MANILA, Philippines – Girl group LOONA members Hyunjin and Vivi have filed injunctions to suspend their exclusive contracts with their agency BlockBerry Creative, South Korean network JTBC reported on Friday, February 3.

They now enter the same legal battle with Chuu, who filed a similar injunction in December 2021, and the other nine members – Heejin, Haseul, Yeojin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, Choerry, Yves, Go Won, and Olivia Hye – who filed theirs in November 2022.

Chuu partially won her injunction, which she filed after expressing discontent with the payment terms of her contract. Months after pursuing individual activities freely, she was kicked out of LOONA, with BlockBerry Creative alleging that she had verbally abused staff members. Chuu denied this.

Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, and Choerry won their respective lawsuits in January, with a South Korean court finding that their contracts stipulate the same terms as Chuu’s pre-injunction. 

The same court found that Haseul, Yeojin, Yves, Go Won, and Olivia Hye had some of their contract terms changed, and so “did not view the changed terms to be unjust enough to warrant terminating these contracts,” Seoul Economic Daily reported. The five are on appeal, with fans gathering petitions to bolster their claims.

JTBC reported that Hyunjin and Vivi have “a higher probability of winning their cases,” saying their contracts, like Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, and Choerry also stipulate the same terms as Chuu’s pre-injunction.

BlockBerry Creative has been under fire for their apparent mistreatment of the LOONA members. Fans are currently boycotting any content from the agency and calling for the release of the group, protesting the members’ potential overwork and contract terms that leave them “in perpetual debt.”

The agency earlier denied Chuu leaving the group, as well as reports of the said nine members filing their injunctions. Meanwhile, they confirmed Hyunjin and Vivi filing their injunctions the same day it was reported.

BlockBerry Creative is now on a bid to ban Chuu from entertainment activities in South Korea, and is also in the process of filing the same petition against Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, and Choerry. – Rappler.com