Blockberry Creative's DISASTROUS DOWNFALL - A long time coming?

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Hey guys, today we will finally be covering all the disastrous events surrounding kpop group LOONA and their company Blockberry creative (BBC). In this video, we go all the way back to Blockberry's roots and uncover why this company (and their group LOONA) was pretty much doomed from the start. We also cover all the current legal issues surrounding Chuu and the other Loona members.
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Credits:
- Research by: Evangeline, Becs
- Editing by: Evangeline

[@ploopy678]

Just heard the news about Blockberry trying to suspend Chuu's activities! Not sure what Blockberry is trying to accomplish here, but they would certainly be better off saving their money and paying off their debts! What are your thoughts on the issue?

[@ana_from_albania]

Tbh we all should boycott Blockberry

[@AndI0op-]

@@ana_from_albania agreed. I didn’t stan any other groups from them except for loona so this should be pretty easy for me. I feel bad for all the other fans tho

[@blandienlumeks934]

Tbh it feels like more "if I can't have her, then nobody can have her" type

[@sacredscared]

they're just making themselves look worse! apparently they plan to do it for all of the members who left after starting with chuu. it's obvious chuu has more supporters than they do, they're just digging their own grave at this point.

[@dkgong]

Blockberry's strategy is to dig a deeper grave.

[@jorrdan.]

The Loona pre-debut and debut days were honestly so magical to experience in real time, it sucks blockberry had to ruin things but free my girls!

[@Patricruss]

It was but I realized at one point that it was just not sustainable and began to worry abt them during the time Haseul was in hiatus…

[@Miraiana]

Honestly at this point, Jaden Jeong seems like a saint... I remember how we used to praise the "15 employees of BBC" and bash "evil J.J.". But those 15 employees should have been the first warning signs, I mean, a subsidiary of such a big conglomerate should've been able to employ more than just 15 people, but obviously they didn't want to waste money on manpower.

[@Orbitinbloom19018]

It truly was

[@ryanharrison7808]

@@Miraiana we should still hold jaden to the same regard as the rest of the staff tho as he held a high up position and even publicly shamed yves on his instagram once for ordering food

[@Miraiana]

@@ryanharrison7808 Oh trust me, I am by no means forgetting about Jinsoul's scalp and headaches, and how girls had to freeze themselves multiple times during filming, and how yyxy were starved, literally, while shooting love4eva. Oh, and let's not forget La Maison that he just casually deleted... He's trashy, but the higher-ups at BBC are trashier. My point was compared to them, Jaden seems tame.

[@GWSNtheworld]

BOYCOTT BLOCKBERRYCREATIVE LOONA IS 12!

[@NightmareEuphoria]

𝘠𝘌𝘈𝘏

[@sarahhush2201]

YES!

[@dylghtbae]

yes

[@Ramses060784]

Keep your non sense they will disband

[@annaluciaschmitz]

Yes

[@claire.1623]

UPDATE : ALL THE GIRLS MANAGED TO WIN THIER LAWSUITS Heejin, Haseul, KimLip, Jinsoul and Choerry are now under MODHAUS and are named ARTMS (oec recently had a comeback and its rlly good!!) While Hyunjin, Yeojin, Vivi, Gowon and Hyeju are now under CTDENM and are named LOOSEMBLE Finally Yves is planning to go solo Chuu is in an entertainment company called ATRP

[@Bom.3d]

thanks

[@valtartine]

crying cause i've been wanting you to do a "i learned every loona dance" ever since you started the series a couple years ago and u finally talk about loona but it's over THIS mess 😭

[@lolan40]

no same😭💀

[@Everythingz127]

@@acusterx you're really stupid

[@varbzrepresentative57]

@@jikim3804 she just wanted her to cover loona before the scandals ? what is your damage? cant you read or something ?

[@akutadori]

@@jikim3804 are you illiterate, or just trying to start something.

[@chemicalhighway4956]

@@jikim3804you entirely missed the point of what the person was saying…they werent saying “why isnt she doing dance covers anymore”, they were saying that theyve been wanting her to do LOONA dance covers, but instead of getting that during happier times for loona fans, theyre getting a video all about how loona’s company failed them now that things have come to light…its not a criticism toward ploopy, its more like op is sad bc they had been wanting ploopy to do something loona related for a while back when things seemed positive for the group, and now shes finally doing something loona related, but its about all of this negative stuff

[@romifox_k]

The aftermath of this video [Updated] Odd Eye Circle(Kimlip, Jinsoul and Choerry) redebuted with 'Air Force One' Heejin and Haseul signed under ARTMS, the same company OEC is under Loossemble (Hyunjin, Vivi, Yeojin, Gowon, Hyeju) debuted with 'Sensitive' Chuu will redebut around October, after her signing with ATRP Yves is planning to sign under a new company, she currently lives with her sister and is working on new music As for Blockberry creative, yeah Google Maps said theyre permanently Closed

[@nikoleta.]

artms is the name of the group project consisting of oec and heejin and haseul. modhaus s the company they are under

[@urmomvia]

YVES signed up with a company called PAIX PER MIL, Loossemble is having a comeback on April, ARTMS debuting on March and pre-release on May 29th. Chuu is successful doing her thing and was spotted hanging out with loossemble filming for something

[@TheGirlFromNowhere]

ARTMS is having their first pre-release track “Birth” in 3 days (March 29th) and will release the album on May 31st, Loossemble will comeback with their 2nd mini album “One of a Kind” on April 15th, Yves signed up with PAIX PER MIL to continue as a solo artist (And is already working on her new music), and Chuu spotted Loossemble while shooting and hung out with them. Chuu also had a special song for Valentines Day called “Chocolate”. The Loona members also attend each others concerts to support each other.

[@tinkercubicton]

I think you could have given more context to the "abusive language" thing. I know the staff were in a hard position, but some of them were genuinely horrible to Chuu, making jokes about her intelligence or making ridiculous demands when they knew she had solo schedules. Even when they renegotiated, she was mistreated. And there were also some mistranslations when it came to what she actually said. For example, they said she asked if they would care when she k*lled herself, but she never said that. She asked about if they would care when she was dead. I personally can't blame her for saying the company was pathetic, and I believe that is what she said, not that the staff themselves were pathetic.

[@juliaphillippi8408]

Agreed. It wasn’t unwarranted.

[@Blodhelm]

Aye, and some of them were executives who are now crying about being spoken to in the most minor of tones after years of treating Chuu and everyone below them as less than servants.

[@Chellz801]

This!!!

[@yogurtsmothie6776]

Thanks for saying this

[@User5777_]

Jokes about her intelligence? I need some context there, chief.

[@maemae4188]

Orbits are seriously powerful, they managed to get almost all kpop fans to stop watching anything that bbc out out, including past videos, that would possibly risk bringing them revenue. I can't imagine any other kpop fandom being that dedicated to create such a strong success rate!

[@Blodhelm]

@@HailToTheMeep LOL if you cared about Loona, you'd want them to be free and you wouldn't want to support their abuser.

[@258Loures]

@@HailToTheMeep do you want attention?

[@Sofiaode18]

@@HailToTheMeep Agreed, OP’s comment is self-indulgent cringe. It doesn’t show any concern about the girls themselves, they just wanna congratulate “the fandom” for not consuming content. Yay…?

[@nebul1269]

@@HailToTheMeep wtf u on about 😭

[@luvcherry]

@@HailToTheMeep the same loona who have made 0 dollars and 0 cents and are in fact in debt due to their exploitative contracts that theyre all trying to get out of legally? who have literally nothing to lose from the boycott? hyunjin celebrating when their comeback got suspended? wake up

[@rain_51dB]

16:20 As an orbit since 2018, this was especially surprising to many of us as for years we were used to LONG droughts of content and comebacks. For so much content and schedules at once it was overwhelming for us and ever since queendom had begun we’d constantly been worried the girls were overworked. And it just. Never. Let. Up. Experiencing the world tour was awful seeing the girls injured left and right and given no rest. How are we supposed to enjoy a concert when the girls before us were suffering?

[@marissa7085]

I remember when BBC was posting the comeback images on Instagram, all the comments were like "stfu free loona" or "loona is 12" and one person just posted the lyrics to heart attack on every single image

[@mattevans6752]

Blockberry is that Star Wars meme where Anakin says "you underestimate my power" and then gets his legs cut off.

[@Ben-pe9tg]

My understanding is that the leaked text messages didn't show Chuu using curt language with STAFF, but with MANAGEMENT. I think that puts a different spin on it. She was annoyed and frustrated with the people who had been mistreating her, not with some random staffer or contractor.

[@ploopy678]

The text messages showed her speaking to 2 members of staff (B and D). B was definitely an employee (as Chuu said to staff B, "it must be hard reporting to your director") and Chuu even admitted she has no issues with B specifically, yet in text messages, B was called "pathetic". The manager who made rude remarks about her intelligence was staff D. Just felt the need to clear that up as I am quite passionate about the mistreatment of staff in the industry. I would also really encourage you to read the dispatch article to see for yourself!

[@rain_51dB]

@@ploopy678 It’s been a bit since I last read the article, thanks for clearing that up! I’ve seen many orbits also bring up that many staff are also victims so I hope our responses don’t sound as if we’re brushing that off. The situation is complicated so it can be a bit difficult keeping track of which staff to be wary of info on vs who might be a victim

[@jon-ej9vi]

I think this is a complex situation. Some things I want to point out is: 1. LOONA's pre-debut project did not cost 10B Won. This was a marketing ploy. Instead, it only costed closer to ~2-6 Billion Won instead. Depends on who you get your information on: Jaden Jeong says its closer to 2B Won while Dispatch calculated 6B Won. Still a high number nonetheless. 2. I truly do not believe Blockberry was going broke. The thing about the LOONA project is it WAS profitable. The LOONA project from 2016 to 2022 made 18.2B Won, with the costs being 16.9B Won. This means they at least made some profit. FURTHERMORE, the company was earning more money off LOONA's contracts. With the split of 70/30, they were making a lot already but with both parties contributing 50% of the costs, they would make more, and the more the LOONA members worked, the more they would get into debt. They would have paid off their debts if their contracts were fair. This story is not about a company going broke, more a company being greedy.

[@rain_51dB]

Blockberry thrived off being perceived as broke or struggling ; I believe they weren’t ever struggling as well. I think a lot of them getting sued was being greedy and attempting to avoid more costs to see what they can get away with.

[@MD-ek6yt]

@@rain_51dB Right! Because if you going around bragging you have money then obviously all your debtors and the group are going to start asking for their pay.

[@morphogenetic_]

@@rain_51dB that's right! I remember around 2018-2020 when most of the fanbase (me included) had a very positive image of BBC because they were such a ~small~ ~independent~ company so that must means they treat their artists well unlike those evil big companies 💀 BBC really wanted to be perceived as the struggling underdog.

[@cutforcuties]

Honestly, if they had better contract, the girls would’ve paid off their debt and the girls actually would want to continue their contract to continue to make money for BBC Like wtf it didn’t had to end like this? So stupid

[@Sofiaode18]

@@morphogenetic_ Literally the first thing I thought when I heard that *a small company* was blowing money on a creative and experimental concept, I thought it was stupid and they shouldn’t pretend like they had Big 3 levels of money but at the same time kinda implied that they were broke. Companies get no sympathy from me.

[@vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv-j2f]

I went to their London show, and the girls did a great job in a bad situation, but it was SUCH a shambles. I'm not a major Orbit but I love their music and the girls. 3 of the girls weren't there (Haseul, Choerry, Chuu), and the others were all in various degrees of sick or injured. Yeojin had to sit at the side the whole time due to her ankle injury, Olivia had to walk off stage a few times (probably due to her hip injury) and a few of the others had to walk off a few times too. Venue management was crap too - Yeojin had to go backstage to ask for the AC to be turned on after the girls and their translator had to tell the crowd to signal to them if they were going to faint - because the staff weren't doing anything, just standing their laughing and giggling! None of them should be in that position, and certainly not having to do it in a language they don't even speak!! Its a testament to how talented and hardworking they are that the show was still fantastic. Heejin and Kim Lip in particular really held it together for the rest of the girls. You could tell how much they cared about each other and Orbits. Also, ALL of the Orbits booing when the venue tried to force us to do a minute's silence for the Queen was VERY funny, 100/10, well done everyone.

[@indiabella2]

i was there too! i had to leave early because i was so exhausted from waiting in the queue for nearly 2 hours. the girls were so excellent at handling issues they shouldn't of had to :(

[@aeongies]

the part about the venue management being bad is really interesting to me. i didn’t go to the loona concert but when i saw dreamcatcher at the same venue a few months later i honestly thought the staff were great. it was quite warm and although 1 or 2 people fainted, the staff were really helpful and handed out drinks. as for the signalling i think that’s just something that’s done regardless. the DC members did the same. it might just be because they can see the crowd much better than a lot of the staff can.

[@togethertwilight1260]

The London show was superb. The Loona members did a terrific job, giving 110%. I liked the venue and I think some fans were fainting from either queueing for so long ( at 2pm the queue was very long ) and/or being so hyped up about being there ( the atmosphere in the venue was extraordinary, especially just before Loona started. ). The staff gave out water to help dehydrated and exhausted fans, and the concert was stopped to deal with the fainting fan. Thank you Loona and your support staff so much for all the work making the tour happen.

[@beccikinomoto5651]

It's crazy everytime you think a Company can't get worse everytime another Company shows up to prove you're wrong.

[@sacredscared]

the remaining 7 members of LOONA are in the process of appealing their cases, i can't imagine bbc trying to utilize a 7 member version of LOONA, i know they'll win and leave. vivi's case is a cause for concern since she'll be deported if she attempts to leave, being the only foreign member. i'll wait for the rest of my life for all of the members to come together again and perform as 12, but the chances of that happening are slim. i will support whatever the individual girls choose to do in their future endeavors! great video ♡, you highlighted a lot of the early poor business dealings that began their downfall that i'm sure a lot of people aren't aware of.

[@jamescurfman3284]

...future endeavors, AS LONG AS BBC has NOTHING to do with it... :)

[@kuyab9122]

Hyunjin and Vivi have now also filed for nullification of contract.

[@bruhseriously9297]

@@kuyab9122 with a high chance of success, unless brokeberry attempts to blacklist THEM, too.

[@kuyab9122]

@@bruhseriously9297 They probably will win. BBC trying to ban them on activities is inevitable tho

[@PedroPony833]

Honestly it's so sad to see Loona in this state. All the members had lots of potential and so much to offer, and they had some great tracks (Hi High especially!). At this point Loona needs to get away from the company asap, and I hope the members are successful in their lawsuits. I love your content, your videos are both informative and extremely entertaining btw ❤️

[@jamescurfman3284]

The rest of the staff, too. Please don't forget about all of them being in the same boat as the group members. The entire thing does not run solely on the efforts of the entertainment talent (the idols). Each idol needs support workers behind them. You have AT LEAST somebody for Hair and Makeup (must be more than one because TWELVE people to fix up would take so long that there are literally not enough hours in a day to get all of them ready for the camera at the same time) and at least one other for Wardrobe and Props. PLUS, there is the camera crew, lighting, director, songwriters and producers, and you can't forget security...

[@PedroPony833]

@@jamescurfman3284 Definetly, I can't imagine how the staff may be feeling. Though I suppose they'll be free from such a horrible company if things go in Loona's favour

[@hotsexyangel]

Loona will come back as 12 under a new company, I just know it

[@jamescurfman3284]

@@hotsexyangel We can all hope. These ladies deserve to make it in a big way. The company can fail and go bankrupt, never to be heard from again.

[@ninanano]

Just a few corrections. I wish you had actually reached out to some Orbits to fact check some of these. 1. Blockberry has never once been one of the most “respected companies in the industry”. Their parent company’s reputation has always been looming. 2. Blockberry’s foundation coincides with Jaden Jeong, their original creative director, suggesting the formation of a group like LOONA to Polaris. He shopped the project around to various companies and Polaris was the one that accepted it. He had already worked with Polaris for Ladies’ Code. Blockberry was formed because it was an extensive project and they needed an entire different assemble to realize the project. 3. Jaden only became a “renowned” creative director after producing LOONA. He was definitely not a household name prior to that. 4. LOONA’s debut was NOT that expensive. As their former creative director (Jaden) admitted, the company lied about the debut expenses for marketing purposes, and it worked because that lie is still being spread around like fact and people wholeheartedly believe it. He admitted LOONA’s debut cost around $1.5 million which is honestly average for a K-pop group. By spreading this lie you’re only supporting Blockberry’s lies claiming the group took too much to produce so there was no way they could ever pay the members or the staff. 5. Blockberry DID have the money to carry out this project. They had SEVERAL investors, and got into lawsuits with them (for example, the Japanese Donuts company) because they didn’t comply with the investment contracts. The money wasn’t ever being used on LOONA and the company, the CEO was and is stealing it. Like you said, Blockberry was ordered to pay Donuts back, the CEO then named his wife as an acting CEO so the court couldn’t have access to his assets and remove them in order to pay the investors. 6. Orbits have NEVER supported Blockberry and never raised any sort of funds to help the company. Our gripes with Blockberry started way back during their debut year when the members weren’t even allowed to use VLIVE and Twitter. We literally had 0 communication with the girls and would go days without hearing about them. The girls were also put under crazy diets and ridiculous work schedules.

[@Quarksi]

Jaden was renowned prior to loona in Korea, especially for his work with Infinite (for ex the chaser), Miss A, 2PM --- actually as far as Korea is concerned Loona isn't the most successful thing he's worked on. (His releases with lovelyz performed even better there)

[@marissa7085]

A lot of orbits don't know a lot of this stuff though. Orbits are also biased so they're not a good source for this kind of video. Yes, the CEO of BBC is also biased, so you can't really get reliable info from interviews. But with the amount of lies and misinformation online about this situation, it's difficult to get any reliable source on it at all.

[@GWSNtheworld]

bump

[@ninanano]

@@Quarksi none of those groups were formed by Jaden or were his original creations. He was brought in as A&R or creative for 1 or 2 comebacks. They were already successful when he was brought in and would’ve remained successful with or without him, and they did. That’s quite dishonest

[@Quarksi]

@@ninanano what are you on? He worked with woollim for years. He was the A&R for infinite for many comebacks (and the other groups he worked with he was often involved in their biggest hits), and there are articles in korean about jaden at loona's inception talking about how excited people were because he was famous for his work with other groups. (However they were ultimately disappointed with loona). You can look at his career history yourself, he was definitely more famous for his work prior to loona in korea and only really became known for loona in korea (among casuals) after he already left in 2020 when loona had their first win. Critics in korea however often praised his work with loona prior to that.

[@hotsexyangel]

UPDATE: officially ALL 12 members have filed an injunction against BBC! At first Hyunjin & Vivi didn’t file (for unknown reasons; probably something to do with Vivi’s work visa) but now they have both filed meaning all 12 members have filed! This means they can all be freed from their contracts! Currently only choerry, kim lip, jinsoul, and heejin have immediate freedom from BBC UNTIL the final verdict. The remaining 11 members can win their case against BBC!

[@chaeyeonology]

We stopped calling them Flopberry Creative a while ago lol. We've now switched to Sh!tberry or B!tchberry. Doesn't rhyme, but it still works. 🤣 Also love the video! Your'e one of my inspirations for my videos!

[@ploopy678]

Oh I had no idea! I dont want to get demonetized though, so I'd probs stick to flopberry hahaha Btw, how did this name change come about?

[@chaeyeonology]

​@@ploopy678 flopberry started when news about la maison and b#rn came out. we thought it was just underpromotion so we weren't too harsh. but then when chuu was kicked, the injunctions were filed and the boycott was started we decided to get a bit more violent lol

[@restinte]

@@ploopy678my personal favorite has been "brokeberry"

[@TaillyDY]

No, i feel like most orbits still call them flopberry! All these names are funny, everyone can choose which one they like the best

[@siennahartle9069]

I’ve been calling them Broke B*tch company for years

[@snow098]

thank you for the background on the ilgwang group, i’ve been an orbit for 2 years and never knew the details about them until now

[@jamescurfman3284]

Same.

[@MD-ek6yt]

Yup and it really throws light on their really vindictive behaviour. It's almost like a military operation, destroy your enemy, scorched earth policy that they seem to be carrying out on Chuu and the group.

[@jamescurfman3284]

@@MD-ek6yt Right, except their enemy started out as kids that the same company trained up to become entertainers. They were all SUPPOSED to be on the same side. The company execs betrayed their own people from before day one.

[@hj3342]

Me realising that when I streamed LOONA's music in the day that I was actually supporting the Korean Arms Industry 💀

[@RedisNotaFlavor]

RIP Loonaverse. it was fun (the concept not the mistreatment of the girls) while it lasted.. it was really fun. I miss Odd Eye Circle.

[@brandonx543]

I feel the same way, I was in high school when they started debuting. Now I’m 24… it’s insane.

[@hiimchxrlxttx]

Evangeline, I really love your editing. You're really very good at it.

[@ploopy678]

Awe thanks!! 🥰

[@hiimchxrlxttx]

@@ploopy678 ur welcome

[@ryanjo1072]

I’m a 2nd generation Korean American born and raised in los angeles, and i dont really keep up with korean news, especially kpop, but u have given me a greater respect and understanding of korean entertainment and culture. Thanks ploopy, and keep up the awesome work!

[@wendynguyen5597]

Cant’t wait to watch this video. Great video as always and I love your transition for part 1.

[@alilordoftheskies5079]

I'm really really concerned for Vivi throughout the whole lawsuit situation. I heard there's a chance she could be deported if she leaves the company. I hope she'll be alright.

[@morphogenetic_]

I think she is staying in BBC (as are the 4 who temporarily lost their lawsuits) to give herself time to gather all her documents and come up with a solution, I'm sure it will end up well.

[@alilordoftheskies5079]

@@morphogenetic_ I really hope so 🤞🏻

[@tardisandcinnamon]

It was announced today that Vivi and Hyunjin have also filed to suspend their contracts now so presumably Vivi now has what she needs and Hyunjin didn’t want to leave her on her own

[@user-ts2ug1il7c]

Hopefully Vivi having lived and worked in Korea for as long as she has will make it easy for her to get citizenship

[@Kenny_D6665]

Update: All twelve Loona members are free from B**chberry Creative and Odd Eye Circle will be releasing new music soon.

[@blackwater224]

I went to their concert in Reading, PA and although it was great to see them perform, I felt so bad for them. Especially since I had just found out that they were victims of horrible fan behavior prior and you could tell they were tired and didn’t want to be there. I was debating on whether or not if I should go because when I bought the tickets I thought I was going to see Chuu as well and then they announced that she wasn’t going to be there which was extremely disappointing to me because I had paid to see all 12 not 11. And I’m an introvert the concert was packed so I didn’t get a chance to buy any merch and there were way too many people than I thought. Like the Dreamcatcher concert I went to a month before was amazing and I thought the Loona concert was going to be like that. But it wasn’t planned that well at all. When Loona disbands (which I have a strong feeling they will), I will definitely follow the members wherever they go

[@lavendervvitch99]

I also went to the Reading concert. At the time I thought it was amazing - the girls just looked happy to be onstage, but I was sad Chuu wasn’t there and I was very worried about Haseul. I was so happy to see them live, and they kept talking about how happy they were to have sold out a whole arena and they seemed happy to have a good crowd after the debacle in Chicago…now that memory is forever tainted. I just want them to be able to perform in a way that makes them happy, that keeps them healthy and that pays them well.

[@astitchaway07]

You were not at the Chicago show, I was. The fans did not do anything to Kim. We were cheering on ViVi and then Kim Lip started to talk and it took a minute for the cheers to die down. Kim Lip started to get her own cheers but she started crying. Prolly due to the stress of the tour and Queendom, not because fans were mean.

[@blackwater224]

@@astitchaway07 Oh I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to imply that I was at the Chicago show. I was just trying to include it because I thought it was important. I sincerely apologize. I must have gotten my facts wrong.

[@blackwater224]

@@lavendervvitch99 I completely agree. I too was excited to see them live and I became very worried when I saw Ha Seul walk out with a cast. And it felt really strange to see Yves, Gowon, and Olivia Hye perform without Chuu.

[@chuugummy975]

@astitchaway07 That might not have been the intention of the fans but the girls definitely might have perceived it that way. Especially with the message Heejin sent on Fab after that said to appreciate and love all members. The whole situation was a shame for both Loona and Orbits.

[@brandon8910]

Was actually following this myself for the most part but it makes a world of difference to have someone compile and explain everything in a cohesive timeline like this, thank you for that! I know Loona was supposed to have a concert in Japan in March, wonder if that got cancelled yet. Last I heard it was still on but “participating members subject to change” 😂

[@veronikaeber2649]

I love your long-form content, cant wait to watch this video!

[@valkyrie4395]

The only thing I’m sad about is not being able to hear those unreleased songs. Wish they could’ve been released under better circumstances. But shitberry dug their own graves, so I’m very glad that the boycott worked since those girls deserve better. Especially because of the impact they had

[@rain_51dB]

What’s even worse about the unreleased content is it adds more debt for the girls. If it was released it could bring in revenue and alleviate things a bit but instead it just adds more debt cost via their contract

[@Blodhelm]

Apparently much of that album was made of recycled songs that had previously been rejected for not being good enough. BBC was just trying to make another money grab that could also hook the girls in longer.

[@davidvasquez08]

I never noticed the acronym of BlockBerryCreative as BBC…

[@julianagee4304]

Im so glad there all free now

[@lukebf6254]

I’ve just found out about Loona a few months ago and like their choreography and music.. hate that they were mistreated

[@aal1yah17]

I doubt that Blockberry Creative are gonna survive all the debts and everything especially because they owe parts in Europe money as well and I think they should just let the girls leave because they shouldn't be overworked and not even given anything in return and it's their best interest.

[@jamescurfman3284]

U.S. companies will also go after them.

[@Blodhelm]

Considering they were basically a shell company to begin with, they'll fold and then start up again with a different name.

[@LovelyLara123]

As an orbit, I loved this video. Tysm for this video Evangeline!

[@Neurogauntlet]

This needs an update. The appellate court ruled in favor of chuu just recently. In that decision it was stated that chuu AND the rest of the girls generated income, but BBC made it impossible for them to get ANY. Everything bad that has happened is because of the company. They were not doomed from the start. They're success was stifled by their malicious and greedy company.

[@mochimilkteakpopstan9195]

im worried for vivi and hyunjin

[@Suriel213]

HyunJin is brave and powerful, she'll protect Vivi. That's probably why she hasn't filed a lawsuit yet.

[@elly1433]

whichever company the girls all sign with when they get out of blockberry could make SO much money by debuting them together again, even if they don't have the name loona or anything like that. really really hope that the girls and the staff can make it out of that shit company safely

[@jamescurfman3284]

Agreed, 100%.

[@cupcaketree3963]

I feel like lee soo man had a big interest in them. He saw that they had potential. He might even have taken them in as a side project. But seeing how he is struggling with his own company rn, i hardly believe this will every happen xD But i don‘t think a large company has the „need“ to take them in. We can only hope a medium-small company might take them in. I mean they would make money immediately after re-debuting bc they already have a rather stable fanbase, or at least international fanbase. But getting all of them out of the company might take a while now 😭

[@Cloudkirb]

Hopefully and most likely modhaus where the currently free girls are at

[@minjeeseoullawyer]

this is what happens when an agency becomes so arrogant that they no longer can accept ANY form of criticism.

[@jamescurfman3284]

Not that they can't accept. It's far worse than that. They straight-up REFUSED to believe they were getting any negative criticism at all. They just heard a bunch of mosquitoes buzzing on all the social media platforms. Maybe they should have thought about that; ALL of the social media platforms had ONLY negativity pointed at the company. "Surely that 'rumor' about a fandom-wide boycott would never happen, simply because it has never been done before, RIGHT?"

[@kpopgreentea]

I am so happy that Bebez escaped bbc. They debuted as a 5 member group under Home official, few days ago. The group name is Geenius and debut song in Voyage. Really cute and refreshing song. Also they singed live at music shows. So pls support them if you want, they are so underrated.

[@zozoyoyo_0]

Loona was one of the first kpop groups I’ve ever stanned, and were one of my favs. It breaks my heart to see how mistreated the girls were while no one knew. I’m glad more of the members are standing up for themselves, and I hope they leave as soon as possible. Loona had so much potential, but it’s been wasted due to terrible management. Btw love how thorough and detailed this video is Ploopy!!

[@shakaririley819]

I’m not a fan of LOONA, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about them and their talent. It’s a shame that they went through this. I pray that the members, company staff and anybody connected to Blockberry Creative get free of them. My guess is that Blockberry is gonna go belly up. It’s only a matter of time before they would have to shut their doors and give up the ghost. Only time will tell.

[@mockachannel6110]

It's sad for us Orbits to see how this whole situation unfolded... We had so much hope at the beginning and sadly, Blockberry turned out to be like this. I'm really sorry for the girls and hope the best for them! Thanks again, Ploopy, I love your videos :)

[@joanabarros7458]

And now the company is trying to blacklist the Loona members. I hate this company!

[@crystal6479]

Absolutely love your videos! (Ty for keeping me [someone who lives under a rock] updated)

[@lucilavelazquez9673]

I believe the girls will be freed from this hellscape of a company someday, but I don't think BBC's shenanigans are stopping anytime soon. They may change their name to try to dissasociate themselves from the public's views on them, then debut a new group and repeating the cycle. In that case, hopefully us orbits can warn new fans about their shady business and make them disband rather quickly. But I wanna be optimistic and think that they'll give up in the entretainment industry and they'll leave young impressionable girls (or boys) alone

[@lavendervvitch99]

Thank you for drawing attention to this. Since this video was made there’s been a new development: bbc is now going to a government agency to try to get Chuu, Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul and Choerry banned from working in the entertainment industry at all. They would gain nothing from doing this - not even good PR, as other people across the Korean entertainment industry are drawing attention to it and speaking up in support. The only reason they seem to have for doing it is outright cruelty. They’re upset they didn’t get their way and now they won’t let them go peacefully - and they want to keep the members who are still fighting for freedom in line. I have hope they won’t win this, as they literally lost their lawsuits with these girls already and obviously don’t have a leg to stand on, but it doesn’t make it any less despicable. Blockberry Creative should burn in hell.

[@tinisohn]

what did heejin, kim lip, jinsoul and choerry do?

[@halien6384]

@@tinisohn nothing, but those were the members who won the lawsuit against bbc and had their contracts terminated

[@halfwen4575]

@@halien6384 pure spite

[@Mitsu92]

Thanks for giving a detailed and in-depth explanation to this topic! I see now what the hype for LOONA was all about, that's an incredibly ambitious project. And it makes me happy to hear of a fandom that respects and treats the artists like actual people and not just commodities. I don't actively keep up with KPOP news but still have a general interest for the industry so I always look forward to hearing about it through your videos. You manage to keep them so interesting and entertaining while still being respectful to the people involved. Keep up the good work, Ploopy! ♥

[@Nebulox]

I was thinking is there any company with no controversies. Now i'm thinking that all companies that seem good are hiding their problems and issues so I don't think that there is any good company

[@PAHart-dg8bl]

Dreamcatcher company seems pretty good so far

[@alenec]

@@PAHart-dg8bl kq as well lol

[@alenec]

@@PAHart-dg8bl kq as well lol

[@alenec]

@@PAHart-dg8bl kq as well lol

[@Nebulox]

@@PAHart-dg8bl Yeah, I guess so, hopefully it stayes that way untill Dreamcatcher retires after, idk, 10+ years (hopefully)

[@UKIISSFan]

As we saw with TS, Stardom and Spire Ent. its either one way or another: they end up going bankrupt and close down or they ignore the whole scandal and debut a new group after "changing" CEO's, rebranding or building a subsidiary.

[@mattbonacci3941]

Wow I didn’t know any of that shady information about Blockberry’s shady parent company. Always appreciate the in depth research Evangeline!!

[@lipstickgamer6580]

I hope people will stop stanning companies. It makes no sense, Stan groups not companies!

[@AndI0op-]

Hey just got here! Love you ploopy! Missed your content! Here we go again…lol

[@pacerstack]

Great timeline and breakdown, Evangeline! Thanks for the work you did on this!

[@sheijuna]

ploopy/Evangeline thank you sooo much, i literally screamed when i saw you made this video and i'm so happy you're doing this because i remember asking you this and i'm also happy you did it when there's more information. plus you are my favorite kpop youtuber and i was really happy that you made a topic on my favorite kpop group. this is why you're my favorite kpop youtuber, using your platform to bring light to problems in the kpop industry ❤❤ also another thing is, the members were not only not getting paid, but they were abused for years and people stopped having respect for blockberry since around 2021. most of the members were starved a lot during their predebut days, with videos of them saying that they're hungry and people talking about how skinny they looked, and them talking about their extreme dieting that they had to go through while they were trainees and still growing. even after this and when loona was decently big, the company kept on turning down promotions and activities that could've helped with money and made loona bigger- hyunjin even could've signed to be on a kdrama but the company turned it down. they've been setting them up for so long. and another thing, the world tour was the fault of bbc and mmt, and a lot of fans were angry at the mismanagement on both sides (mostly mmt though for the world tour). additionally, they made a TON of revenue from the world tour but Loona members and staff were still not getting paid.

[@rain_51dB]

PETITION TO HELP LOONA: Currently, Orbits have been in contact with LOONA’s law firm who have green-lit our petition and said that it will be helpful in legal proceedings. This is our biggest chance to help the members. The petition is meant to help the injunctions of the remaining members. Please print out and sign the petition following the instructions closely. Handwritten is important. UnionLOONA is a joint collaboration between foreign and domestic fans for organizing boycott efforts. Information can be found there.

[@rain_51dB]

KZbin please stop deleting this.. it’s been 15 times.. what is the issue..

[@rain_51dB]

I can’t link more details unfortunately cuz KZbin hates me.

[@HailToTheMeep]

Posting links will flag your post as spam

[@OneProudBBC]

Thank you for posting this video. I saw just hours after this video was uploaded that Vivi and Hyunjin both filed lawsuits against BBC for the same reasons as the other members. Just FYI.

[@Wrayamemes]

They won the lawsuit!!!

[@WhitneyDahlin]

Can we get an update on this?

[@AA-be1ko]

They all won 🎉😂

[@kaytlyn2857]

the girls are free!!

[@shopeeeee]

I BEEN WAITING FOR THIS SINCE U POSTED THE IG STORY OF U DOING MATH🤩🤩🤩🤩

[@ploopy678]

It took so long cuz so much new info kept coming out!

[@majicweather4890]

I cant stand most kpop, but when i saw and heard the MV for Eclipse by Kim Lip, i was floored at the pure mastery that went into it. Excellent work. That particular flavor found in songs like Eclipse is what i personally wanted Loona to focus on, but i was open minded. Some time later, i heard Star. And i was like , the melody of the main hook/chorus was just so powerful, the melody just had me replaying the song over and over and over. Its random but i just kept imaging Loona as the Sailor Scouts from Sailor Moon. It made it even more amazing for me 😂. Very strong, very melodic , koreans are masters of pop music , theres really no debate , but really this groups were channeling more than pop with the songs that i liked. With that all said. And some point i had lost track Loona , as i was first introduced to them by their solo debut songs ( some of them, mainly Kim Lip and Jin Soul songs) . Again, im not a follower of kpop music , though i do like a few performers , but very few. So learning they wouldnt do their big offical songs for a while, i just moved on. Seemed to be about a year had passed, and idk which order these released but they eventually had a couple full group singles they dropped. Here we return to the song "Star" which i explained , for me, is an amazing experience to listen to. But it wasnt too long til i got word that the band broke up and their was corruption with the company they were with and the group themselves were asking everyone to not support or listen to the music. I was like " what the fuck is going on????" I still dont fully know what the fuck happened. Loona was some special and interesting. Its insane how a company can complete lose such great talent such as this over pure foolishness . I was like " Didnt they JUST come out????" Just incredible

[@ORBITOT12]

Just to give you some more info, 5 of the members debuted under a group called 'ARTMS' they have debuted just recently and are working with Jaden Jeong the creative director of loona. 5 other members have debuted in 'loossemble' These members were neglected by BBC. The loonaverse is present in both groups and their songs have moderately similar vibes to the loona days. Chuu & Yves have also debuted solo and there are some interactions of them with LOOSSEMBLE

[@Mashka14]

Well detailed informative analysis on the Shady History of Blockberry Creative and hopefully the Loona members will continue with their careers with support of each other fans and the media

[@meatballzlover]

omg i was so bored, BUT YOU SAVED THE DAY WITH ANOTHER VID 🙏 can't wait to see what mess you talk ab this time

[@justboycrazy45]

Let me start by saying that I enjoy your content, keep up the great work ☺️ Flop Berry Creative needed to be shut down expeditiously, speaking as an Orbit because our moon girls deserve so much better! The company trying to debut both a new girl group AND a male version of LOONA? I'm so glad those projects are shelved because of A) possible mistreatment or mismanagement and B) one or more of the members would be not of legal Korean age like a few other groups debuting or recently debuted

[@CheShiny]

I never knew BBC was once respected haha

[@Callisto_52Hz]

14:19 , as an orbit, i feel like this needs more context. even though a lot of things have been exposed about BBC's situation as of now, most of the things we knew about their finances were pieced together from very little and sometimes conflicting information. like how the story of blockberry spending 10 billion won on the loona project was recently revealed to be a lie. at the time, most fans were led to believe that the money for loona came from investments and they didn't have to pay all of it back until the donut scandal. also, the saveloona hashtag came out because loona had a year long hiatus and were sued by Donut because BBC didn't let them come on the app's livestreams in 2019. the news of staff members not getting payed came way after that (2021). by that time most of the fandom already hated BBC for long. BBC's mistreatment of loona was obvious by 2019 when they mishandled loona's album productions, or when members started revealing that they weren't allowed to eat much during subunit promotions, their lack of comebacks and announcements about haseul or even normal kpop group content, the fact that the company only had 19 staff members, etc. boycotts have been discussed so many times over the years but we ultimately backed down for worry that the members would get hurt the most. ofcourse now that its revealed that they weren't getting payed at all, we had no reason to keep funding the company.

[@Orbitinbloom19018]

Im really proud of orbits, doing what we can for the girls. I hope the girls will be fine, thats all i wish for

[@jazzywazzy8906]

93?????? AS IN NINE THREE???? Those are CRAZY low numbers, really shows the power of fans

[@jensoop]

HUGE UPDATE: loona is officially free from blockberry but still boycott them

[@chvrrvism3833]

an apocalypse could be happening and youll find orbits organizing themselves into a single file line 😭 ive never been into such an organized yet chaotic fandom before but i love being part of it. its just sad that we had to stick together through a boycott of all things

[@fleurayz]

I do want to say blockberry has had lots of critiscm even during predebut. Like wanting to make loona a 'mysterious' group and thus not letting them do any activities and making them diet.

[@JO-qn8gy]

4 ex loona members sign contract with Modhaus. Are they joining tripleS.?

[@DDuxer-xb4pi]

They most likely be Loona and their subunits. They won't join tripleS. The concepts with the whole lore etc. won't fit

[@MrRdlv]

They are redebuting with the name odd eye circle

[@malloriexi]

Love the video, I do disagree on the Chuu remarks though. There is a lot of context missing around those texts. Who's to say the person she was talking to wasn't someone that has been pushing her around for years? Or was being a jerk to her in light of her winning the lawsuit. She did say the texts were out of frustration and not right but I still insist there is a lot we don't know. Loona has been abused for years. I also still believe BBC needs to be audited. I don't believe any of the numbers that they produce.

[@jamescurfman3284]

But the big bad military arms company would do everything in their power to keep that from happening.

[@MD-ek6yt]

Totally agree on both points. One of Chuu's legal arguments were that she would ask for numbers but they would refuse. Also her comments were from frustation, she was reacting against being bullied not just power tripping at random, good for her for defending herself.

[@ploopy678]

Loona was indeed abused for years, but so were the staff! Again I would like to highlight the fact that many of them were not paid for months and suffered personal financial hardships due to BBC. Not sure why everyone seems to have a problem when Loona are not paid, but completely look the other way when the same thing happens to staff... 😕

[@malloriexi]

But we're assuming that the staff in general was not paid and stuck with BBC. We only know if the stylists and choreographers. If I'm missing something, I apologize but this all still hinges on assumptions. We're assuming that unpaid staff stayed on. We're also assuming that they were angels. That's why I say CONTEXT. We don't know who Chuu was talking to. If they were bad or good. If they were giving her the run around. We know nothing other than she was frustrated and she even said she said she shouldn't have done it. That said, I still don't think what little she said was overt considering what we do know. Again my whole argument is context which we have very little of.

[@MD-ek6yt]

@@ploopy678 Yep totally agree. The staff are in a hard place because they are being abused by bbc and have to be the messenger for the crap from bbc to Chuu. That's also why the conversations are misleading because it's not Chuu being annoyed with staff members, it's her responding to bbc through them. That's why I always say company incompetency. Bbc reported that they only had 15 staff in 2019, imagine the work pressure!

[@pretzel477]

YESSSS i’ve been waiting to hear your take on this

[@rain_51dB]

8:40 Actually it eventually came out that the 10 billion won was a lie for promotional reasons. The project only cost 2 billion. Still a large sum but more typical and an important distinction.

[@rain_51dB]

Mind you this was revealed by Jaden Jeong himself

[@s3k1m]

A lot has happened in the last 24 hours. We need an updated video.

[@lsgoh2357]

Also I love your style!

[@biahao]

Ploopy i usually really like your videos but I think you could've made this one better with some fans' perspective and more specific informations

[@auroriiiia]

Vivi and Hyunjin have now also filed lawsuits against BBC :D

[@anixelta7293]

FREEDOM! The prophecy is finally fulfilled: "Everything [was] flipped. And we [are starting] the journey through the FREE--" (LOONA FlipThat MV)

[@Edwin_Gan]

Not a LOONA stan, but when a company resorted to slander their artist in a media press release statement, it's apparent even to a non-fan that this company is BAD

[@nemomagnum]

I read that the fan boycott was so successful that the company's merch shop was shut down and people didn't even notice for like 3 days lmao

[@angisosaphotography]

another great video! I love how in-depth your explanations are, and you're the only creator I trust to have good information! Also, where did you get your shirt/sweater??

[@vidiacool9532]

It has now been reported that the two remaining loona members have also filed a lawsuit to get out of there.

[@cherryujuu5945]

I step out of the kpop world for 1 year and THIS is what happens?!? 😭😭 poor girls

[@ZSoG]

I’m not a fan of loona but it’s very sad what the members have had to go through. This is just another example of fans not knowing what goes on behind the scenes with these K-pop companies until the mistreated come forward themselves. Glad Chuu left btw

[@Mr-pn2eh]

I think they should pursue becoming stunt drivers.

[@jinnierat3738]

LOONA IS FREEEEE

[@Hanni._.Bubblegum.]

Hello Evangeline. Do you think you could make an update on this company as a lot has happened.

[@drpri1836]

I was waiting soooo long for this video to come.... Finally......

[@uhlarissa]

i really hope that all the girls and staff can be free from this shitty ass company! even if the girls never release music again i just want them happy and healthy

[@Patricruss]

Thank you for saying what was on my mind since the early era of Loona… I was so mind blowned on how so many people think that it was an “innovative idea” and that “Loona would be so successful” When I’m just here thinking “With what money did BBC use to fund their debut again???” Rule of thumb: If the big 4 company didn’t do it, there’s a LEGITIMATE reason as to WHY.

[@Akursedtime]

When you think about how Blockberry is a subsidiary of Polaris Entertainment and Ladies Code wasn't paid either. It's amazing how they managed to skirt away for this long.

[@jamztheworld12]

CHUU JUST MADE HER SOLO COMEBACK WITH STRAWBERRY RUSH!! PLEASE SUPPORT HER ❤️❤️

[@taylorcullen2659]

To answer your question...no, no BBC won't be able to recover from this (as of 6/16).

[@unobuganan7937]

Cube:I am the bad and the most evil company Bbc:Hold my strict diet Best if loona disbands tbh, if they will I will follow wherever they go or whatever path they choose, JUSTICE FOR LOONA AND CHUU

[@forthewin4063]

What an informative video! I kinda followed the story but had no idea about these details

[@alegend2337]

It's just so sad :( I don't think any K-pop group had gotten the same reaction out of me that Loona's debut videos did for each member. That was something unique and incredible. Then when the whole group debuted they managed to pull off some great content and comeback/mvs given they had 12 members. There were always conflicts though, I'll say that, about which members got more lines/screen time and that is a company decision overall that I always complained about. Then when the Chuu thing started I was awaiting the worst. Now, I'm just happy to see the girls are fighting to get out because this company and honestly some other K-pop companies really care about the money over the well-being of their members. Theres always gonna be a struggle over profits vs content creation but if literal human beings are your product, you gotta have some sense of compassion and I bet the girls would have rather stayed together as 12 with equal rights/pay and struggled with their "revenue" instead of what happened. It must have been real bad (besides what we already know) if all your members want out. I hope the girls find futures with companies that care more whether together or in subsets/individually.

[@astitchaway07]

Im still not streaming any loona songs, no purchases, i miss them so much tho.