On February 9, 2017, a controversy over T-ara's bullying problem has been re-ignited due to ex-staff member's disclosure. The staff member posted a long piece of writing on the Internet, stating, "I watched Hwayoung and Hyoyoung crying on tvN's Taxi. Hwayoung said she didn't know about social life and the bullying incident was no big deal. Well, I can understand she acts like a victim. However, I can't stand her pretending to be so generous."
Well, the posting is very long, so let's summarize it.
1. In 2012, Hwayoung didn't come on the stage of T-ara's concert held in Tokyo due to her wounded leg. However, the doctor said she's fine and she pretended to be sick. That's why the other members got angry at her.
2. After the T-ara members blamed Hwayoung on their SNS, Hyoyoung, sister of Hwayoung, threatened former T-ara member Areum, saying "You need to get hit. See you at Music Bank. I'll scratch your face so that you can't be active as a singer any more. And the other members should get hit too."
So, what do you think is the truth about T-ara's bullying incident? You know, T-ara's bullying problem has surfaced in 2012, and people have been thinking of Hwayoung as a victim of the incident. But it seems like the situation has changed somewhat.
Well, let's see.
All the ex-staff member said is true. Yeah, Hwayoung's injury was not very serious, and it's also true that Hyoyoung threatened Areum using coarse words. Then, Hwayoung and Hyoyoung are offenders and the T-ara members are victims? I don't think so because it's true that the T-ara members blamed Hwayoung and she was treated as an outcast after their Tokyo concert.
Frankly speaking, T-ara was not a likeable girl group among people in the k-pop industry. After they made a success with their hit "Bo Peep Bo Peep," people said they are too cocky. And they even fought in front of industry workers, while there were many rumors about their internal conflicts. When I met the girl group, my impression was they had self-esteem at best and were arrogant at worst. They're very pretty, though. (They've experienced hardships over recent years, and people in the k-pop industry these days say they became mature) And when I had an interview with Hwayoung after she left the team, what I felt about her was she acted like a top star. Well, she acted as if she was Jun Jihyun.
Oh, I'm not trying to speak ill of them. What I want to say is they were not idols who have angelic personality. And even though their bullying problem has surfaced in 2012, there have been continuous internal conflicts since their debut. T-ara and Hwayoung were not happy about each other for a long time, and the Tokyo concert was the trigger for their fight. And during their fight, they did ill to each other. Hwayoung didn't do her best and caused harm to the team, while the other members ostracized her because they didn't like her.
Well, in conclusion, both sides are offenders, and at the same time, they're victims. They've been fighting a war of attrition without any winners.
