After receiving backlash for her strongly-worded clarification over her absence in some parts of the 2019 Mnet Asian Music Awards (2019 MAMA), TWICE Jihyo posted a lengthy explanation detailing her emotions and thoughts before she made the controversial statement on VLive.
It can be recalled that TWICE Jihyo, recently, drew mixed reactions for posting her clarification over issues surrounding her intermittent presence at the 2019 MAMA. Some fans observed that Jihyo disappeared in some parts of TWICE's appearance and expressed worry over her condition.
However, as some fans began to speculate the reason for her absence, Jihyo took to VLive to explain and said that she felt compelled to clarify the situation since some "attention needy" people have been blabbering about what happened.
Some fans welcomed Jihyo's strong statement and said that some fans deserve to be put in their place for spreading false information online. However, some felt like fans did not deserve the harsh words from the TWICE member.
They expressed disappointment over the strong words used by the idol when she could have couched her statement in gentler language.
In yet another response, TWICE Jihyo felt compelled to write a long letter detailing her position. In the letter translated by TWICE_Global, the idol explained that even before the 2019 MAMA performance, she has been experiencing deep feelings of depression and anxiety since March when rumors started surfacing about her.
When news broke out about her personal life in August, she said that the feelings grew worse, to the point that she felt she could not stand in front of people and perform on stage.She explained that she was too scared to go on tour and reached the point that she had to go to a hospital but medication and treatment did not help her very much.
Jihyo confided that throughout TWICE's three-day concert, she cried in fear, but the performance in 2019 MAMA compelled her to perform and face even more people.
"To tell you about the things that led up to MAMA, it's like this. I'm not asking for sympathy. I'm not asking for you to know. But I wanted to tell you why I was speaking negatively about someone yesterday. No matter what I've been through, I've never approached ONCE without sincerity, never not cherished ONCE, never not worry about ONCE, and I was so sincere even yesterday," she said in a report posted by All Kpop.
Jihyo also apologized for being emotional and said that she will continue to perform for the love of the fans.
