An anonymous internet user who claimed to be one of the backdancers for T-ARA claimed that she witnessed one member slap Hwayoung during practice and this started a whole storm of curiosity around the bullying controversy. The internet club that is demanding the truth behind the controversy has approximately 310,000 members at the moment.
Kim Kwang Soo, the director of T-ARA's management company, spoke to a reporter in an interview yesterday and basically said that he didn't think it was that serious. He denied any allegations of group bullying against Hwayoung but did admit that there could have been problems between Hwayoung and the other members.
Q. There have been recent descriptions of scenes where the members are force-feeding Hwayoung and other more brutal bullying scenes.
A. There are conflicts in every single human relationship. There have been many bullying rumours since the debut of T-ARA, involving Eunjung, Soyeon and Boram but it was never incredibly serious. Hwayoung was just one of them, definitely not a case of group bullying. Some of these descriptions of scenes are being taken out of context.
Q. Nothing has been proven but people are saying that the reason you are expelling Hwayoung is to cover up the controversy.
A. It doesn't make sense that we would expel a member simply because of bullying rumours even when we successfully finished the Tokyo concert. The cancellation is not because of the bullying, it was because Hwayoung refused to go on a live performance.
Q. There are accounts that Hwayoung is actually nicer and more polite than the other members of T-ARA.
A. The person who spread the rumours about Hwayoung being slapped turned out to be a random person unrelated to the event. We confirmed it with the police.
Q. You were quoted for saying, "young jealousy" "small conflicts". What did that mean?
A. Other T-ARA members may have been against seeing the newest member causing more friction than trying to fit in. Hwayoung is a little tough and on the boyish side and she and the members often got into small quarrels. Of course, the rest of the members are also partly responsible.
Q. If the bullying controversy is unfounded and Hwayoung is at fault for her cancellation, do you not have plans to reveal everything?
A. I'm offended that people believe that the joking and slight conflicts are being blown up to be a group bullying incident. We are planning on going ahead with our schedule as planned.
On the otherhand, Hwayoung tweeted, "I'm sorry that I've only disappointed the fans who have been so supportive all the way. Please stop and be excited for a new and improved me soon. I also want to apologize to Core Contents Media."
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