Former APRIL Member Hyunjoo Shares Personal Statement On Alleged Bullying By Bandmates

[Naomi]

Former APRIL member Hyunjoo has released her first personal statement about her dispute with her agency and the allegations that she was bullied by her bandmates.

On April 18, Hyunjoo took to Instagram to share her first personal statement about the situation.

Her full statement is as follows:

Hello, this is Lee Hyunjoo.

Throughout the many situations that arose coincidentally, I was very scared of releasing my own statement.
Even now, I am very afraid.

At the moment, my agency has only released statements that are different from the truth, and they have sued my younger brother, who is still a young student, and my acquaintances.
The parents of the perpetrators have also sent me and my parents text messages of blame.

It’s true that I hesitated for a long time because I was scared of how they would make me suffer if I released a statement in my own voice.

However, in spite of that, for the sake of the people who showed courage for me and the people who supported me, I felt like I needed to finally muster the courage now at least, which is why I’m writing this.

The bullying began in 2014, when I was preparing for my debut, and continued until 2016, when I left the group. I, who was 17 years old at the time, had to live in a dorm while preparing to debut, so I had to spend 24 hours a day with the perpetrators in a place where there was no one I could lean on.

Unable to endure it any longer, I told my parents about my suffering, and my parents tried talking to the CEO [of my agency]. However, I repeatedly found myself in a situation where I was blamed instead. After the perpetrators found out about this, they tormented me even more. I was only allowed to call my parents briefly and in front of our manager, and in these kinds of ways, the situation became worse, and I kept feeling smaller and smaller.

What has become public knowledge is only a small fraction of what took place.
During those three years, I was forced to suffer because of violent actions and behavior, ridicule, swearing, and attacks on my character, and it was especially painful to bear groundless insults and attacks on the character of my precious grandmother, mom, dad, and younger brother. The agency knew about this, but only looked on without taking any measures to respond.

Because of this, I fell into a darkness of which I could not see the end, and I made an extreme decision, but it did not look as though they felt anything or felt even the slightest bit apologetic. Using the reason that my agency one-sidedly prepared for me, I ended up leaving the group, and as a result, I had to face repeated malicious comments, ridicule, and even the stigma of being a traitor.

Because I felt like it was my fault that I had given my family unerasable scars, I tried to live more diligently, positively, and healthily.

However, even after time had passed, it wasn’t easy to forget the memories of my hardships.
The dark memories of that time remained in a corner of my heart, and they became a trauma that seemed like it would swallow me whole.
I had to go through a difficult time in which I negatively affected not only myself, but the people around me.

While I was going through that, the people around me mustered a great deal of courage on my behalf, which is how we arrived at the present situation.

Now I am also trying to muster up courage for my younger brother and acquaintances.

As a result of this experience, I have learned that there are many people who are cheering me on and for whom I am grateful.
Thanks to the people who worry about me and ask me how I’m doing each and every day, I was able to gain strength.
I also learned that there are many people who are suffering from emotional wounds that are similar to mine.

It seems like the bullying and ostracism we suffer when we are young stays with us as trauma.
I think it’s impossible for everyone in the world to get along with me, and hateful feelings can naturally develop at times. However, I don’t think violence or bullying can be justified for any reason. I believe that ostracism and bullying against anyone, anywhere must disappear no matter what.

Although I am still struggling with the trauma and memories of that time even now, after seven years have passed, I believe I mustn’t resign myself to the fact that I can’t recover and live my life unhappily.
That’s why I want to show the people who have gone through similar pain to my own that victims can also recover from their wounds and live happily and healthily again.
I also want to repay the people who are rooting for me by showing them that I have overcome this situation.

I sincerely thank you for giving me lots of support and strength.
You have given me a great deal of courage.

At the moment, all my activities through my agency have been halted, and any new work that has been offered to me has been one-sidedly rejected without consulting me. The agency has also stated that they cannot terminate my exclusive contract.

From now on, I will no longer stand by without taking action to protect myself, my family, and my acquaintances.
I will also respond to the criminal lawsuit my agency has filed against me with the help of the people who are supporting me.

Although it won’t be easy, I will try to show you that I have recovered through a wide array of activities and a new, healthier, and brighter side of myself, after I wrap this up well and leave my difficult past behind.

For both myself and all the people reading these words, I hope that the rest of the month will be happy and warm.

Thank you.

Source: Soompi

 

[Naomi]

UPDATE:

APRIL’s Chaewon and Yena have spoken up for the first time regarding the allegations that the group bullied former member Hyunjoo.

Yena’s full statement is as follows:

Hello, this is APRIL’s Yena.
First, I apologize for giving many people cause for concern through this controversy.
I wanted to cleanly prove the true facts of the case in court, but I can no longer merely stand by and watch the massive amounts of false speculation, so I am writing this in detail here.

Although we all began at different starting points, we all worked hard without resting to get to this point while chasing the same singular goal. That one goal was our incredibly precious group APRIL.

Up until now, we have all experienced things that we did not need to experience. Each of us has gotten exhausted along the way, and there were many times when I was so exhausted that I wanted to give up on everything, but the members have all gritted our teeth and endured on our own for the past seven years.

Because we were young, we wanted to complain and throw childish tantrums, but all of us quietly worked hard in our own positions without letting it show on the surface. We were all young, and it was a time when we were each overwhelmed just trying to take care of our own selves.

Because we’re a group, and because we’re all bandmates who will be together in the future as well, if someone falls behind, we reach out and offer them a hand so we can go together. This, to us, is natural and something that we absolutely believe in.

That’s why each of us worked hard and did our utmost in our own way. No matter how hard things got, we stayed polite, we let others have their turn, we left a letter to inform the other members when we were sick, we celebrated each other’s birthdays… we did everything that people think bandmates should do for one another, countless times.

However, I always felt that one member was constantly pushing us away. When something happened to all of us, she thought of herself as the only victim, and even in a situation that arose by coincidence, she acted like we were perpetrators.

As she did not have faith in the other members, we gradually began to recognize that our many efforts were meaningless.
We were always burdened with the anxiety and fear of not knowing how situations would suddenly change or escalate [because of her].

If [people are suggesting that] even in that kind of situation, it is also the responsibility of members who are the same age or even younger to take care of a member who is mentally and physically weaker, then I think that is even crueler.

It is not because our members were always physically healthy or mentally strong that we were able to make it all the way here without any problems. Because we are also human, there is not a single one of us who did not suffer physically and mentally.

No one who did not experience those difficult times together with us would be able to know the kind of suffering we went through.

Yet how are people able to easily speak as if they know us better than ourselves, as if they were there and experienced those situations together with us? Ever since that day [that the allegations were made], we have been silently suffering and enduring on our own, just like we did back then [when Hyunjoo was in the group], without even knowing how time is passing by. How much more do we have to suffer? How much longer do we have to endure these kinds of incidents?

Now, it has truly become a wound that can never heal.
It truly breaks my heart that, due to something that is not true, seven years can become meaningless in just one moment like this.

I am scared of this reality in which I have suddenly become someone who I am not, and things we did not do have suddenly become things we did.

Once again, I want to definitively let you know that there was never any bullying, ostracism, violent behavior, or violent words, and that the only truth is that everyone was suffering at that time.

I hope that our members and our fans will no longer be hurt and wounded by these distortions of the truth and things that are too painful to even say out loud.

Because I do not want our family, acquaintances, and fans who have trusted in us and have spoken out on our behalf to suffer any more wounds, from now on, I plan to endure all the way until the end and make sure that the truth is clearly and fully revealed.

 

[Naomi]

Meanwhile, Chaewon’s full statement is as follows:

Hello, this is APRIL’s Chaewon.
First, I want to apologize to the fans who must have shocked by the many rumors that have recently been spreading.

I’m sorry for giving you all cause for concern.
Because all of the APRIL members needed to move forward together with the same goal in the future, I wanted us to all become close, and I have never once intentionally driven a wedge between any of the other members to make them grow apart.

After Somin left the group, I worked hard as the oldest member of the group to care of all the other members and made an effort to ensure that everyone got along. Because Hyunjoo was physically and mentally weaker, I paid even more attention to her in particular.
Also, Hyunjoo and I were close enough that even our mothers were in contact with each other, starting from before our debut in 2014 to after our debut.

I have proof of this.
If Hyunjoo has any kind of conscience, I believe she will remember this, and I believe the truth will be revealed soon.

Also, I am truly upset about the false rumor [that I dated] a manager, and it is complete nonsense. The idea that a manager could overlook company matters however they wished is impossible, and our manager at the time must have undergone a lot of stress due to Hyunjoo. I also have proof related to this.
We all debuted at a young age, and because we were not yet mature at the time, all of us went through a really hard time.

It was not one person’s pain and suffering, but a time when we all experienced pain and suffering together. I do not want to suffer any more because of excessive false speculation.

[The allegations of] bullying, social ostracism, violent behavior, violent words, ridicule, and attacks on character are all untrue.

In the hopes of revealing the truth about all these things in the court of law, I held myself back over and over again no matter how unfair and upsetting [the allegations and speculation] became.

Because I could not act on my own wishes by myself, I had no choice but to wait.
However, I now think that I can no longer merely stand by and remain silent.

Up until the very end, I will make sure that the truth is revealed no matter what.
Thank you for waiting, and once again, I sincerely apologize to the fans who must have been shocked by this kind of controversy.

That is all. Thank you.

 

[saaylhy]

this whole story with april is so long that I don't follow this anymore-

 

[pika_chuu]

I don’t even know anymore... personally i don’t believe hyunjoo, but i really... ugh, i really don’t even.

 

[yunaing]

I feel like both sides are holding stuff back.
With the AOA situation while Jimin initially denied it, she eventually did confess whereas here all the members are just pointing fingers

 

[pika_chuu]

I feel like both sides are holding stuff back.
With the AOA situation while Jimin initially denied it, she eventually did confess whereas here all the members are just pointing fingers

i know... it’s a constant battle of “SHE DID IT” “NO SHE DID” “IT WAS HER” and I can’t even... though with all the members stories collaborating i feel like they’re telling the truth, but I don’t even know. I think you’re right, they’re holding stuff back.

 

[Mari Green]

That so sad she had to go through that i'm happy she left april and thats crazy that nobody believed her but her parents and younger brother

 

[pika_chuu]

That so sad she had to go through that i'm happy she left april and thats crazy that nobody believed her but her parents and younger brother

Keep in mind, you never know the whole story, and there is ample evidence on the side of the other members as well. That being said, you are allowed to have your own opinion, I just caution you to be critical when observing news like this. /g /nm /nay

 

[yoyoyeol]

This somewhat reminds me of the AOA situation. Although for that one Jimin did initially admit it, now she said that Mina was not mentally stable and since the scandal happened Mina got herself into some other trouble so people don't wanna believe her anymore. From what the other members of APRIL are saying, it seems that Hyunjoo could be going through something similar to what Mina did.

Plus all of these bullying within the group scandals that have been coming recently are making me realize that us as kpop fans don't know anything that goes on behind the scenes. Like, the group members of our favourite group could hate each other but we'd never know until maybe years after they disbanded

 

[yunaing]

I feel like both sides are holding stuff back.
With the AOA situation while Jimin initially denied it, she eventually did confess whereas here all the members are just pointing fingers

So this post did not age well in regards to AOA.
It's difficult though, coz you always want to believe the victim, but what with this scandal, and then the BlackSwan scandal, there's so many instances where the guilty party just has no clear answer, and such as the Jimin situation, we saw a potential switch.
I guess the moral is that K-Pop stans need to change their attitude to these types of scandals. Instead of bullying, harassing and cancelling the alleged perportator, we should be keeping our eye on them, and being weary of them, while we instead focus our intention of supporting the alleged victim, until a clear resolution comes about

 

[yoyoyeol]

So this post did not age well in regards to AOA.
It's difficult though, coz you always want to believe the victim, but what with this scandal, and then the BlackSwan scandal, there's so many instances where the guilty party just has no clear answer, and such as the Jimin situation, we saw a potential switch.
I guess the moral is that K-Pop stans need to change their attitude to these types of scandals. Instead of bullying, harassing and cancelling the alleged perportator, we should be keeping our eye on them, and being weary of them, while we instead focus our intention of supporting the alleged victim, until a clear resolution comes about

I agree, because recently when the alleged victims come forward, they don't have very good supporting statements so it seems rushed and people don't want to believe them and that makes it easier for the opposing party (the company, the alleged bully) to counter their statement. What I would think is: if the victim is truthful and really does want to get justice, they would think through what they had to say and make people understand them and think of ways the opposing party could counter their statement and find a good way to answer them (plus if the bullying has been going on for a long time the victim would have thought about what they would say if they were to open up to the public about it right?) ; whereas I feel like if it wasn't true or the victim didn't really care for justice, they would make it quickly without putting much thought into it and focus only on saying "they bullied me" instead of giving good support statements. Obviously there are some instances where my theory wouldn't be true but I think for most of them, that's how it goes

 

[najingter]

I hate when they manipulate people through such texts and that some people believe it without checking if the information is true or not. However, to be honest, I wish I could write persuasive texts like them, but I am quite very bad at writing. I still need to use this editing service topessayediting.com because I make many mistakes and don't structure my ideas properly which makes my texts look less professionally and academically written.

i...no offence but u do need to improve in ur grammar. spelling is okay

 

[yoyoyeol]

i...no offence but u do need to improve in ur grammar. spelling is okay

dw about them it was a spammer

 

[sanasideup]

bullying scandals are always tricky situations, and honestly, we'll probably never know the full truth.

 

[yunaisms]

im leaning more towards believing hyunjoo, but i don't really want to take sides even now. i try to think of other bullying scandals (i.e fatou and leia, mina and aoa) and most the time, the person accusing someone from their group of bullying, such as leia, is actually the "worse" person in disguise, y'know? and that's what i'm afraid of with this scandal. that hyunjoo likely wasn't feeling amazing mentally, seeing as she was so young when they debuted and it likely put a strain on her mental state, and what she saw as bullying was just some of the girls being harsh, but because she was already so burnt out, her mind put her in the position of "they're trying to harm you," and i can relate bc i've experienced similar things when burnt out (ofc i'm not an idol but still.)
but at the same time, i do think hyunjoo's statement has some truth to it, and so do all the girl's that have made one so far! of course, it isn't my place to say what is and isn't, but i do know all lies have at least some truth to them.

 

[ec.li.ps.e.138]

Reading this, I understand that I have missed a big scandal, and as I am not well-informed I don't want to express my opinion yet.

tbh, it's mostly blown over by now. there's a ton of good videos and articles if you want to do more research!

 

[chaerifyyy]

The members and hyunjoo both have some flaws in their its really hard to form an opinion on this topic. The best we can all do is wait to till this scandal ends but i don't think this is going to end any time soon.

 

[ec.li.ps.e.138]

The members and hyunjoo both have some flaws in their its really hard to form an opinion on this topic. The best we can all do is wait to till this scandal ends but i don't think this is going to end any time soon.

I think people are just gonna bring it up and keep bringing it up whenever one of the April members does something.

 

[chaerifyyy]

I think people are just gonna bring it up and keep bringing it up whenever one of the April members does something.

I think the april and hyunjoo were both affected due to smth during 2014 to their debut. I feel ike DSP media knew abt smth but did nothing to help. them. However thats just my opinion.