LOONA's Chuu Reveals She Had No Income In 2021: K-Pop Fans Rage At BlockBerry Creative

In her recent appearance on the program Dr. Oh’s Golden Clinic, LOONA‘s Chuu discussed her personal experience dealing with a binge eating disorder.

Chuu shared that, as her sole method of relieving stress, she used to eat excessive amounts of excessively spicy foods—which eventually led to frequent ER visits. She surprised the viewers by admitting that she had been to the ER multiple times between July 2021 to May 2022, with gastrointestinal issues.

I’ve been to the Gangnam Severance Hospital’s ER so many times… Probably once a month. My stomach… It was basically broken.

— Chuu

While explaining her past binge-eating habit, Chuu also revealed that she had zero income “last year” (thought to be 2021). According to Chuu, a part of the reason she started binging stemmed from the fact that she “didn’t have money to eat what [she] wanted.”

For me, I found that eating is the easiest way to make myself feel better without trying. All I have to do is pick up a spoon. I don’t really need to put in too much energy to eat.

— Chuu

Stressed by the financial struggle, Chuu said she would “order one big meal and eat it all in one sitting” as opposed to keeping a regular eating schedule.

To be honest, I didn’t make any income last year. Even when I wanted to eat [different things], it would cost too much. And that became stressful for me. What I decided to do instead is order one big, spicy meal and eat it all in one sitting. Soon, that became a habit. I’ve told my friends that it’s a way of getting ‘instant stress relief.’

— Chuu

Throughout the episode, Dr. Oh listened to Chuu and comforted her, all the while suggesting more effective methods of dealing with stress. Taking advice from the medical professional to heart, Chuu promised to take better care of herself.

Just… talking about any of this had been concerning to me, really. But this gave me a chance to look back at the problems that I’ve been ignoring. I feel like I can try to find solutions for myself now.

— Chuu

Following the episode, K-Pop fans flocked to online communities to leave hefty criticism toward Chuu’s agency BlockBerry Creative. Pointing out the extensive list of promotions that Chuu has been doing, fans slammed the management for “overworking [her], then ripping [her] off.”

“It’s not like she hasn’t done any commercials. And we all know commercials pay a lot. She has done so many of them… And she’s on so many TV shows, too. How has she not been paid for any of that?”
“This makes no sense… Chuu should be making a lot of money.”
“I’m speechless. I’ve seen Chuu on television whenever I sat down to watch. How could she not have been paid anything at all?”
“Whaaat?! This is insane.”
“I’m not really a LOONA fan, but I’ve subscribed to Chuu’s channel. I’m going to stan her even harder now, haha.”
“Whoa… I’m not too sure because I’m not a LOONA fan, but hasn’t she been on a lot of television programs? This is pissing me off.”
“She needs to be paid a living wage. Even people with bad credit make minimum when they work.”
“Without Chuu, I would not have known about LOONA. This is not fair… Come on, BlockBerry. Give her the money she made so she can live.”
“Ugh, this can’t be real.”

Some even brought up the alleged trouble between Chuu and BlockBerry Creative, commenting that “It is understandable why Chuu decided to sue the management.”

Back in March and June of 2022, unverifiable reports from various Korean media outlets suggested that Chuu is in a legal battle with BlockBerry Creative and on the brink of switching agencies. Though BlockBerry Creative issued an official statement in denial of all allegations, K-Pop fans remained disappointed at the “treatment Chuu is receiving from the agency.”

“I’m not too familiar to K-Pop idols and even I know who Chuu is. She’s in a lot of commercials. One of her game commercials is on repeat all the time… So how has she not had any income? I’m shocked.”
“Now I understand what idols mean when they say agencies that pay well are the best agencies.”
“LOONA has been around for five or six years, though. No? The management should have the decency to start paying her, even in portions. It makes no sense that they didn’t give her any money.”
“But Chuu isn’t even a rookie… How is BlockBerry still not paying her?”
“Oh, man… Even as a non-K-Pop fan, I would watch Chuu’s videos. I hope things work out for her and she finds happiness. Damn.”
“What in the world is happening?!”

A lot of questions has surfaced since the episode, including a demand for an explanation about her absence from LOONA’s latest world tour and from the latest promotional video of DALCOM SOFT‘s new game “SuperStar LOONA.” BlockBerry Creative is yet to respond in any way.