T-ARA’s Eunjung guested on Mnet’s 4show and opened up about T-ARA’s bullying controversy in 2012, which involved former member Hwayoung.
The controversy hogged headlines for weeks, with new reports and allegations surfacing on an almost-daily basis. In a nutshell, Hwayoung, who joined the group around a year after their debut, had her contract terminated by their label, Core Contents Media, now known as MBK Entertainment.
This came amidst allegations that the group was bullying Hwayoung, with many instances including tweets from the members’ personal accounts and visuals of the girls excluding Hwayoung from their activities raised as evidence against the group.
Hwayoung later uploaded an apology letter, which some speculated included a secret message, “Only (the) fans know”, within it. T-ARA’s image within Korea took a massive hit and they have been actively promoting overseas since.
On 4show, Eunjung, who was one of the members who received the most backlash for a video in which she stuffed rice cakes into Hwayoung’s mouth against her will, teared up when she mentioned the scandal and shared, “I always worry about what people will think of me every time I make an appearance on a show but I decided against it this time (…) there are many things that aren’t the truth that the public believes to be true.”
The full episode which includes Eunjung’s teary confession will air on the 4show tonight (Apr 28).