Innocent until proven guilty. But in show business, image is everything. I feel bad for Eunjung.

Feel sad for her, the bullying scandal still can't proved and she kicked out of her drama, Even someone who really guilty still has a chance like Joo Ji Hoon, how unfair

I'm pissed off with all scandal around T-ara right now! That stupid scandal ruined Joo Ji Hoon comeback drama..Ugh..How long all fans of Joo Ji Hoon had waited for his comeback drama :'((

1.) Mok Dan gives her life to save Kang-to and The Movement
2.) Kang-to falls to bits for another Daesang worthy epic weeping scene
3.) A converted Rie steps in first as comrade to tell him there are bigger things at stake and after a suitable mourning period they become more than comrades (he used that key phrase "you weigh on my mind," which if translated as I understand it means the buddings of a kdrama loveline)

Even better, she forces Silent Broody Henchman to become Gaksital Substitute while Kang-to is mourning and we get a sequence of Anguished Henchman in disguise as the very person he hates most. Like Shunji. Or indeed, Gaksital.

I could live with that too. ;)

(and err, I have been following the T-ara scandal on allkpop as am not a kpop fan but I can only agree with onigiri on the irony of her being cyberbullied for being a bully.)

IMO, Eunjung is wrong for criticising Hwayoung on Twitter. If she or the other members have a problem with her, they should resolve it privately. There is no need to reveal it to the public. That's why I don't really feel sorry for her. She has to take all the consequences because of her silly action. You can't really blame the netizen. It is her fault. If she doesn't post a comment that can easily be misunderstood, netizen won't accuse her as a bully. I think it's better for her and T-ara to stop all their activities and probably come back next year with a fresher image

When it comes to this scandal I place most (if not all) of the blame on the CEO. He kicked Hwayoung out and he released a bunch of statements attacking her. He's the one who threatened (in a press release!) to pull members from the group a few months ago if they didn't "pull their weight." He's the one who overworks T-ara even more than your average overworked kpop group.

It sucks that everyone is attacking the members over cryptic Tweets and Youtube videos and they're losing work and endorsements because of his crappy PR management. I don't know if there was bullying or not (I'm tending to believe there was, but that's more of a feeling than anything else), but I do think I am seeing a clear sign of bad management.

And that's my two cents.

On the bright side, if Se Yeon really really really positively sure in taking this role, it would be really great for me coz im a fan of Se yeon right now..never get tired of her in Gaksital. Meaning more airtime for her..yay!

I dont quite understand why Eunjung has to quit. I am aware of the case between T-ara and Hwayoung. But for me, if you are on the truth side, you shouldnt be afraid. How long is she going to be like this? Sooner or later, she needs to continue her activities, and for me, this is the time for her to step up. Quiting drama is not doing her any good. People are gonna talk. Girl, im not ur fan, but U shud face the world like U aint give no shit.

to sum up..i wish everyone the best..

Omg poor Joo Ji Hoon. He is the innocent party here, not Eunjung.

i saw the first episode : its going towards " east of eden" vibes - it's going to be deep /dark and fantastic ( those child actors should get oscar nods ) anywhoo , JJH is a fantastic actor and his dramas will do well ( the GOONG era still lingers on ) - about Eunjung , i like her/love her in WGM but i do not think she's a hug impact actress yet to shake up a drama , so whether she's in it or not : the drama will goes on, personally i don't see the chemistry w/JJH if she was his love interest . I do wish her well and welcome back JJH .

How?

Lol this is not cyber bullying my vapid celebrity worshipping husk of a human. It's called popular opinion, and masses seem to be on Hwayoung's side.

And this is why DB is the only k entertainment site i comment on, we rarely get crazy fangirls here cuz there aint any kpop business allowed altho when it is, THIS is the result! I can smell a few 'determined' (he he!) fans already, hopefully we all stick to the mature, unbiased way of commenting most of us are used to!

Yeah, that ain't gonna happen 'cause the people who read akp also read db.

i think this problem become more serious because not confirmation from Tara member. Hm..

I've followed the T-Ara controversy for a whole then got bored and lost interest. There are many gray area to the both side of the story. However one thing I have found is that the CEO is a D-Bag. He could've handle the situation better and professionally instead of acting like a scheming slime ball. He should take a lesson from JYP or YG how to act like a CEO even if the emotion is running high. Smear campaign is not helping anyone.

I read a post on how elementary students are playing a bullying game based on T-ara scandal. They would choose one classmate and the whole group would not talk to that person at all. Not sure how legit this post was but if it's true, then T-ara really has a bad impact on Korean society.

I feel so bad for her I don't want to watch the drama anymore Eungjung and Ji Hoon would have been perfect hope they reconsider. Feel sad for her hope it all works out . Fighting!!!!!!

As soon as I saw the title.. I went "poor Jihoon". I hope this drama does well even though im not liking the plot. If Jin Se Yeon takes this drama then good luck to her..

Well, what the production could do (Five Fingers), they can make Ji Ho (later JJH) and In Ha (later CSW) which are now kids, stay forever young until they get the replacement haha. Wah...ep5? Now THAT I have to check, intense makjang it is but strangely additive.

Honestly, I find the whole TARA scandal fascinating. Idols spend a lot of time creating a positive pure image (that doesn't exist) that will appeal to their fans. In turn they get legions of adoring fans who are willing to buy all their material (even though it may be mediocre) and will defend them from any criticism. However, those legions of fans they have may turn on them in a second if they do something that is unpleasing to them. I hope other idol groups are taking notes, the fans are only temporary.

The second thing is am flabbergasted that the CEO still has a job despite the fact he single-handedly made the mess to be much bigger than it is. He shouldn't be adding or replacing members at will. He shouldn't be fostering an environment where the girls/boys under him are willing to turn on each other. It is difficult enough to spend 24-7 with girls you don't like or resent, he should have had a counselor or psychiatrist nearby. He should have given them an easier work scedule(no more 20 hour days) and shouldn't make them perform when injured (I saw their latest video Day by Day and was shocked how lethargic they looked). He shouldn't have kicked out Hwayoung and then launched a smear campaign against her like he did with Nam Gyuri (I think that's her name) and the other girl group. He is a horrible CEO!

Third thing is twitter will be the death of celebrities. Mama always said that you shouldn't air dirty laundry in public. If you have conflicts in the group, keep it in the group and try to resolve it amongst yourselves, especially if you have thousands of fans/anti-fans watching your every move.

IF the bullying rumors are true, I will be so disappointed with Eunjung because I like her even though I don't follow k-pop. I like her acting and would hope she wouldn't be the type of person to pick on someone who is younger and more vulnerabble than her.

Anyway I think Eunjung will come back again even though she has lost her good reputation, acting gig, countless CF deals. It would be hard but I think she will pull through. Tara, I don't know but I hope they including Hwayoung will get through this.

As someone that doesn't particularly enjoy Korea's production line music industry, just judging by the pictures and snippets I've read on the net, there are too many members in T-ara (Frankly, too many women in any situation is a bad idea in my opinion). They probably have cliques within their clique and a new person entering with possible naivete will feel as though she bullied, especially if she isn't a perceptive person. Not that I feel isolating a person is a good thing, someone has to make an effort and obviously no one did.

HOW I WISH THEY WILL PICK AND CHOOSE CHAE RIM!!!

BULLYING IS NOT TOLERATED AND I WILL DIE OR OPT TO BE OUT IN THIS WORLD.

Well, I haven't really been paying attention much to K-news.

It's sad that she is removed from a lead role due to a scandal that has not yet proven whether she is guilty or innocence. I've always find her hard-working as she acted in DH. Every time she is on screen or cried, I have a feeling she puts extra effort into her role.

I think she has the potential to become good with acting. I just hope the scandal won't affect her too much.

As for whether she is a bully or not, I have no idea. Even in real life, I have been in close proximity with girls during college and if you just hear their sides I'm sure you won't like me or think that I'm a bully. If my friends hear my sides, they will think on my side.

It happens in real life - disputes. The difference between real life and entertainment is that in real life people just don't really care and move on with their life. In entertainment industry, it's made into a scandal and other innocence people get effected like a domino effect.

I'm sure people who are saying that others are bullies are not exactly that nice themselves. Sometimes, people say mean things or act like bullies without knowing.

I'm also sure that bullies exist in entertainment industry. After all, it's a cutthroat one. I just hope that those who are bullied can see this and stand up for themselves. As for those who are helping the one being bullied by nastily commenting about them, I just hope they too will realize that they aren't being used to bully other people.

JB: "Unless… GASP! Does Mok Dan die?" - Arggg it's not impossible. I will be very very sad for my poor Kang-to :'( but maybe it is the only way that Shunji can change ??? And indeed, it could make the story even darker as you said...

WHAAA?? nooooooooooooooo. ok, the t-ara tweets were totatally unprofessional, and we don't know what's true and what's not, but we do know they're all girls and girls sometimes struggle to get along. each of the girls in the scandal said or did something they shouldn't have. sigh. i think i would've enjoyed eunjung in this role. how unfortunate.

and.

JIN SAEYEON?!! it really is like they're not watching tv. mok dan better not die. - -;

What a nuisance!I have been hoping for Eun jung performance as a Leading Role im "five fingers"!
If the PD & others who're considering Eun Jung to leave drama, Why did u all decided EJ to participate& then suddenly decide her to leave.Why did u all hurt her???It's like stabbing a person at his back!

The drama is already popular in Asia including our country due to EJ appearance!

If EJ won't appear in this drama anymore,I’ll quit watching& being a fan of this drama!!That's my opinion!

because of this i have a sudden urge to diss sbs. . .a very unethical personality suddenly erupted out of me and now i'm not watching the drama, i've deleted sbs on my channel list, stop buying products from the sponsors of this show, basically doing a 1-woman boycott. . .i know my thinking is not fair for the other s who are working for this show that are not involved but i can't help it. . .it's just how i feel. . .

i dont want see this drama anymore how they can do this to someone they are so unprofessional and annoyer why they played with her feeling and our feeling too
they are just some people who in love with money

Apparently Eunjung did not voluntarily quit the drama, but SBS instead fired her due to pressures from drama sponsors. What a terrible move since she is in all of the promo material for Five Fingers already. They should have replaced her once the T-ara scandal broke, but I don't see why she can't continue with the drama since it's been weeks and the T-ara scandal has seemed to died down now.

Of all the idol-actresses out there Eunjung is one of the better ones to watch and one of the few idol-actresses/actors I can stand to watch. I loved her in Dream High, but I hope in real life she is not like her character in that drama. I am watching May Queen instead of Five Fingers, but was hoping to watch FF later mainly because the two male leads and Eunjung looked like they would all have great chemistry together.

I hope Eunjung wasn't one of the girls in the group who participated in the bullying of Hwayoung (if there was bullying going on), she seems like a nice girl and rumors like that can definitely hurt her reputation and future career. Best of luck to her and hopefully we can all put this T-ara mess behind us and move on.

Setting the controversy aside...

What I hate is how they gave Eunjung false hopes that she is still doing the role, after using her publicity in the press conference, letting her practice piano and rehearsing her scenes, even acknowledging that the T-ara scandal helped increase the ratings... and suddenly asks another actress to accept the role.

They offered a role while somebody else thinks she still owns it!

How unprofessional and unethical.

And I thought I liked how SBS accepted Joo Ji Hoon despite how other networks blacklisted him. Now I am just disappointed.

I get it. They fear for their losses because of the negative publicity attached to Eunjung.

But what I don't get is the manner they handled it.

So below the belt.

so what's even worse is that yesterday, SBS tried to say that she was voluntarily leaving the show after talking it over with her company.

however, CCM (her agency) as well as Eunjung herself revealed today that they had no idea she was being dropped.

Eunjung went on to say that yesterday (when SBS made the announcement) she was at a script reading with the writers and Joo Ji Hoon.

looks like this wont end well.

poor eunjung...i don't think jin sae yeon is suitable for this role. She still look stiff n like others says yes, she really can be next shin se kyung(in term of stiffness,no acting improvement n just depend on her beauty to secure it). Sorry fans. The staff member need to find a good and experience actress that can play this drama well. I will recommend han hyo joo(she is really good in acting melodrama!!),kim so eun(she can be cute n look determine too! but....she is short n look not suitable with joo ji hoon...hmm),goo ara(its true she from sm but she is better than le yeon hee!) n many more actress! Seriously this drama is better than may queen! The cinematography, the cast....all of it are fantastic. But after waiting desperately for the sub(come on its already 4 days), i conclude that antis are boycott from subbing it. So, please sub this drama please...!!

Jin Sae-yeon would be really bad.

I'm a T-ara fan, but I've also been here silently reading through the reviews for two years.

The scandal is just a girl dispute gone horribly wrong due to over-exaggerated news and poor management. That's it. The girls have paid enormously for their mistakes.

But this current incident is beyond my understanding. I can understand their reasons for removing her, but how can they give her false hope and kicking her out like that.

She went through all the preparations and have to go to that press conference despite the scandal, why didn't you change it then ? They've had nearly two weeks to tell her and they didn't do it.

This is just mean. Very mean.

What happened in the 24 hours before Eunjung received news about her leaving "Five Fingers"?

At 5:36PM of the 22nd, SBS officially announced that T-ara's Eunjung would be leaving "Five Fingers". Until the previous night (21st), Eunjung was still practising her lines. To her surprise, in less than a day, she received news that she was dropped from "Five Fingers".

What actually happened within this day? Let's summarise what the drama production company, Eunjung, and Jin SeYeon etc have said.

At 4pm on the 21st, Eunjung and the writers met and had a discussion about the drama and the script. Dinner was had alongside this meeting which went on until very late. During the meeting, everybody encouraged each other and showed their will to make this drama a success.

Eunjung was scheduled to film her first scene for on the 22nd. She was orginally scheduled to film on the 18th, but because her character Hong Dami appears from the fifth episode, her first filming was delayed until the 22nd.

On the 21st afternoon, ChangWook joined later in the meeting and practised his lines with Eunjung. In the drama, Ji ChangWook and Eunjung and Joo JiHoon are involved in a love triangle. ChangWook and Eunjung practised their lines for 3-4 hours before separating.

As Eunjung was preparing for her first filming, something unexpected happen. The drama producers late into the afternoon approached Jin SeYeon to see whether she can join "Five Fingers". SeYeon expressed: "If Eunjung is leaving the show, I can appear in the drama." This means that while the writers and producers were encouraging Eunjung, at the same time, they were also approaching other replacement actors with the possibility of dropping Eunjung.

At 12pm noon on the 22nd, news about Eunjung leaving was released. Eunjung's management agency also felt shocked at what had happened within a day. Eunjung after seeing the news remained silent, and her management agency also expressed shock.

Netizens have expressed displeasure at the way the producers and SBS have inappropriately handled the situation, at how they gave an unilateral notice of termination when the acting contract had already been signed. Netizens have also expressed disappointment at the production company and at SBS for not fully discuss the situation with Eunjung before discussing Jin YeSeon's joining of "Five Fingers."

Translation of Chinese KPopStarz Article by @kckclalala

Chinese Article: http://chinese.kpopstarz.com/articles/8148/20120822/tara-enjing-wugenshouzhi-tuichu-chenshiyan.htm

Original Korean Article: http://news.nate.com/view/20120822n32081

But the production company did not consult with the broadcasting company or the actress herself and announced that she will be replaced.

YeIn E&M (production company) wanted to replace Eunjung but SBS did not want to. But YeIn E&M used Eunjung to promote Five Fingers & dropped her last minute.

....Man, this is so sad!

I'm pissed as hell! The producers used her as a publicity stunt and then drop her just like that! The whole T-ara scandal is all speculation from netizens who themselves are bullies! I feel so sorry for the girls of T-ara whom have worked so hard in their career and to be attacked by people who assume know everything. I hope that Eunjung comes out stronger through these events because she is the more experienced member, so people are pointing fingers at her often.

Whatever the reason, this was a stupid move (even though I love JSY) and I'm saying bye-bye to this drama.

no! poor eunjung, i don't believe the bullying thing and if they bullied her would they do it on twitter where everyone can see it? come on, i don't think they are dumb, in any case i still support t-ara!!

SBS said, adding that they will be talking to the manufacturers and sponsors who have unilateral decision to arbitrarily remove Eunjung because of advertising issues without any notice to SBS. There are also reports that the actress is expected to replace the role of Eunjung will not be able to participate in the drama because encumbered filming a movie.

Official representative from SBS, “Completely untrue. We do not know anything about the cancellation of Eunjung’s role as well as related information. Ridiculous when there are guys that we have put notice of the cancellation of his role with Eunjung. We are continuing to clarify things and feel really embarrassed for the occurrence of unforeseen things like this. ”

Source: Starnews

Maybe that’s why so many Korean Celebrities kill themselves (suicide) because of this kind of mentality...
I’m very worried for Eunjung,to be honest.
I understand why there are so much suicides of famous actresses, actors and singers in South Korea.

And how could Jin Sae-yeon even said something like this “If Eunjung is leaving the show, I can appear in the drama.”
What is this?

SBS already made press conference and so on why remove Eunjung now... why not earlier... Huh??

This is a mess…

According to koreaboo:
“A representative from SBS commented, ‘The issues surrounding the departure of a T-ara member ultimately helped to promote the drama since Eunjung’s casting was mentioned around the same time. However, even if Eunjung might not hurt ratings, people still may not buy the products being advertised if she is in the drama, and in the advertisers’ opinions, it would be a waste.’”

—>> Whaaaat?! So it’s about the products being advertised? A good drama have good ratings because it is a good drama. A product is not purchased because it is a bad or an unnecessary product. Why put the blame to Eunjung?

Of course, the first things they care about are products/goodies/money....