“BlockBerry Bankruptcy” — The Huge Sign That LOONA’s Former Company Has “Gone Broke”
In 2022, nine members of LOONA attempted to have their exclusive contracts suspended following Chuu’s expulsion from the group.
This ultimately resulted in several legal battles, with members’ contracts suspended over time. In June 2023, the Seoul High Court’s civil affairs department ruled in favor of the remaining LOONA members in their legal battle against their former agency, BlockBerry Creative, effectively leaving the entire group “free.”
Chuu filed a lawsuit against the company and won subsequent ones as BlockBerry Creative continued to appeal the initial decision — a third and seemingly final trial concluded in June 2024.
Since then, the members have re-debuted in other groups and as soloists, with the possibility of a full group reunion.
On the other hand, since the issues between BlockBerry Creative and LOONA were made public, the company has suffered. Fans successfully boycotted LOONA’s releases, seemingly resulting in BlockBerry closing the company’s shop in April 2023.
BlockBerry Creative has posted a notice on their shop.
As of April 16th the store will be closed and no products can be purchased (Papago translation).#이달의소녀 #LOONA pic.twitter.com/KuaVWt0vXh
— LOONA Schedule (@ot12schedule) April 19, 2023
The label’s only other artist, ex-Wonder Girls‘ Sunye, departed from the company in June 2023, just one year after signing there.
Now fans believe there is a big sign that the company has “gone broke.”
Up until July 6, BlockBerry Creative’s website was active but now visiting the address blockberrycreative.com yields a message stating that the site has expired. The loonatheworld.com site also has the same message show up.
The site’s hosting period has expired. If you are the site operator, you can extend the hosting period by clicking the administrator login button below.
— Message currently displayed on BlockBerry Creative’s website
This message is usually seen on sites that have not paid hosting costs, which according to a fan search, begin at ₩16,000 KRW (about $11.60 USD). It is unlikely the company was paying this price for the two domains, but non-payment of the BlockBerry site has under the impression that the company is nearly over.
loona up brokeberry down pic.twitter.com/gfnj16HwFn https://t.co/lKsR37Z4Ni
— runa (@chuukibit) July 6, 2024
they dumb as fuck how the hell you got the money to keep taking chuu to court but don't got the money to keep up a $11 webseite 😭 https://t.co/1rvt9u9Vv1
— vivi the creator :3 (@ILUVVlVl) July 6, 2024
not brokeberry creative https://t.co/nKWJesKTnb
— lia (@heejjns) July 6, 2024
