Q. What is your relationship with April?
A. I was in charge of the members' hair from the time they were trainees until a few months before the bullying revelation incident in November 2020. I discussed concepts and schedules with company officials and did the hairstyling. Many other staff members were present on site, but during the active periods, we met almost every day at the salon early in the morning.
Q. Why did you agree to this interview?
I currently live in the countryside and have a family. Since I've been raising my child, I haven’t been in touch for several years. I thought that since the kids (April members) hadn’t done anything wrong and that misunderstandings would eventually be resolved. However, when the recent incident (the KwakTube proxy forgiveness case) happened, I became very worried about Naeun. It’s really hard and painful for someone to be unjustly misunderstood. After such a time, good days should come, but it seemed like once again, or even more so, bad situations arose. I felt that it would be burdensome for a young person to handle, so I thought I should step in. It seemed like the public didn't know the truth and was pushing in a negative direction.
Q. Why did you remain silent during the 2021 revelation from Lee Hyunjoo's brother?
When that incident broke, everyone thought, "Here we go, something’s finally happening!" At that time, the blame was focused solely on the other members. I tried to help, but I ended up receiving criticism instead. The agency sued Hyunjoo's brother and friends, and I did write an opinion statement detailing the situation as I saw it. However, I don't know how it was used afterward.
Q. What kind of group was April?
A. They were good-natured kids. They approached me sincerely, and even with a significant age gap, they touched me and made me laugh a lot. There were no major issues throughout my time working with them since their trainee days. However, whenever there was a problem in April, Hyunjoo's name always came up. It was often about her not attending practice or making complaints. There was even a time when it was revealed that she was secretly dating a male idol from the same company. A travel photo of hers leaked due to her own mistake. Everyone knows. I wonder if it’s because they were young, but if that’s the case, they shouldn’t have become idols. Why cause trouble for the other members and always want to be in the spotlight?
Q. Was there bullying or harassment in April?
A. No, there wasn’t. It’s unfortunate how Hyunjoo became a source of difficulty for the members. From what I observed, she was a kid who struggled to adapt to group life. While there was a feeling of her self-isolating, it didn’t seem like bullying, just that they weren’t close. Hyunjoo often felt unwell. It’s understandable to be sick, but isn’t it wrong to cause trouble for others? Missing music broadcasts is a significant risk for newcomers. I believe there must have been some trouble because of such incidents.
Q. Can you elaborate on the time of the music broadcast cancellation?
A. It was very heartbreaking to watch. When Hyunjoo went missing and caused the music broadcast to be canceled, I hugged the members and cried with them. These kids worked so hard for years, sacrificing meetings with family and friends to appear on that program. From a staff perspective, it hurt a lot. Yet the kids were so kind that they never spoke ill of Hyunjoo in front of me. When I asked the manager, I was told, "Hyunjoo was unwell."
Q: So there was no bullying involved?
A: Hyunjoo was the type of person who could not tolerate any staff members getting close to members other than herself. As a small example, when I asked how I was doing with other members or even talked to them, she came up to me and harassed the other kids by cutting off the conversation. I don't know if it's right to use the words perpetrator and victim in this incident, but as someone who has been watching for years, I would like to say that 'the perpetrator and the victim have changed.' The members are not in the position of perpetrators at all. It wasn't 5 people bullying and harassing 1 person, but an absurd situation where 1 person was bullying 5 people. Hyunjoo may think she's the victim but she wasn't the one who was the receiving end of the eyesore. Rather, I think other friends were bullied.
Q: Why are you saying "The perpetrator and the victim have changed"?
Look back on your school days. If there were kids who didn't get along with me, I would just not play with them. (Lee Hyunjoo) stands out too much alone with her actions. Since she can't get along with anyone, she ended up not having a close relationship with the members. You can't force yourself to become close to a friend whose personality doesn't match. In an idol group, everyone needs to be united and work together, but since they weren’t moving as one, there must have been a lack of closeness with that one person. Isn’t that realistic? When living together 24/7, if one person suddenly disappears or skips practice, it’s the five who are struggling, not just that one person. If that someone claims they were bullied or ostracized in the group, would they really think, ‘Oh, she must have been really suffering’? That's why I could only scoff.
Q. Have the members ever expressed that they were struggling?
A. The kids were young and didn’t have much contact with their parents, so they relied on me like an unnie or a mother. Since I saw them almost every day due to our schedule, I could tell just by looking at their faces whether they were feeling good or bad. Especially Naeun was a deep thinker from a young age. When I asked her if something was wrong because she looked upset, she wouldn’t go into specifics but would just say, "I’m really struggling. It’s hard to deal with the pain caused by others. I don’t know what to do." It’s obvious to anyone who isn’t foolish who was making the kids suffer. At that time, if I noticed something was off with the kids, I would ask, "What did Hyunjoo do again yesterday?" The kids were only 17 or 18, yet they were reluctant to speak out because they wanted to protect April. There were times when one of them would start crying silently, and I would find them in the shop early in the morning, and as soon as we made eye contact, they would burst into tears. All I could do was encourage them to hang in there. From my perspective, the kids did their best to protect the group, April.
Q. There seems to be ongoing controversy about bullying and ostracism in idol groups. As someone who has been in the industry, what do you think about this incident?
A: It’s hard to say if it’s right to label this as falsehood. It just seems like someone is suffering greatly for a long time due to untruths. I also feel like such things shouldn’t happen. I hope that Naeun and the other members can let go of their past burdens and overcome this bravely.
source: https://m.entertain.naver.com/now/article/144/0000991154
original post: here
1. Why are people always bringing up T-ara? This is completely different
2. They really insist on bullying her until the end. Why aren't they realizing how much they're tormenting her?
3. What a scary environment to be in...
4. At this rate, it's pretty obvious that both the members and the staff were bullying her
5. When Hyunjoo was a student, her friends showed up and supported her, and she received a lot of love from the staff during the filming of The Unit. She still gets along well with UNI.T, and the only one who claims that Hyunjoo is strange is April. Even if she didn't get hit, she shouldn't have been bullied.
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