Netizens are divided over TWICE Jihyo's controversial clarification over her inconsistent presence at the 2019 Mnet Asian Music Awards. Some ONCEs took her side and praised her for her tough stance while others were offended over how she phrased her statement.
According to a report by All Kpop, TWICE Jihyo addressed the issue of her intermittent absence at the 2019 MAMA Awards during a VLive broadcast. However, instead of appeasing fans over their concerns, her statement seemed to generate another issue altogether.
"At 'MAMA', you know how I couldn't appear on stage during certain moments. I am explaining because there seem to be some attention-seeking folks whining ('oong-ang-oong-ing') about it. I was just sick. LOL. How sorry I am, because it must have been fun to have some material to snipe at. T_T But there wasn't much I could do about being sick," Jihyo said.
It can be recalled that many fans who were concerned over Jihyo's absence at certain parts of the 2019 MAMA speculated that the recent issues being experienced by her boyfriend Kang Daniel may have been the reason that Jihyo seemed sad during TWICE's performance. Some even went so far as to say that Jihyo was having a hard time over Daniel's ordeal.
It seemed that the TWICE member was responding to speculations and took offense at the rumors that have been spreading about her absence in certain parts of the show. However, her choice of words which is slang for "blah blah" or "whatever", as well as her use of the term "attention-seeking" or "attention-needy", polarized netizens into siding with her or bashing her even more, Koreaboo reported.
Some netizens were happy that Jihyo bravely explained her side and used tough language to get her message across. Some expressed understanding and hoped that she would feel better soon after suffering a bout of sickness. Some ONCEs defended Jihyo and called out bashers who criticized her because of baseless speculations.
However, some hardcore ONCEs expressed disappointment over Jihyo's manner of explaining her absence. Some fans claimed that her statement was disrespectful and pointed out how she could have couched her clarification using gentler terms.
"Ah... Uh... I wasn't going to call out anyone, but what's going on Jihyo...? I get that it's hard for you, but lashing out only hurts your fans. Can't you use gentler words? Can't you be a little more considerate of ONCEs and watch what you say? This is... This is really..." one fan tweeted her disappointment.
