J-Pop girl group (and Produce 101 Japan group that follows the K-Pop idol structure) ME:I recently announced that four of their members are leaving the group and their agency. Although the announcement of four members leaving simultaneously in itself alarmed fans, the context of the four members raised additional questions and concerns about the group and management (i.e., multiple members going on hiatus for health reasons before leaving):
- CORORO has been on hiatus since March 2025 due to poor health
- RAN has been on hiatus since July 2025 due to mental exhaustion
- SHIZUKU has been on hiatus since October 2025 for dating J01 member and labelmate Shosei Ohira (who has also been place on hiatus)
- KOKONA has been missing some group activities starting October 2025 due to poor health
COCORO has now shared her experiences and abuse from LAPONE Entertaintment (i.e., her agency) leading upto her contract not being renewed and leaving the group via an interview with Shukan Bushun:
- COCORO denied being ill or requesting a hiatus for poor health
- Group was subjected to surprise weigh-ins and management went through their refrigerator and trash to monitor their diet
- Although COCORO personally didn’t feel too bad about it due to past experiences in K-Pop (i.e., former member of Cherry Bullet), she was concerned for other members who were not used to it and asked management to respect their privacy. COCORO also served as the in-between person for members and management out of concern for members, which she believes may have been interpreted by management as her going against them. She was also lectured by management for two hours for protecting ME:I members who received warnings from management
- Push for hiatus started via false accusations of drinking alcohol, which she denied. Additional accusations popped up, which caused her to worry about her relationship with management
- Group had little day offs since debut. The group also had times in which they worked long hours and traveled to South Korea in the early morning to shoot a music video (and presumably other promo acticities), resulting in little sleep
- COCORO questioned whether she can continue this cycle of overwork on March 2nd after being management harshly pressured to fill out a large number of questionnaires quickly that required before appearing on show during that evening. This lead to her temporarily leaving the member and management LINE group chat as a form of protest
- Management interpreted her leaving the group chat as a mental health issue and encouraged her to seek help
- She went to two short initial appointments at two different clinics. She went to clinic X for a 30-minute consultation and clinic Y for a 15-minute consultation
- Management initially told her she was okay to go back to work after her appointment with clinic Y but was told on March 24 that she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) by both clinics during a talk with LAPONE president and management and encouraged to go on hiatus for treatment. COCORO was surprised by the diagnosis and shared that while she had concerns regarding management, she was not experiencing mental distress nor thought about leaving the group. She also shared with doctors that she wanted to continue working.
- COCORO’s mother received an e-mail on March 28 from management that they are going to announce her hiatus the following day. Her mother requested management to send the contents of the announcement, as neither COCORO or her mother were informed about the announcement or saw its contents. COCORO disagreed with the content of the announcement, as it said that she was sick, but she “hadn’t even caught a cold or anything”. Management ended up posting the announcement against her wishes
- COCORO had no choice but to go through with the hiatus. She moved back to Nagoya with family and went to a hospital in Tokyo weekly for treatment, which included magnetic brain stimulation, counseling, and mental training
- COCORO questioned the BPD diagnosis and sought a second opinion with a local neurology clinic and was told that it is impossible for someone to give her a BPD diagnosis within a short period of time
- op note: i am a clinical psychology PhD student who does comprehensive evaluations (including client concerns for BPD). an assessment intake interview appintment alone typically takes an hour, let alone the other appointments/data collection needed to have sufficient information to determine whether BPD is an appropriate diagnosis (e.g., multiple questionnaires both specific to BPD and various symptoms which can take 1-1.5 hours to complete, a clinic interview specific to BPD (as well as other modules accounting for other possible explanations) which is typically a 1 hour appointment, and a 1 hour feedback appointment to walk through the results with the client. time is also needed on the clinician end to interpret everything, so it is extremely questionable for someone to get a BPD diagnosis from a 15-30 minute initial appointment
- second op note just in case: please do not use this disclosure as an invitation to reach out to me about your mental health concerns or speculate the mental health of others, as that would be inappropriate to go through or respond to on my end. this is to provide context on the BPD assessment process and how the neurology clinic is correct in saying it’s not possible for COCORO to have a diagnosis within that short period of time
- COCORO reached out to clinic Y afterwards for clarity, and the doctor there was confused and indicated that they never provided a specific diagnosis nor indicated that she shouldn’t continue working
- op note: based on the short appointment time, lack of specific diagnosis, and no concerns regarding returning to work, the appointment may have been a screener appointment to determine whether further evaluation is recommended (rather than making a diagnosis)
- COCORO got a lawyer to request her medical documents from clinics X and Y and formally asked whether any defintiive diagnoses were made. The documents confirmed that management lied when they told her that the clinics diagnosed her with BPD
- The request for medical documents also revealed that prior to her appointment with clinic X, management reported false behaviors to the clinic including “she goes crazy and runs outside”, “she cries and screaming”, and “she held a knife and screamed that she wanted to die.” Management also requested that the clinic does not share this information with COCORO or her guardians
- COCORO was allowed back to her group dorm in July and begin preparing her return to the group
- However, she had a sudden meeting in September regarding her contract renewal with multiple unfamiliar people, including a representative from the Korean parent company and a translator (note: Lapone Entertainment is a joint venture between CJ ENM [Korean company] and Yoshimoto Kogyo [Japanese company])
- COCORO was informed that her contract would not be renewed due to “many reasons” and was told that she violated many of the company’s rules but management did not provide specific rules she violated
- COCORO requested that she participates in ME:I activities until the end of her contract, which they denied
- When Shukan Bunshun (i.e., the tabloid magazine that reached out and interviewed COCORO) reached out to Lapone Entertainment for comment, they stated that they cannot share private information, as their contract with COCORO expired