Noona Says: I Don't Know What's Going on with ZE:A and Junyoung Either

It was all really confusing and there were just so many things being said. The best I can do is break down what happened (or what was reported):

1. Moon Junyoung (also known as Lee Hoo) wrote a series of long tweets expressing his grievances against his company and CEO Shin Joo Hak.
2. He revealed some alarming things, such as how he once tried to commit suicide, his concern for his other members, and that he would go to extreme measures if things didn’t change.
3. He even begged sites not to take down his name from the search engines.
4. Star Empire says that they will discuss everything
5. Junyoung explains that his contract is for another twelve years, members only got 30% of profit to share between, and living arrangements also suck
6. Ze:a, CEO, and company have a long meeting
7. Junyoung announces that now members get 70% and that they’ve taken over the company
8. Junyoung also defends the CEO he bashed in previous tweets
9. Star Empire releases statement that this all happened because of a misunderstanding.
10. Junyoung says nope, this isn’t over. Asks for people’s numbers to support him
11. Kwanghee takes to Instagram and explains that Junyoung wasn’t bribed with money and that everyone will work together now.
12. Taehun goes on a MMA survival show but no one cares (sorry buddy)

I know you guys want me to rationally explain and clarify what really happened, but I can’t wrap my head around it. There are so many inconsistencies and contradictions (most of them from Junyoung) that I can’t confidently say that I understand any of it.

My guess, and this is really only that, is that there was a confrontation between the CEO and Junyoung that led to an emotional break down for the Ze:a leader. Junyoung realized (or maybe had been thinking about this for awhile) that the only advantage that he had over his company was his public voice, so he used his Twitter account to get attention. He revealed some unfavorable facts and hinted that he could do more damage. Star Empire went into emergency mode to do some damage control. There was a long and emotional meeting, and at the end they came to an agreement that satisfied Junyoung enough to defend his CEO (against the attacks that he brought on, I guess) and to announce that there would be some changes. However, it seems that Junyoung doesn’t completely trust his company yet.

If this is real, and the conditions for Ze:a improved because Junyoung took to Twitter to publicly bring awareness, then this could be another game changer for the idols and their companies. I have a hard time believing that a company would flip the way they distribute profit (especially when it was 70:30) just because some member ranted on Twitter, but if that did happen, then other idols and companies will be wary of this. Yes, it will seem like idols have a weapon they can use, but in my opinion, it’s more likely that companies will have stricter restrictions on the usage of SNS for their idols.

I can see why Junyoung is still on his guard. I doubt that there won’t be any consequences for him for stirring up trouble for his company, despite his intentions. Maybe things will get better for Ze:a, but can an idol really win against his company? I don’t think even Junyoung believes that.

CallMeN00NA is an editor at Soompi and spend the past week dealing with a lot of hate and death threats for her previous article. She’s hoping the response will be quieter this time. You can talk to her on Twitter, follow her on Instagram, and ask her questions. 

*The opinions expressed in this editorial are solely those of the author.