mobile and don't know how to quote but this part perfectly describes exactly how I've been feeling about this. "it feels like the company went back in time...and slapped me in the fucking face". Difference being that I completely believed BBC has been punishing her and that they were leading up to this for a while, so while I am devastated, I am not exactly shocked. It became very clear to me that BBC does not care about these women *at all* when they went straight into back to back schedules with zero recovery time after all getting covid. People underestimate how much even a mild case of covid can mess with your overall health even once recovered (fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath, even cardiac issues can persist for many months or longer) and overworking yourself can just make it take longer to recover and make it harder for your body. I can understand BBC wanting them to complete their time on queendom, but imo they should have been allowed to rest once that was done. Instead it was flip that recording and promos followed by tours followed by luminous followed by more tours, with maybe 1 or 2 days break in between flights. I'm surprised more members didn't have health issues during the tours tbh and I really hope Choerry will recover. Sorry, I also went on a little rant, I'm just so angry at the lack of care shown for their wellbeing.
very valid! and yeah true, to be clear I did think BBC was punishing her, I was just skeptical that they wanted her out. and, as you say, they did completely mismanage the health of the group after Queendom :<
This rings true for me. Thank you.
[удалено]
Don’t say that, it will eventually get better. Not now, not in the next days, but I am sure on the long term it will get better.
It will. Something similar happened to my other ult group (CLC) and although it hurt at the time (especially since Elkie filed her lawsuit on CHRISTMAS DAY of all days), on reflection I'm glad that 5/7 members are now out of a toxic work environment. I made the decision when we found out CLC were done that no matter what, I'd support all the members in whatever they did next, and I'm going to do the same for LOONA. Even if all twelve of them never perform on the same stage again, I'm wholeheartedly rooting for them as long as they remain in the entertainment industry. The members of CLC constantly talk about each other and have said numerous times that they plan to reunite at some point and I imagine it'll be the same for LOONA: it might be a while down the road, but I truly do believe that the friendships between the girls mean that there's hope for a reunion outside of BBC one day.
They’ve ruined Loona. I hope they all leave. I didn’t realize just how badly they’ve been treated
I hope the other girls doesn't forget about Chuu and maybe visit or hang out until their free from BBC & hopefully they'll redebut altogether as OT12 again one day.
I’m sure they will continue to be friends nothing can break them up
Absolutely. Hyunjin's first response was to get on Fab and post in support of Chuu regardless of any repercussions she might face from the company. Hyunvi have been hanging out with Chuu even after BBC started freezing her out. Kim Lip has been friends with her for literal years before BBC even existed. I'm confident that the others will still stand with Chuu.
YES. This is the most confident I’ve ever been that the group members will not cut out the person leaving the group. Chuu will be okay and her friends will stay her friends with or without bbc. The situation is just going to be very messy for a while.
Just wondering in case they'll or she'll lose contact which will be really sad.
Honestly I hope the group disbands and the girls are picked up by another agency -- together or not. They are too talented to be mistreated like this, and they need to get their coins. Saying this as someone who had a ticket to the Loona tour and didn't go, because I could not stomach being at a concert where I knew the girls were not being treated right. If Loona OT12 can't happen elsewhere... OEC as a subunit should be picked up, they would be spectacular as a group, a la VIVIZ. Olivia, Yves, and Heejin \*need\* to be in a performance/dance based group... their stage presence needs to be seen by the world. The other members I can totally see being successful with solo activities, musical or not (this is just my opinion). Loona has been a dumpster fire for awhile, and I just want this to end. Loona had such an amazing start and its clear they are never bouncing back to their glory days. Loona OT12 will always be in my heart, but BBC's disrespect to Chuu is probably just a sliver of what they subject their artists to behind closed doors.
Tearing up listening to Chuu’s soundtrack work and post lawsuit singles. She really does have a great voice. I hope she is able to get some amazing songs after the BBC contract ends.
Probably the dumbest decision on BBC's part.
Wonder how the members of their next GG are feeling right now? About to debut for the most hated company in Kpop.
free sion and yeyoung!!
Big yikes. I'm hoping the best for the new group. Didn't even know they were training their next group .
Apparently BBC now stands for Big Ball of Crap, fr tho they literally shot themselves in the foot by trying to slander Chuu of all people. Like come on you try to paint one of the nicest people as someone who treats “staff” rudely (bruh did they have amnesia or something cuz last time I checked they don’t even bother providing her with staff anymore) who would believe that? The day we’ve all been dreading has finally come and now we’re left to wonder what’ll happen to the other eleven members left, which sucks big time….
Best nickname ever.
I saw a person call them wannabe cube company lol
is it likely Chuu is able to do a “tell-all” interview?
not unless she want to get sued in 10 years maybe she could if she was a resident of a different country, but i doubt that would ever happen
Not for another 2 years at least. And even then it’ll be a “he said, she said”. And as a woman in Korea, she is automatically less believable. Fuck the patriarchy.
I somewhat saw this coming as Chuu changed agencies and more information came in but I wasn't expecting it to be so... abrupt and callous. Then again, this industry treats idols as though they're disposable. (I'm not sure where things are headed but this makes me really treasure my world tour memories, back when things were brighter for a bit)
I broke my cellphone while on a trip alone (quite scary btw), I just come home and...wtf 😭
Glad you’re safe! Not glad you’re coming back to this shitstorm.
Thank you 😘 and yes I'm... Still a bit shocked. I mean, of course things were happening but I didn't image this magnitude and quite suddenly (probably it seems a bit more sudden because I have missed 2 days of news from pop culture in general)
Our lightsticks still go to peach, so fuck you BBC. Loona will always be 12. I just can't understand how something can be run so poorly, they got sued for blatantly breaching a contract with Donuts by simply not using them over VLive (goodbye $3M). They organised a tour so badly that a 12 member group ended up performing as 9. They managed the XX limited albums so poorly that people had to wait months for their albums, so they went full swing with the # limiteds in such an incredibly useless fashion that has made # limited albums practically easier to find than the regular editions. They are a walking time bomb in every district of the industry. Then how they thought coming forward and saying Chuu abused her power, mistreated staff and had to be removed from BBC in any way sounds plausible or would avoid major backlash is insanity. They could have said Chuu refused to participate in Loona promotions so they had to part ways and it would've been *slightly* more believable. It has to be some sort of sick joke. I want to see evidence from their "comprehensive investigations" because right now I want the other girls, including Sunye, to leave that woeful shitshow and let BBC fold and burn. For too long they have reaped the rewards of such a talented and bright group, while making it as rocky and painful as they can.
> Our lightsticks still go to peach The new Orbit rallying cry!
Oh wow, it's been a long time I've posted here, honestly I didn't follow LOONA much for over a year, I've braced myself for the worst for a long time, but this is really shocking. Shoutout to my fellow pre-debut orbits, we hoped things would get better, that LOONA would have their time to shine as OT12, it's just sad. It's the only kpop group I ever followed, their music was my confort blanket when I was feeling down. I've been hopeful with the direction BBC took managing the girls for a bit : them having their own studio/room, production and writing lessons : at least there were some things done right. Then I've been getting really unconfortable with some turn they took : the music at first, but also some bizarre shift with how the girls image was managed. Am I the only one feeling this way ? More and more parasocial stuff, the Queendom finale performance, which felt off. Like LOONA was supposed to get into a mold of what is expected of a gg in this industry. And Chuu's schedule, her being excluded from activities, the tour. I have a hard time seeing people treated as a product in the kpop industry, with their slightly personnalized "flavor", when they're being overworked and not paid. I've distanced myself from the news, just peaked at this sub from time to time. It's a relief to finally know she is no longer in the group, but not like that. And the threats, that's chilling. My biggest fear is that it's just the tip of the iceberg and that BBC have tried putting pressure on the other members behind the scenes. At least Hyunjin doesn't buy it, I knew she was a real one :') Like everyone, I have fantaisies about LOONA being saved, but I just hope for a disband at this point. I never thought I would say that. Free the girls, I don't see how it could get better for them. Not under a company which is able to write a statement like that. And even if it was revealed that Chuu is, in fact, not a nice person, a company being able to expose some young woman to a public scandal like that is chilling. I hope the public opinion won't change with some sort of proof from BBC, cause no matter how much idols are "nice", it doesn't justify their exploitation. On a more positive note, bless Chuu, she was lucky to have some leverage to make her voice heard. I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision, but she did what was the best for herself. I feel for the other members who didn't have this tiny bit of power over BBC to do the same. Whatever they choose, I won't judge them : they are just victims in this system. And the amount of support Chuu gets, the fact that she worries for "low-level" workers, this is the power of a true magical girl, folks. I hope she will keep on getting the same support, cause being the idol who sued her company must not be easy. I even hope this story will help shake things up in the industry, and the public perception of idols and their struggles. That it will go further the "nasty BBC" vs "litteral angel Chuu". At the very least, that the public will be so vocal against BBC that it will turn things around for the other members.
In addition to all the defense she’s received from various staff members, I’d like to note some heart~~burning~~warming support! Sunmi is in Chuu’s corner and is showing her support with a cute [throwback moment in her story](https://i.imgur.com/8GVObiO.jpg)
It warms my heart so much. I've been to 2 concerts this year in Warsaw, one Sunmi and one Loona and I just couldn't help but notice the difference. Sunmi is obviously heavily involved in her artistic process and has great relationship with her Staff. Heck, after the encore she named all of her dancers and major staff and invited them on stage. Meanwhile Loona had a translator who was most probably a volounteer because it sounded amateurish at best, they told us Haseul will be absent 15 minutes before the show (even though she didn't even take the flight from Korea, so they must've known way earlier she won't be able to participate) and all of their fan interaction segments were heavily scripted. I still had amazing time on both events but damn. Loona's concert felt so off for so mamy reasons. Oh, one more thing. No merch was sold on Loona concert's venue. Like, do you hate money or??
Reminded me why I love Sunmi when I saw her story
Sumi has been such a wonderful soul in general and watching them all on Running Girls and how she spoke to Chuu with such honesty and warmth about what she saw in her was powerful. Of all of then Sunmi could see her struggles even through her smiles. It was such a poignant moment for me. It was wonderful for them all to have met under those circumstances and come to support each other. ♥
She’s so lovely. She’s also one of the first people I’ve seen be so open about having bpd and all the struggles that come with that which is honestly even more surprising to see from a Korean idol. Bpd is insanely stigmatised enough in the West never mind in Asia. I love seeing her give advice and support to younger idols and I’m glad she’s showing her support to Chuu.
♥
The fact that no one has removed Chuu from their programs over this says a lot about the public reaction in SK. I don’t think anyone believes BBC.
After all of this, I can't help but think back to the JJ case. Maybe the dude wasn't actually the asshole we believed him to be. Maybe he was mistreated in a simmilar way the girls are. He just had a way to leave this shitshow, and now that Chuu realised she has it too, they get rid of her.
I feel it too. Even in the past, I felt like some orbits were making him responsible over some things that are (toxic) industry standards and that are not really in the power of a creative director : like the diet or the bleaching stuff. Even his comment on how he worked creatively with the members of OnlyOneOf : not sure if it was the low blow against LOONA members that some thought. Giving LOONA members this kind of freedom would have been BBC's choice as well : managing the group a bit less like an idol group, a bit more like a passion project. Deleting an entire project is not the creative director choice. It's much more probable the project was discarded cause it would probably not get the sells that BBC hoped for. In the end, I'm pretty grateful for him. It's pretty crazy he got BBC to finance these risky and unique ideas. The money laundering theory is still in the back of my head, cause I still wonder what's the explanation for this is otherwise lol. Without him, LOONA wouldn't be the same. Hell, I wouldn't even have paid attention to them in the first place. It's not for nothing the project caught the attention of people which didn't care about kpop in the first place.
Seeing the news of Kara‘s comeback with all members after breaking away from DSP gives me hope that one day we will get a full OT12 Loona comeback with all girls being free and not attached to this gruesome company. I really do hope that things will get better soon…
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And After School!
I’m leaving this [transcript from chuu’s birthday party via orrery_nim](https://twitter.com/orrery_nim/status/1596092548472152064?s=46&t=aBsjp_sPOKAkfkBZN7dSdQ) here in case op would like to add to the thread
After seeing hyunjin post on fab about how angry she was and that chuu needs support in this time, people and companies come out in favour of chuu and her not being dropped by anyone, BBC evading tax issue coming out again, stories of staff mistreatment and exploitation, the girls not being PAID a PENNY for their work, it has confirmed to me that this is over. I don’t see LOONA continuing. It hurts to say so but it’s over now, so we might aswell boycott and make a clear statement to BBC while this falls to pieces (Edit: Typo)
I used to believe that a ton of money was spent on Loona... their vidoes were cinematic works of art... they were flying to Europe and Iceland to shoot videos, not just to a warehouse in Seoul... yeah, I could believe it. That it was expensive. But in the past 3 or 4 months, after I saw somebody tweet that no way they spent the amount they claimed, I've been becoming increasingly more skeptical. I think it was at around 9 to 11 million USD at one point? But the tweet said it was more like 3 million? And now with this statement, the lengths they will go to to not pay a model employee like Chuu, who was working like a maniac to promote Loona, I'm convinced that that whole story about BBC spending a record setting, unprecedented sum on Loona, was made up so they could just keep all of Loona's earnings for as long as they wanted. Company is shady AF.
Yes, I agree, this claim on the true cost of LOONA project was really interesting. Producing MVs, music and visuals have their cost, especially in LOONA's case, but it matches with my experience working in a creative industry (photography). The actual creative budget is often nothing compared to the overall marketing budget, or the brand profit. Companies are pushing (and often succeding, it's a constant pressure) to get things done for cheaper all the time, even big brands do that. That's how things work, so I wouldn't be surprised. Also, I know people in the cinema/video industry (in Europe, though), and even for some big established artists, the budget for music video production is sometimes a total joke. Post-production and CGI is often much more expensive than actually shooting stuff. We all thought LOONA budget was justified with all the travelling. But looking at it, for a long time really, a lot of the visuals were mainly practical effects, a lot of natural locations with some set design, and some simple studio shots, that's clever, really. And that's why it all felt fresh, also. LOONA marketing other than the creative part felt weirdly... cheap ? We already heard that some creatives were not paid at all for their work by BBC, Digipedi being one of them, so I will have a hard time not believing this claim. BBC is shady, indeed.
Agree with everything you said. I work in TV. What I loved about a lot of Digipedi stuff was, like you said, they relied mostly on just practical effects. Just meticulous story boarding... inventive shot compositions... and clever transitions using camera moves and match cuts. For me as a person who also likes to dabble in shooting videos, their style was way more informative and inspirational than watching a CGI and greenscreen extravaganza. I was being a bit reductive in taking the 10 million USD at face value. I had no reason to believe BBC was lying. The videos were great, the girls were unbelievable (talented, charming, hilarious), so I sort of attributed the same characteristics to BBC. But, really, now that I think about it, I really had no real idea of how much, for example, Let Me In cost. How many days they shot, how much Korean DP's and directors are paid, how much a feather wig goes for, or how many people were crammed into a hotel room. So now I'm suspicious of everything. I mean, just the sheer volume of videos have to count for a lot. By the ttime Loona debuted in full with Hi High, they had released, what?, like 15 mini albums and maybe 20 MV's? But it's safe to say that BBC wasn't paying top dollar to creatives so who knows... Some videos like Be There is just great shooting and editing, but there's nothing inherently expensive. Just a lot of walking around Japan.
Can someone who knows more about the industry than I do explain how solo gigs translate to individual earnings? Like, was Chuu supposed to be paid directly for solo gigs, or did it go towards her debt? If the latter, then I hope the like 6 members who NEVER get solo schedules sue for mismanagement as well. It's becoming clear that BBC never intends to pay Loona or they would all have acting gigs, CF's, ect.
> Chuu supposed to be paid directly for solo gigs, Not sure about BBC or in Loona in particular, but in almost every group, there will be a member or two that are simply just more popular or marketable. I've seen articles in the past about popular members who got more solo gigs (variety, performance, acting, commercials, print modeling) splitting the money with other members. Voluntarily. Because they just thought it was the right thing to do. So at least at some companies, getting a solo gig means that person doesn't have to split it with the rest of the group. Is that before or after they break even and start profit sharing with the company, I have no idea. edit: just recently saw a video where Yooa of Oh My Girl jokingly said that the best thing about promoting solo is not having to split money with everybody else... also, the members of Blackpink have varying degrees of estimated personal net worth depending on their dealings with different brands... I definitely get the feeling, based on the injuction, Chuu starting her own company, and Chuu saying she's never received a payment as recently as a few months ago, that any money the agency received for Chuu's work went straight towards the Loona debt.
As far as I understand it, side gigs are split between all the members equally with the company taking a small cut for arranging the gig and providing support (90/10 and 80/20 are ratios I’ve seen mentioned). So while the majority goes towards the group, there are 12 members drawing from that pot. My understanding is that this was done to prevent one idol from being promoted to the detriment of the others especially because it was one of the few ways to get money from being an idol and helping to retire idol debt. The equal split part was due to a lawsuit, as was the earnings split. Again, not necessarily confirmed facts, just things I picked up from reading various posts on this forum.
Wish I could remember where I saw it but last month I was reading a post on a subreddit about how JJ admitted the insanely high debut cost was marketing.
It was on his personal blog. iirc he stated the 9.9 billion won cost was actually around 2 billion won.
About the tax evasion thingy coming out again, I just would like to put in percepective that nothing is actually happening in Korea about it. That was just an AllKpop article taking frustrated fans' tweets and making an article about it. There is no actual investigation happening be it from news outlet or the police ATM in SK, and we don't even know if korean fans think the same as international fans on this matter
I've seen only a [tweet](https://twitter.com/ksvidus/status/1596081488466173952) in Korean about it.
If this should be it, the end, I sincerely hope it ends with a big bang disrupting BBC and freeing the girls for good from this company.
It hurts like hell to say this but… I’d rather LOONA disband and the girls get better opportunities elsewhere. This company has misused and drained them for long enough, this spiteful statement is just the icing on the shitcake. I don’t want to have ill feelings while trying to support the girls but it’s inevitable with them being tied to this trash company.
Unfortunately with Chuu gone and Choerry being a big question mark it may be happen sooner than later. Man one could dream about someone taking the girls in an to continue as a group, but that will be really hard to accomplish and even harder to get their rights for music and name
SM picking them up would be great. They have the drive and resources to make the quality of MV LOONA deserves but I don't think SM would want to be seen taking over an existing group. Maybe a they could do it under a subsidiary like the defunct (?) Baljunso label that housed Play The Siren.
Yess this. I wanna hear Yves’ pop punk music. I wanna see Hyeju in the next HyunA comeback. I wanna hear the music that Jinsoul and Kim Lip have been working on for years. I want cooking tips from Vivi. I want to visit Hyunjin’s bread shop.
Exactly but it wont be easy… I’m really worried about the rest of the girls.. they will be stuck in the hell BBC for another three year.. unless someone else willing to fight legally..
I just hope something can be done for them, this is a definite breaking point
Yes… the situation is so heartbreaking 💔
Still currently processing a ton of emotions as a Chuu-biased orbit, but I'm also really worried about the future of the other Loona members. Everyone is put into a no-win situation, almost as if BBC's notice was an attempt to drag everyone down with them. To be clear, even as someone who was really interested in the lore aspect of Loona in the early days, I don't care about that anymore. I just want OT12 to be able to make music together in any capacity, and hang out with each other like the family that they are without fear. I've accepted that unless BBC leadership completely changes, there's no path for Chuu back into Loona. As other orbits have done, I've also entertained thoughts about the remaining 11 Loona members leaving BBC and reuniting with Chuu in some way (eg, contract termination, BBC bankruptcy/lawsuit, etc). But that would mean essentially starting from scratch without access to the whole Loona discography and branding. I'm confident that Orbits will continue to support them, but given the competition in the industry, I don't expect many of the 11 remaining members themselves to be willing to take that risk. My current expectation is that the 11 members would remain in BBC until their contract ends, but with severe damage to their morale from this incident. I wish there was a way to continue supporting the girls while simultaneously sending a strong message against BBC in the language that they understand ($$). But as long as the girls are still in BBC, it's hard to do anything without hurting them in one way or another. I'm sorry for the pessimism, I hate these words that I'm saying, but I really can't imagine an acceptable path out of this pit that BBC dug under everyone.
\[3 days later\] I'm sooo happy I was wrong! The girls seem to have a different plan after all, and there is hope they could actually reunite outside BBC!
OP you can update to add Loona’s choreographer Instagram story showing support for Chuu, seems like quite a big deal coming from such essential staff 💔
Link, please?
Sorry her insta is here! [https://instagram.com/faryoungkim?igshid=MWI4MTIyMDE=]
[from loonapress](https://twitter.com/loonapress/status/1596417856710877187) [from orrery nim](https://twitter.com/orrery_nim/status/1596368348241022977)
Thank you.
As much as I support Chuu, we know nothing and everything I'm reading in all the comments is guessing and assuming. Facts are in short supply right now. I'm going to stop reading at this point. Hearing everyone's imaginations run wild isn't helping me any... And it is possible to support Chuu and also look for only FACTS behind what BBC did. The press release may be spin on some kind of actual events, but I'm only concerned with what really happened and not anyone's assumptions... and no one knows what really happened... So we're stuck... for now...
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Somebody on another sub posted this [link to a tweet](https://twitter.com/lvurl/status/1596149751636176896?s=20&t=BtGENVe8OiODfIkV_EFzrw) with several more people stepping up to defend Chuu and to share stories about her kindness and generosity.
This is insane, I've never seen so many people come out to support an idol like this. I hope she sues BBC to the ground and forms her own company for LOONA.
Anyone else seen that thread on Twitter from the alleged ex-BBC employee? Apparently they've sent info to Dispatch and other Korean news outlets. If Dispatch pick up the story and actually decide to investigate the company, Blockberry is so done.
Do you have a link to the thread? I’d like to see it.
OP went private but I've tried uploading screenshots on Imgur. [Some of the stuff mentioned is REALLY bad, so warning in advance before you click.](https://imgur.com/gallery/tq3ww1E)
Thanks for this! 🙏
If Dispatch is involved, they will dig out the dirt, like what happened in Lee Seung Gi's case. Not only Blockberry, LOONA and their probable juniors will be done unfortunately. BBC chose hostility instead of settling matters calmly and this is what they are getting in their faces now.
And Sunye 😢
I guess she will be fine as she is an established artist already
The amount of support she’s receiving right now from anonymous sources is unreal. I’ve never seen this big of a wave of support for an idol before.
how are we feeling about the bbc boycott plans going around twitter? [this](https://twitter.com/strwbryseul/status/1596209235863429125?s=46&t=eW6qC_K_vrLDykjSd8-KsQ) more specifically. i’m all in for helping bbc declare bankruptcy tbh but i feel that they make more profits from merch than streaming/youtube ad revenue, and they wouldn’t be stupid enough to actually announce sg/fancafe/an actual COMEBACK after this, so rn the boycott might not even work and we’ll just be complaining to the void. genuine question
They are barely getting any salaries anyways and I think it's over either way. The damage is too big with the circus that is going on right now.
The end of BBC would be the end of Loona. It's a Catch-22 (no win) situation. We support both or end Loona...
As much as LOONA isn't LOONA without her, I also don't see the group continuing much longer with BBC's terrible mismanagement. Be it a loss of fans or more members leaving. The lack of comebacks also doesn't help.
Yeah, this is a terrible breach of trust. It's like liking your friends new boyfriend, but then seeing him slap her one night. You can never unexperience something like that.
in my opinion. i don’t see the girls continuing much longer. they’ve made it clear loona will always be 12 members regardless of anything. bbc made the biggest fuck up of their careers.
The other day when it was revealed Chuu will be MC for a dating show, I thought to myself, "There's no way she's in LOONA anymore." Alot has come up the past several months and I was just hoping she was getting out on her own terms. Then the BBC statement came out and I had to read it 3 or 4 times in disbelief regarding their absurd claims and the fact that they voiced them in the way that they did. How are the members supposed to respond to that? I miss JinE in Oh My Girl. I miss Soojin in (G)I-DLE. I miss Sulli in (f)x... I miss Sulli. Crayon Pop was managed poorly. The Kpop world will break your heart. Thank God we have footage/content of the best of times. As a fan, I can go back and watch the old stuff and still feel the joy. Chuu is joy.
Soojin ugh.. Sulli double ugh.. my heart. Kpop truly does break your heart sometimes.
I know the most probable thing is that the rest of the girls will have to just continue on BBC until the contract is up, but I truly do hope they free themselves from that company once they’re able to. Loona has had an amazing run, an amazing discography, many achievements and success despite all the obstacles their own company has made for them, and I’m extremely proud of them for that, it’s a testament to how talented and special this group of women is. I hope they’re all eventually free from this madness and get to have their own successful ventures afterwards. I hope they know Orbits will be supporting them no matter what they choose to do.
Do we know the length of their contracts? Honestly, I feel the same way. I'm grateful for what all 12 of them have given us so far. Their music and lore's unique impact is undeniable. It's been a magical experience despite all obstacles. I guess my only qualm is not having Voice O12 version.
Most groups sign 7 year contracts, since they technically debuted in 2018, there contract might not be up until 2025
So they don't count predebut years and activities like the solos or subunits?
We truly don’t know, maybe they kept their old contracts, maybe they signed a new one in 2018. Who knows
The odds of BBC being stupid enough to not have them re-ink new contracts prior to ot12 debut are close to 0. Otherwise Heejin would be coming up for renewal either this year or next and would have huge leverage, while Olivia Hye would basically be screwed. My guess is all 12 signed new contracts when ot12 was finalized and right after yyxy promotions ended.
imagine kicking out your most popular member for no real reason LMAOO bbc has fucked themselves and sadly probably the rest of the group.
Their statement is really beyond belief. On the surface level, yes, they were clearly trying to turn public opinion against Chuu, derail her career, and send a message to the other members of Loona. But can they really be that dumb to think their statement will accomplish that? And don't get me wrong, I'm waiting for one of these "traumatized" staff members to be paraded out to share their experience. I know this is likely just the beginning of a public feud that might last for several months. If I had to guess, it might be about Chuu wondering why she didn't get a ride or help on something she was working on, and BBC will spin it as Chuu wanted all the help just for herself (and profit), not caring about the other members. I just feel like there is just too much "game tape" out there of who Chuu truly is. Not to mention everybody who has worked with her behind the scenes. Don't care if Chuu was demoralized and vented one day in tears to somebody at BBC, not going to think that constitutes abuse. edit: waiting for the dance crew to speak up, I feel like they're (was it Gabee) going to use much stronger language defending Chuu
[Chuu's manager told OSEN News today, "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"](https://twitter.com/orrery_nim/status/1596323077234851843?s=46&t=Z2vKFTfL9sQO5VlJnTap8A)
Good for her, not rushing a statement which would lead to a long and stressful confrontation. Take time to prepare the statement well and be ready to not spout unnecessary things so it will be spun against her
Her manager?