Lessons from the T-ARA controversy

The T-ARA controversy has been the recent talk of K-Pop town. The termination of the contract of one of T-ARA's members Hwayoung resulted in a ripple effect on T-ARA and has halted their career progress.

Core Contents Media (CCM), T-ARA's management, was not shy is stating that the reason for Hwayoung's termination: complaints about her professional behavior. Hwayoung, of course, did not take this sitting down as she openly expressed her viewpoints as well.

News about bullying within T-ARA exploded, prompting the outcry of fans to ban T-ARA from shows, damaged endorsement deals, and even a cancelled concert.

There are many lessons to be learned from the unfolding T-ARA drama. Here are some of them.

1. The consequences of bad blood are vile indeed.
The very open manner CCM chose to terminate Hwayoung's contract shows the existence of bad blood among the staff, T-ARA members and Hwayoung. The dismissed member may very well have been unprofessional and fans may never know the extent of it. Still, to reveal the negative side of Hwayoung did not help matters for T-ARA.

I wonder why CCM did not consider releasing a less controversial statement (remember U-KISS and Wonder Girls?), which was written by CCM's CEO himself. It said: "In deference to the complaints by T-ara's staff of 19 people (5 stylists, 7 hair & makeup, 5 on-site managers, 2 team managers), Hwayoung's contract as an artist will be voided effective immediately with no conditions."

This only prompted Hwayoung to defend herself on Twitter.

With bad blood and mudslinging all around, everyone was in on the fray. An SBS producer said that he will no longer cast T-ARA (he apologized later), thousands signed a petition for T-ARA's disbandment, advertisers started pulling out, fans demanded T-ARA member Eunjung to be relieved from "Five Fingers" and "We Got Married" and the worst upshot: the postponement of T-ARA's scheduled concert, the first of their career.

2. Idol worship has its price.
One of my gripes about K-Pop is that it is highly idol-centric. Being an idol star has its price and the downside is clear in the T-ARA controversy. An idol is expected to behave perfectly and work hard at all times. A slight mishap can mean the end of one's career. Indeed, once the skeletons in the closet are revealed and their public image tainted, it is difficult (if not impossible) to recover.

3. Never underestimate fans.
The influence of fans and netizens cannot be ignored in the T-ARA controversy. The fact that fans were able to use the power of the Internet to seek T-ARA's disbandment and influence the decision of advertisers clearly showed the power of fans to make and break their idols. Most interesting are the fan's insistence on "the truth" even after both sides claimed to have been truthful about the issue. With all the bad blood spilled already, I think the truth is already out.

Still, the challenge remains. How will T-ARA recover from such a controversial issue? Is there even a future for T-ARA at all? What do you think?

Catherine Deen blogs for Yahoo! Philippines OMG! She lives, eats and breathes Korean music, cuisine, telenovelas, and pop culture. Follow her on Twitter @cathsdeen.