Love them or hate them, what happened to T-ARA in Las Vegas is tragic.

Finally thinking they are about to realize their dreams of becoming international superstars with mainstream US success, the members of T-ARA were shunned and embarrassed in Las Vegas on May 26 thanks to their supposed friendship with Chris Brown.

Fans and antis can certainly agree that T-ARA was had. The "concert" they were prepared for is not at all what they experienced. A poolside stage in front of the entirely wrong crowd with little, if any, support from the man credited with bringing them there in the first place.

A confusing situation for the ladies and the crowd as well, the DJ cut their performance of "Countryside Life" short and Chris Brown never even appeared to do his part of the song.

Because they are relatively unknown in the States (outside of the niche group of die-hard K-Pop fans), the audience at the show this past weekend was stunned by their sudden appearance on stage to sing in Korean. Not exactly the welcome T-ARA had anticipated.

Representatives from Core Contents Media, T-ARA's Korean record label, tried to explain the situation away by calling it a "cultural difference," but the whole embarrassing situation was less culture shock and more unfulfilled promises and heavy dose of "you got duped."

But is it really all that surprising? Didn't anyone warn them that Chris Brown isn't exactly a model citizen. I mean, come on, that guy is all kinds of shady.

According to one fan account that has been getting a lot of attention on Twitter, the T-ARA members were noticeably upset following their failed performance, and more than a few tears were shed. And fair enough, that would be enough to make anyone cry. I'd like to see Chris Brown perform at a hotel pool in Seoul in front of a group of confused Koreans with no explanation as to why he was there in the first place, only to have his music turned off and left to wallow in his own self-pity.

Fortunately for him, after this weekend it seems really unlikely that he would ever be invited to play a show in Korea.

The embarrassing situation does, however, leave a few questions unanswered. First, what was the point of Chris Brown seeking T-ARA out in the first place? Judging by the events in Las Vegas, he didn't seem very interested in helping the girls break into the US market, he didn't even introduce them until well after they had already performed.

Is T-ARA still going to go through with the release plan for a collaborative version of "Countryside Diary" with Chris Brown, or has that plan been canned? CCM did mention that they were still planning on having a production meeting about the project before the girls return to Korea on May 29. But now it seems really uncertain what the group would stand to gain by continuing the partnership.

It seems really sad that both T-ARA and their management were taken advantage of in this situation. And while CCM is trying to save face and give Chris Brown the benefit of the doubt by calling it a matter of cultural differences, they really are being entirely too kind.

Based on the press conference in Seoul last week, things really didn't go according to plan at all and there could even be grounds for a lawsuit (although that is merely an opinion since the specific details of the contract the group signed are not publicly known).

The whole mess just feels really shady and it is incredibly unfortunate that such a horrifying experience happened to T-ARA.

However, in the interest of playing Devil's advocate, perhaps the Las Vegas situation could be karma playing out? A group full of alleged mean girls with a history of bullying scandals going to the US to answer a love call from Chris Brown (a notorious bully himself), only to ultimately be humiliated on stage. 

You can't make this stuff up.

Although ultimately I still contend that the entire relationship with Chris Brown was a joke and T-ARA should cut their losses and return to Korea where they can hopefully regain some dignity. That what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger, right? Karma or not, lessons in life are dealt the hard way.

If you are curious about how the scene unfolded in Las Vegas, check out a fan video from the event below: