Earlier, ex-April Hyunjoo revealed that she suffered bullying from her former co-members. Following this allegation, April members refuted the claim through an interview.

On June 21, Korean news outlet Sports Kyunghyang released their interview with the members of the K-pop girl group in question, April.

In the interview, four members, including Kim Chaewon, Naeun, Yena, and Jinsol, complained on the unfairness they experienced when the groundless controversy sparked.

They firmly refuted, "We are the victims, not perpetrators. We want to correct this wrong situation where we are driven as evil people and treated as sinners."

Initially, they remained silent as per the agency's advice. But due to the controversy getting out of their hands, they decided to clarify everything through the interview.

Setting the Record Straight: April Say They Didn't Bully Former Member Hyunjoo

April reiterated and provided proofs as a response to the bullying controversy that the whole group is facing against former member Hyunjoo.

In the interview, the current members explained there is no stealing of shoes that happened.

"At the time, there were two to three hundred pairs of shoes at the entrance of the accommodation. The shoes in question were sponsored and paid by the company for a total of 12 pairs, two pairs per person, for practice shoes."

"It's not expensive, and there's no reason to steal them. It doesn't make sense to steal shoes for harassment purposes when you don't know whose name is on them. There were times when I was confused because the shoes of the four members were the same size."

This is also the same scenario that happened to Hyunjoo's tumbler, which was said to be a keepsake from her grandmother. As there were hundreds of tumblers in their accommodation, the members have also mistaken theirs as Hyunjoo's because there was no name written on it.

However, they clarified that they also apologized after the incident.

ALSO READ: [UPDATE] DSP Media Addresses the Bullying Rumors Involving Hyunjoo and APRIL Members

April Debunk the Bullying Allegations: "We are afraid of Lee Hyunjoo."

In the post written by Hyunjoo's brother, who sowed the seeds of the controversy, he said that the members apologized after her sister attempted to take her life.

However, the members clarified that they didn't know about it, so they didn't apologize as well.

Since they were aware that Hyunjoo was often sick and was having a hard time living in their dorm, they consoled her one time by throwing a surprise party for her. In the interview, April members narrated they were all happy at that time.

April then confessed that because of her personal problems, Hyunjoo made it difficult for them during music broadcasts, where she didn't join the rehearsal and would always disappear until before the live broadcast.

They also attested that though the members weren't that close during their rookie days, there was no bullying that happened.

At the end of the first part of the interview, they apologized to their fans and said that they don't want the group to end with the stigma of being a "bully group" due to someone's distorted claims. After all, they are that group who managed to have the modifier of "clean idols" for almost six years prior to the controversy.

About the dismissal of the case against the brother of Hyunjoo, April also said, "The decision is that there is no evidence that the contents of the post can be viewed as false, not that the contents of the post are true,"
adding that they will ask for a reinvestigation and do their best until they clean their names and images.

READ MORE: ITZY Lia and April Naeun Bullying Controversies Reignite After Dismissal of Charge Against Victims: Who's Telling the Truth?

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Written by Eunice Dawson