The president of CCM, Kim Kwang-soo, was a veteran in the management of artists. He had participated in the promotion and operation of many groups of artists more than a decade ago. Mnet valued his ability and put him in charge of CCM's management.
His performance had been good all along. Although T-ara's path to stardom had been bumpy, he had always pushed it to the top. The company's profits were also quite good, which made Kim Kwang-soo's position more and more stable.
His good performance also covered up his inherent shortcomings. No one reflected on the slow adaptability and stupid public relations skills that Kim Kwang-soo showed when Park Ji-yeon was attacked during her debut, and when all kinds of strange rumors were spreading to tarnish T-ara's reputation.
The incident this time had once again exposed his inadequacies.
When Liu Huaying sent out such a message on Twitter, and there were already ripples on the Internet, CCM, which should have quickly done online public relations and restricted Liu Huaying's speech, did not react at all.
On July 28th, Liu Huaying tweeted again, "My family and fans are the most expensive support for me. Please wait and see."
As soon as this message came out, the Internet finally began to be turbulent and crowded out the clamor.
It seemed that overnight, countless strange video clips of variety shows appeared on the Internet. They were looking for out-of-context content from T-ara's variety shows, such as screenshots of certain members "beating" Liu Huaying, "deliberately ignoring" Liu Huaying, "forcing" Liu Huaying to eat rice cake, not letting her dumplings go into the pot, and so on.
"I misjudged them …"
"So they are this kind of people …"
"Hua Ying works so hard, how can you bully her!"
"F * ck, these women are heartless!"
Someone tried to explain, "Are you stupid?
Those are just variety shows … Whose variety show doesn't play like this? "
"Idiot!
Does the look in her eyes when she was feeding rice cake look like a joke? "
"You're the idiot. If she doesn't act like it, are you going to say that she's not dedicated?"
"Contact that willpower, I don't believe that they really don't bully at all!"
"Exactly!
What's the point of washing the floor! "
The weak defense was quickly drowned out by the waves of the water army.
The 29th of July was T-ara's third anniversary. It was supposed to be a lively celebration, but in the end, it was canceled amidst a storm of criticism.
"Bang!" Tang Jinyan angrily smashed his cup. "Dozens of video clips popped up overnight!
Such a premeditated plan!
Such organizational strength!
Long Ya, tell me why!
Just the S * M Company? "
"Back then, after Jin Zhongguo won the Triple Crown, he refused to go and was thrown into military service. When he came back, he could only go on variety shows.
T-ara is the same … Not only have they returned too frequently this year, but they also didn't reject any commercial appearances. They've blocked too many people's paths and affected many people's ability to make money … "
"So this is a war between the entire ballad industry and T-Ara?"
"Yes …"
Tang Jinyan's face was ashen. Xu Xian's seemingly incomprehensible words suddenly flashed through his mind, "Actually … it's not necessarily a good thing for them to work too hard."
"I see.
So this has been a clue for a long time … Is their president a pig?
Even the small artists in the S * M Company can sense that something is wrong. Does Kim Kwang-soo think they're Transformers? "
Long Ya whispered, "This matter is out of our control … Let's see how Kim Kwang-soo will deal with it this time."
Tang Jinyan gritted his teeth and said coldly, "I hope he can handle it properly.
If he can't … then don't blame me, Tang Jinyan, for being ruthless! "
Kim Kwang-soo dealt with it this way. He didn't explain, didn't do public relations, and directly kicked Liu Huaying out of the team.
On the 30th of July, CCM president Kim Kwang-soo released a statement to terminate the contract with Liu Huaying. "T-ara is a group. If one of them thinks they're outstanding or acts alone, the nature of the T-ara group will change qualitatively.
… As I said before, during the transition period from seven to nine members, if there's a member who's not serious or brings harm to others, I'll immediately make the decision to replace the member.
Because if the members of T-ara take advantage of their status as stars and treat the performance with a negative attitude, T-ara will only be an empty group.
So I think that modesty, education, and character are the most important.
… I'm very sorry that something like this happened three years after T-ara's debut, but as the company's representative, I can't ignore the feelings of the hard-working staff … Finally, I apologize to the members of T-ara and wish Hua Ying will become an excellent singer. "
Liu Huaying responded on Twitter, "There's no such thing as the truth …"
On the Internet, the earthquake finally evolved into an atomic bomb explosion.
"T-ara is working together to exclude Liu Huaying from the team!"
"Trash company, helping the evildoer!"
"Hua Ying is so pitiful …"
"Bah!
Ostracizing the group! "
Liu Huaying's sister, Liu Xiaoying, posted on Twitter, "What's the use of having a pretty face? You should also have a kind heart. Are injured people not even human?"
Someone who claimed to be T-ara's backup dancer posted, "Park Ji-yeon can hit people, I saw it with my own eyes …"
Someone who claimed to be Liu Huaying's cousin, Hong Jiahui, posted on Twitter, "Hua Ying has always been bullied in the team … The five of you apart from Juli, wait for your retribution."
Li Juli coldly browsed through the tweets, logged into her account, and wrote, "You don't have to delete it." Just as she was about to post it, her roommate, Quan Baolan, held her hand.
"Juli … Last time, you advised us to calm down. This time, you should calm down yourself."
Li Juli pursed her lips and helplessly deleted the words she had written.
Indeed, no matter how she responded, it would be easy to confirm that everyone was working together to ostracize Liu Huaying.
The other party was waiting for her to reply …
Li Juli faintly sighed, knowing that T-ara might not be able to get over it this time.
On the Internet, T-ara's Anti Fan Club reached hundreds of thousands of people overnight. Under the banner of "Demand for the truth", they wantonly spread screenshots of the variety show that were taken out of context and demanded that CCM and T-ara apologize to Liu Huaying.
Not only the netizens, but even major websites and traditional media began to criticize the girl group for bullying their members. The situation became more and more intense. Within two days, there was no one who spoke up for T-ara.
Even some members of T-ara's fan club rebelled. Thousands of people left the club. The person in charge said, "The three years of supporting T-ara felt empty. I'm not in the mood to continue."
On the message board of MBC's "We're Married" program, countless people asked Han Eun-kyung and Li Zhangyu's whale couple to get off the bus immediately.
The first domestic concert that was originally scheduled to be held on August 11th at Hansan Stadium in Seoul had a large number of refunds.
On the message board of the "Lovers of Haeundae" cast that Park Soyeon starred in, there were a large number of voices asking for Park Soyeon to get out.
T-ara's cafe was deserted. Some people even went to the door to curse.
T-ara looked around blankly. It was surrounded by enemies. Everyone was anti!
The girls silently browsed the posts. The atmosphere in the dormitory was extremely depressing.
"Are we wrong?" Park Ji-yeon hugged her knees. "Why is everyone scolding us?
It was Hana Ying who … "
"Everyone was just bewitched. These videos are obviously premeditated." Park Soyeon bit her lower lip. "Haven't we experienced enough rumors over the years?"
"It's different this time …" Li Juli murmured, "It's different …"
Everyone was silent. After a long time, Park Ji-yeon whispered, "Who can help us … Even if it's just reposting the Japanese news …"
Li Juli shook her head. "Don't count on it. The news won't be published … Because of Ren Taixi, some people are also hoping to suppress our reputation."
Park Soyeon looked up in shock. "So … this is the reason why Tang Jinyan was so cautious back then?"
"Yes," Li Juli said in a low voice. "This time, even he can't help.
He's just a triad or a rising entrepreneur. He can't do anything about this. "
Quan Baolan asked, "Then can Ren Taixi help?"
"If he had intervened earlier, he might have been able to help … But now, he can only avoid it like the plague."
"These politicians are so disgusting!"
Li Juli smiled bitterly and shook her head.
Park Hyomin blamed herself. "It's my fault. I couldn't control my temper …"
Han Eun-kyung immediately interrupted, "I've said it before. If we're attacked, I'll take responsibility."
"Stop arguing." Park Soyeon bit her lower lip, "I'm the captain … at least for now."
She stood up and murmured, "I don't believe … this is a world without justice."
*****
"Han Eun-kyung XI … I'm sorry."
"Is' I Knot 'going to be released?" Han Eun-kyung's expression was calm, "Zhang Yu, what did OPPA say?"
Li Zhangyu's eyes flickered, "It'll be the last episode."
Han Eun-kyung nodded, "Alright, then today will be the last episode."
Han Eun-kyung received another call as soon as she stepped out of MBC.
"Han Eun-kyung XI, I'm sorry."
"'Five Fingers' … is going to be released, right?"
"Yes, I'm sorry, but we can't let you play the role of Hong Enmei.
If possible, please attend our press conference on the 6th. "
"You want me to announce my withdrawal?"
"... Yes.
If you cooperate, we'll still have opportunities to work together in the future … "
"... Okay."
Han Eun-kyung hung up the phone and looked up at the sky, holding back the tears that were welling up in her eyes as she gritted her teeth.
"Sapphire XI, I'm sorry …"
"Juli XI, I'm sorry …"
"Hyomin XI, I'm sorry …"
"Zhiyan XI, I'm sorry …"
"Yalin XI, I'm sorry …"
"Soyeon Xi …"
"'Lovers of Hai Yun Tai' is going to be released, right?"
"Oh, come on the 13th for the last few scenes … it's fine if you don't come."
"... Okay, I'll be there on that day. Thank you."
Was this justice?
Park Soyeon clenched her fists tightly. She could taste the blood on her lips that she had bitten, but she didn't feel it.
PS: Tang Jiu is going all out. He's almost maxed out on the monthly votes. Let's add more chapters tonight, lest everyone gets anxious.