[Exclusive] Chuu a ‘Completely’ Free Person.. Court Rules Exclusive Contract with Blockberry as Invalid
Chuu (Kim Jiwoo, 24) from the girl group LOONA has become a ‘completely’ free person.
On the 17th, in the lawsuit to confirm the non-existence of exclusive contract effect filed by Chuu against former agency Blockberry Creative (hereafter Blockberry), the Seoul Northern District Court’s 12th Civil Suits Division ruled that “The exclusive contract signed in December 2017 between the plaintiff (Chuu) and defendant (Blockberry) is confirmed to be null and void.” That is, the court has sided with Chuu. The court also ordered Blockberry to pay for the costs of the lawsuit.
Earlier in March, the court urged for a mutual settlement between the parties, which fell through. Ultimately, through this verdict, the court determined that the exclusive contract between Chuu and Blockberry did not have any effect, and as Chuu has won in the primary lawsuit in addition to the injunction petition, she has legally become free from any exclusive contract relationship with Blockberry.
In January of last year, Chuu petitioned for an injunction to suspend the effect of her exclusive contract against Blockberry, citing issues such as earnings distributions and breaking of trust, which the court granted. Other members of LOONA also filed for an injunction to suspend their exclusive contracts with Blockberry and were granted the injunctions.
Meanwhile, Blockberry caused a stir in November of last year when they announced through their official fan cafe that they had decided to expel and withdraw Chuu from LOONA.
Blockberry said that “recently there have been reports of abuse of power, including verbal abuse, by Chuu towards company staff, and investigation has confirmed the veracity of these reports”, 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”. Blockberry also postponed LOONA’s comeback indefinitely. At this, Chuu retorted that “I haven’t done anything that would be an embarrassment for the fans”.
In December of the same year, Blockberry sent a petition to CEMA’s (Korea Entertainment Management Association) Disciplinary Mediation Ethics Committee to stop Chuu from partaking in entertainment industry activities.
An issue was raised regarding Chuu allegedly having tried to tamper (already being in contact beforehand) in order to sign a new contract with By4M around the year 2021. However CEMA deemed Blockberry’s claims to be “lacking in evidence”, and stated that “this issue should be judged in the ongoing lawsuit, not through CEMA.”
Yoon Sung-yeol, Star News
(Source)