Star News: [Exclusive] ‘Expelled from LOONA’, Chuu’s attendance at the CEMA DMEC. Will her entertainment activities be stopped?
The conflict between LOONA member Chuu and agency Blockberry Creative (hereinafter referred to as Blockberry) is showing signs of continuation.
According to Star News on the 1st, Blockberry submitted a petition to the CEMA (Korea Entertainment Management Association) and KEPA (Korea Entertainment Producers’ Association) in December 2022, to ban Chuu’s entertainment activities.
It has been confirmed that Blockberry has officially raised the issue of Chuu’s tampering (prior contact) through submission of a petition through the CEMA Disciplinary Mediation Ethics Committee. Blockberry judged that Chuu had already tampered in order to sign a new contract with BY4M in 2021, claiming it to be a “violation of management contract”, and submitted a petition to the committee.
(T/N: In sports, “tampering” refers to attempting to persuade a player contracted to one team to transfer to another team, without the knowledge or permission of the player's current team.)
Since then, the CEMA DMEC has requested that Chuu attend with regard to the related issues, but she did not attend until last week. Eventually, the DMEC was scheduled to make an arbitrary ruling. However, with a late response from Chuu's side on the 1st, stating, “We will attend the DMEC”, it is expected that a later date will be designated on which the DMEC will convene.
At the same time, Blockberry plans to submit a petition to the CEMA DMEC today, to ban the entertainment activities of Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, and Choerry, a total of 4 people.
Previously, in March 2022, Chuu won a partial victory in her temporary injunction lawsuit for contract termination against Blockberry. She is also proceeding with a lawsuit against Blockberry to terminate her exclusive contract. Since then, the Seoul Northern District Court decided that 4 other members, Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, and Choerry, would win a temporary injunction lawsuit for contract termination. However, it ruled against the remaining members, Haseul, Yeojin, Yves, Olivia Hye, and Go Won.
Blockberry shocked the public in November 2022, by announcing its decision in an official fancafe notice, to expel and remove Chuu from LOONA. Blockberry said, “Many stories have circulated this year regarding LOONA’s Chuu, but the Company and the LOONA members have gone through this time without expressing any perspective on the matter in order to avoid causing problems, out of concern for the group’s development and the worry of fans,” and “Company leadership is currently apologizing and offering consolation to the staff, and the Company has decided to take responsibility by expelling Chuu from LOONA.”
After that, Blockberry indefinitely postponed LOONA’s comeback in January, and announced, “We have decided that comeback activities are meaningless while in a situation where various concerns about the members are unresolved.”
In addition, even though Chuu was embroiled in rumours of bullying within the group until recently, both Chuu and her agency remained silent and did not express their positions. In the meantime, she continued her independent career regardless, such as by performing at a year-end awards ceremony.
YTN Excerpt: CEMA: “Petition regarding LOONA Chuu submitted… DMEC in progress”
In a related development, an official from CEMA told YTN star, "It is correct that a petition has been submitted about Chuu, and the DMEC is proceeding accordingly." However, regarding the notification of Chuu’s attendance at the DMEC, the official added, "It is difficult to confirm the details as the DMEC is still in progress."
TVReport Excerpt: LOONA: “Submission of petition for ban on Chuu, Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, and Choerry’s entertainment activities”
Blockberry Creative revealed to TV Report on the 1st, “We submitted a petition to the CEMA (Korea Entertainment Management Association) and KEPA (Korea Entertainment Producers’ Association) in December 2022, to ban Chuu’s entertainment activities.”
In addition, they added, “We plan to submit a petition to the CEMA DMEC, to ban the entertainment activities of Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, and Choerry, a total of 4 people.”
Herald Pop Excerpt: Will LOONA Chuu's entertainment activities be blocked.. Blockberry submits a petition to CEMA
A CEMA official has stated that whether Chuu herself will be attending or that a representative will be attending on her behalf is currently unknown.