LOONA’s agency BlockBerry Creative has released another statement regarding Chuu’s ouster from the group. Earlier this week, the agency had announced her removal owing to ‘violent language and misuse of power’ towards a staff member. They released a new statement through LOONA’s official fan cafe.
The statement read, “The agency is providing an additional statement regarding the notice ‘LOONA’s Chuu’s removal from the team’ that was posted through the fan cafe on November 25. This notice was an announcement with information explaining the current situation and asking for understanding of all the fans who showed love to LOONA for a long period of time. It was not written with the goal of exposing Chuu’s misuse of power to the public and media.”
The statement mentioned the uproar that had ensued after Chuu was told to leave, saying, “For a few days after the announcement, the agency was told to provide evidence for the reason for Chuu’s removal, and articles were published with information such as “Chuu is not that kind of person” and “the company is the one doing harm. The fan notice posted on November 25 at around 5 p.m. KST was an announcement from the agency explaining Chuu’s changed course of action and the reason for her removal to fans and those who support LOONA, and it was not an exposé.”
The agency wrote that the staff had provided truth and evidence to the allegations. “It is of course natural to explain the reason for her removal, and it is the rights of Chuu herself and the staff who was harmed to provide the truth or evidence of this. Regarding the relevant facts, if there is something unfair or anything that should be corrected, this is an issue that the people directly involved should reveal. The agency has already finished confirming the incident that took place between Chuu and the staff member, and we released a statement regarding that.”
They concluded with requesting fans to stop speculating and spreading rumours. “We ask that you refrain from making speculative reports without evidence and malicious comments and rumors defaming the agency regarding this fan notice going forward. The agency will cooperate in providing information and evidence on the matter of violent language and misuse of power if Chuu and the victim agree. In addition, we sincerely ask once again that you refrain from making indiscriminate and groundless speculative reports so that the LOONA members are not hurt by this incident and can start team activities again.”
Loona, the popular South Korean band was introduced to the public through a pre-debut project in October 2016, where the 12 members were revealed by releasing a promotional single over the following 18 months. Chuu was revealed as the 10th member. However, last year, rumours of trouble began to brew after she filed an application for a provisional injunction against Blockberry Creative, to suspend the exclusive contract. It was also reported that last April she founded her own company, with herself as the CEO.
